Chapter 1 

Oh shit!

Time is far gone. How do I explain to Father that I overslept? I'm definitely going to get grounded. No, no, no! I can't afford to miss my favorite TV series cause of this. 

If only I had listened to my instincts and gotten those birds locked in their cage yesterday, I wouldn't have been in this mess. To think of the fact that Dad reminded me to get them locked up scares me. 

Oh, Bonita, you are so gonna get grounded if Dad finds out. 

But I don't think locking animals in cages feels cool. Everyone deserves freedom to be themselves, to explore wherever they want to with whoever they choose to—including animals too. 

Ooooh, poor fowls. I hope you all find happiness someday, and maybe love too. 

Okay, that sounds stupid. Where the hell is this switch? 

Oh, light switch, where are youuuu?

Oh, hi! I'm Bonita. I'm only 19, but I have a family of four to take care of—my mischievous but cute lil sisters, Virginia and Veronica, and my dad, Mr. Alex, or should I say Pastor Alex. Chuckles

Well, you noticed right. Mum is not in the picture 'cause she died 3years ago, she might not be in the picture but lives evergreen in our hearts.

 "Deep breath"

Yeah, bad things always happen to good people. The thought of her always brings tears to my eyes. 

"Chuckles" I know she'll be frowning her eyebrows off if she found me still in bed at this time of the day. 

"Sighs" I miss her so so so bad, but life has to move on, y'know. 

For now, I need to get my little twin sisters, nicknamed "Helpers of Boni," to help me on this mission! 

Hurrying down from my bed and getting it laid properly, I quickly put on my favorite pink garment gifted to me by Mum on my 15th birthday and the pink matching flip-flops gifted to me by Aunt Cate last Christmas. 

Oh well, Aunt Cate is Mum's younger sister, married to a military hottie. 

Well, you guessed right. The garment is way smaller than me now, but I just can't give it up. It was one of the last gifts Mother gave me before she passed on. I still remember how I screamed when I unboxed my birthday package from her. It was really special because I didn't know Mum had caught me staring at the garment the day she took me to the shop. Then having it all to myself was the best feeling ever.

Ouch! Really? A bite this early? 

C'mon, not now. We've got work to do. 

Oh, I forgot to introduce Sasha, the stray dog Veronica picked up on her way home from Wednesday service 3 months ago. I'm really not a dog lover, but I wonder why anyone would let a puppy this cute out of their watch. 

"Hey, stop that! Enough, Sasha! Give it back nowwwww! I tried whispering in the calmest voice ever.

C'mon, doggy, please, please give me back my keys! We don't want to wake Dad up, right?" 

Wait a minute.

"Did you poop on my school bag?! 

Bad dog, Sasha, bad habits!" 

---

Virginia, Virginia! 

I bet she's probably dreaming of her crush, Harrison. Not just about him though—Virginia has always been a deep sleeper. One would probably think she was dead or in a coma. Aunt Cate had always teased her, saying if there ever was a competition for sleeping people, Virginia would always hold the record as a gold medalist for decades. 

"Virginia, c'mon, sleepyhead! Wake up!" 

"Go awaaaay," murmured Veronica. 

"Oh, you're awake? Thank goodness. Help me get this other half of yours out of bed, would you?" 

"Leave me alone, Boni." 

"C'mon, I need you two to help!" 

"Nooo," replied Veronica, still feeling sleepy. 

"Alright, how about a bucket of popcorn this afternoon?" 

"Popcorn?" exclaimed Virginia irritably. 

Bonita finally relaxed her shoulders, knowing she had won the battle because she had caught the sparkle of excitement hidden at the corners of Virginia's eyes. 

Well, this was a ritual I had to carry out on several occasions for years now to get the duo to do my bidding—especially when it was something that would have Dad yelling. And this was one of those cases. I was going to do all I could to avoid Dad's anger today, especially since it involved my favorite TV series, "The Witch and the Lost Hunter". Seems the witch is going to cast a spell today. Damn, I can't miss this episode! 

Bonita couldn't complete her thought because what happened next was truly unexpected. 

Virginia's sudden push to the ground by Veronica caught me off guard. 

"Ouch! What was that for?" yelped Virginia. 

"I'm definitely going to repay you soon, beautiful sister!" 

"Oh, please spare me that," replied Veronica nonchalantly. 

"Do you really always need to sleep like the dead, huh?" inquired Veronica. 

"Well, expect your own serving soon," replied Virginia, resting her right hand on the bedstand as she tried to rise from the floor. 

"Good morning, Sis," greeted Virginia as she tried a little stretch. 

Well, Virginia has always been the cool-headed one—more of the good sheep—but Veronica, a very *baaaad* seed. 

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. I guess you were dreaming about someone special?" asked Bonita jokingly, not missing the blush that appeared on Virginia's cheeks. 

"Oh God," murmured Veronica, already tired of the morning. 

"Not really. Although, he was there smiling at me in my dreams," replied Virginia to Bonita's question. 

Veronica immediately slapped her forehead, then cursed under her breath. 

"What? Why are you staring at me like that, huh?" asked Virginia. 

"Whatever," replied Veronica irritably, rolling her eyes for the second time that day—an act she was so used to. 

Although these two were just 8 years of age, they were so smart. Not to mention their body stature—one would mistake them for 12-year-olds. 

Well, they were my companions, my best friends, my helpmates, and my younger ones too. And now we had a mission to plan, like I earlier stated. 

"Alright, girls, I forgot to put the chickens back yesterday evening, and I'm sure the youngest must have gone missing as usual. And we all know that's Dad's favorite bird. It wouldn't go well if he hears it's gone miss—" 

Bonita didn't complete her statement as she was cut off by Veronica. 

"How many buckets of popcorn are we talking about here, Boni?" 

"C'mon, please let me finish," pleaded Bonita. 

"I just want to know, no big issue," continued Veronica. 

"Do you always have to be such a spoiled foodie, Veronica?" questioned Virginia. 

"Oh, shut up," Veronica immediately fired back. 

"Foodie, foodie, foodie," sang Virginia, trying to get under her twin's skin. 

"Girlssssss!" cried Bonita. 

"Can we please not start this so early? Besides, Dad is still asleep. We just have a few minutes before he wakes up." 

"Alright, I'm in," said Veronica. 

"You know I'll always want to help, Boni," said Virginia, giving a slight curtsey bow, causing Veronica to roll her eyes for the third time. 

"Alright. So, what's the plan?" asked Veronica. 

---

"Is Sasha allowed to come?" inquired Virginia eagerly. 

"If only she wouldn't get us caught or get us into a worse situation," replied Veronica. 

"Don't worry. I bet she'll be on her best behavior. I can assure you, right, Sasha?" Virginia looked toward the dog. And who says dogs don't understand English? Oh well, this one does, because it wagged its tail at Virginia's question. 

"See? Told ya," said Virginia happily. 

Immediately, I bent down, seizing the opportunity to get my keys out of the dog's grasp. 

"Alright, so this is it: Veronica, you and Sasha will walk with me up the forest in search of the lost chicken, while Virginia will stay back and wash the dishes. How about that?" 

"Sounds cool," replied Veronica. 

Virginia called out, "Bonita?" waiting to hear her suggestions. 

"Well, I don't really like the idea of me staying back, but it's fine. I love doing the dishes, so it's fine." 

"Alright, so are we ready?" 

"Yes, captain!" replied Veronica and Virginia excitedly as they all rushed out of the room in a single file, with me, Veronica, and Sasha sneaking out through the back door.