CHAPTER THREE

Fifteen years was a long time from when Prestoria was destroyed but the beautiful kingdom was still there, somewhere out there in an unknown land. Prestoria was out there hiding…

She heard something at her window. It was a knocking voice but yet annoying and graceful. She didn’t want to wake up but now that she was awake, she couldn’t sleep back.

She rubbed her eyes yawning ferociously, letting out her horrible morning breath to the atmosphere. She walked to the window with heavy feet, wondering what was making the noise. 

She got there to see a bluebird. It was very small and had a cute orange beak. Angela smiled happily at the bird. She wanted to open the rotten window door to play with it a bit but it flew away in fear. 

Coward. She thought rubbing her eyes. Every day was the same for her but today she had this other feeling she couldn’t understand. She tried to understand and interpret the feeling but nothing came to her mind. 

She lay back on the bed and went into thought when she remembered something. It starts with a b and it is a…

She screamed to the top of her voice, jumping on her bed happily. She did not believe she forgot so easily. She couldn’t sleep for most of her night because of the b feeling.  

She heard crashing noises in the living room and fast running footsteps coming towards her room. 

“Dear Lord Angela! What is going on?”

Angela gave her mother her natural sheepish smile and shook her head. 

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean by nothing? You screamed.”

“W…I did, when?”

“Stop with the lies and tell me what is going on.”

“Maybe because today is a really special day.”

“Special…day? What is special about today?” Angela frowned, holding her pillow tighter. How could they forget she thought angrily? “Angie, are you okay?”

“Yes, mother I just...” Angela’s nose flickered in pain as it began to turn red. “So you do not remember what today is?”

Her mother rolled her eyes and dropped her tray of bread and homemade butter with some freshly made orange juice on the bed right beside her. 

“Here is your breakfast. Remember to eat, come to the living room soon okay?”

“Sure,” Angela said unenthusiastic and brought the tray of food closer to her.

Her mother walked out of the room as Angela spread some butter on her bread. How could they possibly forget her birthday? Was it so hard to remember or was it because of old age, were they losing their memory slowly? 

She was exhausted even though she just woke up. Could it be that they remembered and were playing tricks on her? 

It wasn’t like her parents to forget her birthday. They always said she was special. They said she was going to be someone very great in the future and she was going to be known around the world someday. 

They always pampered her, took care of her, and showered her with love. Though they did not have much, they always made her feel like she had the whole world. They gave her all of her wishes except one…leaving the forest. 

That was one thing she always asked for but never got. They would begin to tell her lies about the real world. She knew they were lies because the storybooks said the world was a wonderful place, full of wonders and magic. 

She’s always wanted to go into the real world. Tyle forest had become too small for her to explore. She wanted to be free but she did not have the heart and courage to leave Tyle forest against her parents' wishes. 

She was still worried about her birthday. If they could do all that for her then how in Tyle Forest could they forget her birthday? 

She looked down at her food and immediately lost her appetite. There was no way she was going to enjoy eating. She covered the tray of food with another tray near her and headed outside. 

Moreover, why did they give her bread and butter for breakfast? They knew she hated butter. She would always prefer some pancakes coated with a lot of fresh and sugary honey. 

It was like they were deliberately trying to make the day horrible for her. 

She walked past the kitchen but immediately stopped in her tracks when she got the scent of something. She knew that delicious smell from anywhere. 

Walking closer to where the kitchen was, she saw her mother making her favorite breakfast. Strawberry pancakes. No way! They were making strawberry pancakes but were serving her some dried bread and tasteless butter. 

Her mother turned to her side and shone her eyes in surprise. 

“Mother you are making strawberry pancakes!” Angela said running over to the kitchen to take a piece but immediately her mother held her hand, stopping her from doing such. “What is it, can I not have some?”

“No you cannot, these are for your neighbors, and their daughter’s birthday is today.”

Angela’s heart shattered in pieces as she stepped back a bit, nodding her head in obedience.

“Oh…I had no idea.”

“And her daughter’s turning sixteen today, is that not exciting.”

Angela sighed sadly. “Very exciting.”

“Is something wrong sweetie?”

