• §Chapt§ 1 §

    It had been a long day, and nothing had gone right. As usual however, for Phoebe. Once again the driveway had an unplanned for obstacle, this time it was the tree that fell down last night, which meant that she couldn't get to school. Mid-terms were coming up as well. and she couldn't afford to miss out on any lessons of any kind. Especially geography and maths. Even though those were the subjects that bored her... oh no wait, there was still German. Phoebe despised her German teacher, Mr.Braddik. God, he was like a hungry crocodile feeding on every little mistake made by any one pupil. Which meant they never usually go anywhere by the end of the lesson, and poor Joey was usually reduced to tears. That wasn't hard though, Joey is the biggest cry-baby ever to be born in Thestin. Thestin is a remote town in god knows where, that meant growing and eating your food the good old way, which. for Phoebe, wasn't proving so good. Almost all of her crops that were supposed to come up this month had failed miserably, and to make matters worse, Joanna Maytes, Phoebe's mother, was getting sicker and more frail than before. Thinking all of this over, She hit the hay.
    However, Phoebe is a strong willed child.
    "I am a strong person, I'm pretty and clever" Phoebe repeated for the umpteenth time into her mirror. Her long, braided red hair was hanging just to the small of her back, and her pixie green eyes glinted in the morning sunlight. She once again found herself in her ironed pale blue shirt with a complimenting purple necktie, (that really looked like a thin purple ribbon, but the school insists that this is a tie.) Long navy socks and pleated skirt. Contrary to everyone else at school, Phoebe liked her uniform. It made her feel smart.
    "C'mon Tink. Or else we'll be late AGAIN!" Came the oh-so familiar voice from in front of her gate. Gale Rodney, childhood friend and personal bully toward Phoebe. Calling her Tinkerbell, or Tink, because she looks so small, but packs a punch, which unfortunately was proved to him almost every day.
    “Oh shut up Gale! I'll be down in a minute!" Phoebe shouted out of her window. Ok, so maybe she was also a bit of a bully to him too, but they were the closest of friends. She couldn't help sticking out her tongue at him. Gale shook his head. His short blonde hair deceived his intelligence, which wasn't almighty, but was substantially more than the average 15 year old. and his hight often belittled Phoebe. Which she hated, and often earned Gale a kick in the shin.
    "Mars Minutes or Earth Minutes? I'm leaving in five. Earth Minutes that is." Really. I do mean that... about being friends. The two have been together since they were three! and since both of their fathers had left them and their respective mothers at a young age, they really bonded quick. Phoebe ran down the stairs, grabbed her bag and a piece of toast, quickly slipped her shoes on and launched herself through the front door. her disorientated look as she realised that is was brighter outside than it was inside made Gale laugh. Then again, Phoebe always made him laugh. She was that kind of person.
    "Hey, morning Tink, you awake yet?" said Gale as he bent down to talk to her. That earned him a whack in the stomach.
    "Would you stop bending over me? Loomer?" Phoebe went off in a huff down the cobbled road. She turned back to him, retuning his notion of 'hurry up, moron, we'll be late for school' and ran off, which for Gale meant, 'I’ll race ya to the school gates, if I get there first, you do my homework!' Phoebe raced down the track.
    "Oi!, Slow up Tinkerbell!" Is what Phoebe could hear vaguely. As she turned her head to answer, the earth started to shake. She didn't see the large crack in the earth opening up right in front of her. It grew and the earth trembled, the trees started to crack and splinter. Gale saw it. And Phoebe was going to run into it. Gale had to catch up to Tink, and fast.
    Too late. Phoebe turned around and realised what she was doing. She tried to turn away. Too late. The Earth had swallowed Tink Completely. Gale got to the crack. Hesitantly, he looked over the edge. So much for school today, thought Gale, and jumped in right after her.