Lily's Magic Snow Globe

Chapter One: 21st December

It was Christmas time and Lily's home was full of delicious baking smells, fairy lights, and decorations. It was especially busy in Lily's  house this year because her dad's friends from Australia were coming to stay with them for Christmas.

They were supposed to be moving in to a house in the village, but their new home wouldn't be ready until the New Year.

Lily was in her bedroom with her cat Merry, her pyjama-case dog Scruffy, and her rocking horse Rocky.

She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, shaking her snow globe. She loved the snow globe. It lit up at night and there was a pretty Christmassy woodland scene inside. Once, she had even thought she'd seen Father Christmas and a reindeer. It normally cheered her up to watch the pretty white and silver flakes falling, but today she sighed.

'Christmas was going to be really special this year. Gran was coming to stay in my room after her shoulder operation and now it's all changed. it was going to be like a fun sleepover with Gran, but now Mum says I have to sleep downstairs with this girl called Sita . . .' said Lily to her three friends. 'I've never ever met her and I've got to share a room with her just because she's the same age as me. What if she doesn't like animals? what if she doesn't like naughty cats like you, Merry?

Lily put the snow globe carefully back on her windowsill and rolled a pen across the room for Merry, who jumped on it delightedly. She never got tired of that game.

'Lily? Have you cleared your bedroom yet?' called Mum up the stairs. Lily looked at the floor. It had been fine before Merry had jumped on the wastepaper basket and tipped all the rubbish out. She had looked so sweet patting all the scrunched-up paper and chasing old pens that Lily had forgotten that she was supposed to be getting her room ready for Gran. Then Merry had jumped up on the chest of drawers and knocked a pot of glitter all over Lily's bedroom carpet.

'Oh, Merry! You really are a Christmas cat now!' Lily had laughed, as Merry left glittery paw prints all over the room. 'It's a good thing I've made all the Chris's cards already.'

This year Lily had made lots of Christmas cards and drawn a picture of a special magic baby reindeer on the front of each, so she had needed lots of glitter. She had sold them on a stall at school to raise money for her gran's Wildlife Rescue Centre. Then she gave the money and a special card on which she had written 'Get Well Soon' to Gran in the hospital. Gran had put it beside her hospital bed.

'Oh,Lily!' Gran has said. 'This is definitely the nicest card in the ward! What a kind girl you are! I can't wait until Christmas. We'll have a special girls' sleepover, you and me, and talk about what we'll do when the Wildlife Rescue Centre opens again. At least whilst I'm in hospital I can make the Centre better. I'm getting so much building work done and it would have been to noisy for the sick animals if they'd been there. We're having a bigger kitchen with new sinks and cupboards, and a little quiet area, and even a new aviary at the back. There are going to be heated cages and a place for bigger animals in the garden too. It'll be wonderful. So it's all worked out very well, and we're so lucky that Meadowbank Sanctuary took the little hedgehogs and the robin.'

It was really exciting but Lucy missed Gran and helping out at the Centre very much. But she was glad that the operation was over and that Gran was coming to stay for a few weeks. Lucy had planned to spend their sleepover time every day talking about how they would look after the hedgehogs and deer and foxes and owls and other birds and animals when the Centre opened again. Lucy loved animals so much.

'Oh,Lucy!' Mum was in the doorway looking hot and bothered. She was holding one end of a camp bed she had got out of the attic, and Liam, Lily's older brother, who was in his first year at secondary school,was holding the other.'This room was supposed to be ready by now.Honestly, Lily— what a mess!'

'I'm sorry, Mum,' said Lily, trying to ignore the pretend-shocked face Liam was pulling behind Mum's back. He could be so annoying. And he didn't even have to move out of his bedroom. It wasn't fair. 'It was ready but Merry tipped the wastepaper basket over.'

'Well, she'll have to go downstairs in her basket for now. I'm not even sure if she should sleep on your bed in the kitchen whilst our visitors are here, Lily,' said Mum. ' Go downstairs and put her in the sitting room and then come back up and sort out this room with me.'

Lily scooped Merry up from the floor into her arms. Even thought Mum was cross, she couldn't help smiling at the naughty little cat. Ever since she had arrived in their home as a little Christmas kitten, the whole family loved her, but Lily loves her the most of all, and one of her favourite things in there world was going to sleep so with Merry curled up beside Scruffy, her pyjama-case dog, with Rocky the rocking horse looking on with his kind, patient eyes.

Mum and Liam opened out the camp bed in Lily's room for Lily's sleepover night with Gran. When the visitors arrived, both girls would sleep on camp beds in the kitchen, and Dad and Mum were going to be sleeping in the lounge and giving their bed to Sita's parents. 'It's not fair if you can't sleep on my bed just because that girl is coming,' grumbled Lily to Merry as she put her down in her basket in the sitting room. Merry was perfectly happy there and curled up to go to sleep, but Lily still felt cross as she went back upstairs. The house was full of sparkly decorations and the Christmas tree was up, but Lily didn't feel Christmassy any more at all.

'Why do we have to have visitors?' She muttered as she tidied up. 'I think we're going to have to our Rocky in the garage over Christmas,'said Mum, looking around Lily's room. 'Some of the luggage from Australia can go in Liam's room , but we'll have to store some in your room too. Gran says she doesn't mind.'

'No! It's not fair!' Said Lily, shocked. 'Poor Rocky! He hasn't done anything wrong. He'll want to stay with Gran or me. He'll be so lonely in the garage. Please, Mum— don't put him there!'

'Oh, Lily,' sighed Mum. She called Liam into Lily's room. 'Look — why don't you two go out to the park? I'll try to sort the rooms out and make things fit'

'Do I have to take Lily with me?' Complained Liam. 'My friends will probably be there having a kick-around, and she'll just get in the way.'
'Yes, you do,' said Mum. 'You both need some fresh air and I need some space. Take your phone, Liam.'

The weather was very cold and damp, and Lima and Lily both put their coats on very grumpily. 'Hurry up, Lily!' Liam said, and ran ahead. Lily had to run her fastest to catch up with him.

'Hi, Will!' Liam shouted when he saw his friends. He rushed over to them. Lily felt cross and tired and left out. She didn't feel like playing in the slide or the swings on her own. She would much rather have been at home with Merry and Rocky and Scruffy. She sat on the bench and thought about her best school friend.

'I can't even visit Heli because her family have gone to her Grandad's for Christmas,' she sighed.

Lily got up and walked around the edge of the football pitch. Suddenly,she noticed something moving in the hedge. She bent down and moved the branches to one side and there, on the cold ground, was a tiny baby rabbit, all alone and with a nasty cut on his leg. He was very sweet but Lily knew he was also very poorly. He didn't try to run away when he saw her. Instead, he just lay there with his ears back, looking frightened.

'Oh, please don't be scared,' whispered Lily. She knew from her work with her Gran that you shouldn't normally touch wild animals, but she could see that this little rabbit was injured.
She looked around but there was no sign of rabbit holes or any Warren for it to shelter in, just a flat football pitch beside a road. He wouldn't survive on his own. He really needed her help.