“Wrong…no,” she said with her eyes kept on the hot, most delicious looking strawberry pancakes she had ever seen. Milk was poured all over it, brown sugar was used to decorate the thin flat cakes and five big juicy strawberries were placed on them. The pancakes were pink and looked heavenly. “Is it okay if I deliver it to them?”

“You…you want to deliver it?”

“Yes…can I?” Angela said with an evil smile on her face.

Her mother looked around for a good excuse. She closed her eyes nodding as Angela’s smile grew bigger.

“Are you sure you want to go?” her mother asked with a bit of worry on her face. “Remember it is quite a distance from here.”

“Do not worry mama. It is not the first time I am going there.”

Her mother raised a brow at her. Angela only called her mother—mama—when she was about to do something that would land her in trouble. 

“Okay.” Her mother looked for one of the large coolers she could keep the pancakes in. “Maybe your father should accompany you,” her mother suggested with delight.

“Do not worry mama it will be okay. I can handle it.”

“Okay?” Her mother placed the pancakes in a large cooler and handed it to her. “You know they are very heavy.”

“Do not worry mama, they will become a lot lighter soon.”

Her mother threw her another questioning look. Mama again? She thought as Angela scurried out of the room heading for the house’s exit.

“Whoa, Angela no greetings?” her father asked dropping the cup of coffee, he was drinking, carelessly on the table. 

Little of the coffee spilled from the cup. 

“Careful papa.”

“Papa? When last did you call me that? Is something going on?”

Her father had whitening hair, and some wrinkles on his face but even with all this he looked as lively as ever. His hazel eyes shined brightly as he gently raised his left brow at her. Her mother too had dark hazel eyes but she had blue eyes. 

Angela had sky blue eyes that would sparkle anytime the sun reflected on them. At times she was worried about it but they always said her father’s mother had eyes like her, that must have been where she got it from. 

Though…anytime they said it there was sadness in their voice. It would have either been because of her father’s mother’s early death or something else. Still, something was fishy about it. 

She faced her father who had been staring at her, expecting an answer. 

“No no, I just want to give the neighbors some of mama’s special strawberry pancakes.”

Her father began to cough hard, holding his neck as he did so. She quickly gave him a glass of warm milk he drank hastily and became better. 

“Thank you, darling,” her father said wiping tears that had escaped from his eyes when he was coughing. 

“Did you say you are giving your neighbors the pancakes…all of them?”

“Yes, papa.”

“This papa again? And you are going alone?” There were traces of uncertainty in his voice.

“Do not worry I will be okay,” Angela said giving him one of her evil smiles. “I need to get going, the earlier I go the earlier I come back.”

“Sure sure, be on your way,” her father added in agreement as she went out of the house eagerly, gently closing the door behind her. 

As she went out, her father walked over to his wife fast on his feet. I thought the pancakes were for Angie. He said in his mind, as soon as he got into the kitchen, his wife began to explain everything, blabbing it out one by one. 

“I did not know Angie would finish her breakfast so early. I was already finished and wanted to pack it in when she just appeared.”

“So the best thing to do was to make her go all the way to the neighbors' place, really Isabella!”

The neighbors they were talking about were not exactly neighbors. They lived eight miles away from their house, but again they were the closest living human beings to them. 

They didn’t banish their neighbors. The people just enjoyed living in the jungle like savages but they were close to the village in case there was trouble. They had a choice while the Bells didn’t.

“What could I have done?”

Mr. Bells rubbed his face in anguish, sighing.  

“Do not worry. I can always make another batch of strawberry pancakes,” Isabella said rubbing some dirt off her husband’s face.

“I am not worried about that.” He pecked his wife’s head. “I am worried about Angie.”

“She will be fine. She is a big girl now.”

Her husband nodded as they both went into an embrace. 

After Angela had played with their farm animals for a while, she embarked on her journey to the Joule’s house but she had other plans. 

There was no way she was going to give her neighbors a lovely batch of her mother’s amazing strawberry pancakes while she would eat some dry bread and tasteless butter. They didn’t deserve that, the Joule’s were always mean to them.

They had never done anything nice to them and they were always doing nice things to the Joules.