Kit and the key to happiness

Chapter 1

The trees and bushes flashed by the window. The colours outside had turned red and mostly brown, contrasting the colours of the previous weeks, green and yellow. Kit looked outside, she liked fall, it is the time for Halloween and tea. She did not seem to notice any of it today. Fall also meant that school had started again, school was usually not too bad, but something had changed.

"Kit, are you alright, you are more quiet than usual." asked Kit's father. Kit stayed silent, tears were forming in her eyes. Something terrible had happened. But she did not want to talk about it to him, she needed someone special.

They stopped in front of her house, where she had grown up. Together with her father, she walked in, and Kit ran upstairs. Her jacket was still on, but she did not care. She ran to her room and went to her teddy. Teddy, the teddy bear, was her best friend. Kit and teddy were inseparable since the day she had got him: on her second birthday. Together, they had been on many adventures. From tea parties to slaying the wild beast of England.

"Teddy?" Kit asked sobbing.
"What's wrong?" answered the bear.
"Why can I not be a hero?" she said, wiping the tears from her face.
"Why do you need to be a hero?"
"Well, I have a new friend at school," said Kit, while Teddy came closer to listen, "his name is Tyler."
"Can we first have something to eat? I am starving, Kit! And maybe it would make you feel better." Teddy was over exaggerating again, he seemed to do so more often, but he always cared about her.

"No, Teddy, this is important. I still do not know him very well, but I like him a lot! However, the kids at school tease him so much, and there is nothing I can do," said Kit. The kids at school were really mean to Tyler, they did not let him play with them and called him names.

"Why do you not go up to the bullies?" asked Teddy.
"I can't! They are older than we are, and I am not brave or strong enough! I am just a little girl." Kit looked at Teddy, maybe it could help. She always felt better when Teddy was sweet to her.

"It sounds like he needs a superhero." Kit nodded her head, yes, that must be it, Tyler needs a superhero.

"I wish, I could be a superhero..."

Kit wandered off, thinking about herself being a superhero. She wanted to have the power of super strength and flying, maybe even indestructibility. She would be able to lift anything she wanted, fly across the world, and never be in pain. She would have made everyone very happy.

Yes, fighting dragons, loving others, and bringing joy to the world is what she wanted to do.

Kit stared at Teddy for a moment, she looked at him and then searched the room. She wanted to play a game with Teddy before it was bedtime. She looked around and saw her bed, not a place to play games. Next to her bed was her desk, with coloured pencils and paper still on top of it, but she did not feel like drawing right now. To the left of her desk was her closet, it was mostly filled with her uniforms. She had played a lot with it, Teddy and Kit loved Narnia and acted like they were the great adventurers. Next to the closet was her big dress-up chest. She loved that chest.

"What if we dress up as superheroes?" Kit asked, looking at Teddy.
"But we have played that so often!" Teddy sighed and crossed its little arms in front of its body.

"Well, what do you suggest, then?"
"We could, well, maybe not. That might be too dangerous," said Teddy while standing up. He walked across the room, thinking and mumbling to himself.

"Do not keep me waiting. Please tell me your idea!" said Kit.
"Maybe we can..." Teddy paused midsentence.
"Say!"
"Maybe we can go to the attic," Teddy whispered.

The attic was a rarely visited place in the house. Kit did not know precisely why, just that she could never go up there. It could be dangerous, or something might be hiding there.

"What if it is dangerous?" asked Kit.
"We can pretend we are superheroes!" said Teddy with confidence. Kit smiled, thinking about the adventures that they could have upstairs. Kit's dad was in the living room downstairs, he would not have to notify them if they were very quiet.

"Okay, let's go upstairs!" said Kit.

Kit and Teddy went to the dress-up chest and found their costumes, she had the biggest towel in the house, Kit knotted it around her neck and let it go behind her. Just like a cape. For teddy there was a little hat with the letter T on the front of it, she had made it herself. Together they could save the world.

They slowly went up the stairs, trying not to make too much noise. Kit pushed open the trapdoor to go up to the attic. When she and Teddy stood there, they looked around. It was a dusty little room, with a lot of boxes and shelves full of old books. The floor was made of wood, and it creaked when you walked on it. Kit knew better than to look in those boxes, there could be something dangerous hidden inside.

"Teddy, you are a young little bear, that needs to be saved from the angry water monsters! I will come and save you, okay?" said Kit.

Teddy climbed on top of the boxes and screamed:

"Help me, help me, they are coming! Oh, someone, save me!"

Kit, with her incredible superpowers, jumped up and started to fight the angry monsters. They were with hundreds, no, thousands of monsters. Not only could they live in water, but they also crawled out on land as well!

"Kit, watch out, behind you!" yelled Teddy, but Kit did not hear him.

She was too caught up with slaying the monsters. She had almost beat them all, then BOOM. She fell into a tower of boxes. The upper two came down and dropped on the floor. The sound was deafening, and she could hear the footsteps of her dad downstairs. She came closer to the fallen boxes and saw that nothing had fallen out. Kit tried to put them back up, that is when she saw it. A little book. On the cover was written:

My precious travels

Kit could not read very well, but she did like looking at pictures and imagining herself being in the stories. The little book looked important, almost magical.

Downstairs she could hear the heavy footsteps of her dad. He yelled:

"Katherine! Where are you?"
"I'm coming," said Kit. She and Teddy hurried back down before her dad could see what had happened. She hid the book behind her back.

"Were you playing in the attic?" asked her father.
"No! Why would I?"
"Hm, are you okay? I heard a loud noise," said her dad, he looked quite worried.

"Yes, it was just some books falling, dad, nothing bad happened." Kit smiled, still holding the book behind her back.

"Then all is good. Dinner will be ready soon." Her dad left the first floor again, and Kit ran to her bedroom. She tucked the book underneath her pillow and hoped that her dad would not suspect anything.