As the sun rose, the Reynaldy siblings awoke to the smell of tea being brewed and the sizzling sound of eggs being fried. They both freshened up and came downstairs to have their breakfast. "I want a generous amount of black pepper on mine" exclaimed the little Cameron, "oh and fried onions too" he added, his sister chuckled and wanted the same, for a fried egg without salt, black pepper and some crispy fried onions would be tasteless to them. After breakfast and when the sibblings were getting ready for school, Mrs. Reynaldy went up to her daughter's room and hugged her tightly then said "Oh my sweet Daria, you're a teenager now that you are thirteen, and I think it is the right time to give you this." She carefully unwrapped a golden coloured old watch from a handkerchief with bluebells embroidered on from a little wooden jewelry box. It was a watch Mrs Reynaldy used to have before her wedding, back when she was a school girl herself and was in perfectly good condition, a watch coveted by Daria when she was only five but her mother had said she was keeping it for when she became old enough to have it. Daria smiled from ear to ear and and accepted the gift carefully. "An antique watch more than 25 years old, I shall keep it with me at all times and carefully at that, I promise Ma! Thank you so much for entrusting me with such a precious heirloom." Said Daria as she gleefully looked at it, what a beauty it was. Golden in colour, with carefully carved leaves and flowers on it, with the crest of the Verbitzkaya family. Daria carefully placed it in the pocket of her school apron and took her school bag she sewed and embroidered herself and went downstairs to put on her brown lace leather shoes while waiting for her brother to come down too. Together they went to school merrily, hand in hand, walking through the birch forest and singing happy tunes.
Merrily merrily
We walk down this green path
As we go to school
Picking up flowers
To adorn our hats
Looking forward to a new day
Full of adventures
And learning new things
Although algebra is boring
We push through and study
For a brighter future
Merrily merrily
We can't wait to meet our friends
Can't wait to see the mischief and scrapes
We may get into
As we walk to school
Through this beautiful birch forest
The path ever so green,
The grass ever so crisp
The fallen leaves crunching under our feet
The birds chirping and flying down
As we feed them crumbs of bread
That remained from the breakfast table
The sparrows hopping about happily
Merrily merrily, the path to our school
So beautiful and enchanting it is
Walking past the lake, staring at the willow tree, can't wait for summer, so we can row a boat down the lake, down the stream
The winter days so frosty and cold, the greenry turned into white, as if a line of brides waiting for their grooms to walk them down the aisle and to start a new life...
Their happy singing was suddenly interrupted by Rei Baldur who sprung out from a bush. His hair ruffled and filled with leaves, next to him a wild rabbit that hopped it's way to escape. The little Rei turned his head to face the puzzled sibblings, "Your merry song scared away my prey. I've always wanted a wild rabbit as a pet you see, and this one was really small and cute and fluffy so I really wanted it but now it's gone and escaped. " Said the disappointed Rei as he brushed off the leaves and dust from his clothes and hair. He then shrugged and joined the sibblings on their way to school.
They were right in time and placed their luncheon baskets near the fireplace so they would not freeze and stay warm. And since they carried their water in a gourd made from earth, the water would tend to get really cold but is really enjoyable in summer.
Class began and every students was focussed on the subject the school professor was teaching, while eagerly awaiting their dinner break to see what their mothers packed them in their luncheon baskets. Mrs Reynaldy packed them a delicious boiled egg cream sandwich with carrot râpé in as salad, of course the bread used were freshly baked buns from their bakery. They would open up before dawn and start baking bread at 4:00 o'clock in the morning, sell the bread before sunrise and go back home to prepare breakfast, then go to the bakery again and bake more bread and cakes. The bakery is right next to their little cottage, but still in their garden, which is convenient. The food was delicious as usual and the children went back to their lessons with happy and full stomachs.
It was finally time for art class which Daria was looking forward to eagerly. They were grouped in groups of eight students, her group members were notably the mischievous Rei, the sweet but clumsy Katerina, the clever yet quiet Fatimah, her brother of course Cameron,his friend Uriah Turiya, but they were short of two members and rumours has it that the missing member assigned to them was none other than the infamously handsome Miryakev twins Faris and Raees. Rumours has it that they went on a family trip to the great Ottoman Empire and hadn't yet returned. Apparently it's the most peaceful and richest Empire of all times, in all prosperity since it was founded.
Nevertheless they started drawing their sketches with or without the mysterious missing members.
It was finally time to go back home and on their way they went to town with their friends to gather some art supplies before going back home. They got some paint brushes, ordered some paint, got some art pencils, sketchbooks and ordered some canvas, then got a basket to put all their stuffs in and happily went home. But once Daria went up to her room, her faced dropped and she started crying, she had come to realisation that her watch was nowhere to be found.