Avalon

by Lana Davison

  “Hello,” I said without emotion. “I’m Holly.”

  “Sara, Holly’s awake,” the man with dark brown hair, shouted out.

  A woman appeared next to the man and beamed at me. “Hello, Holly. We are your guardians.”

  “Hello,” I said again dully. I continued to walk carefully down the stairs, holding onto the banister as I did so.

  “You must be hungry, come this way, I’ve made some pancakes for breakfast. And I know pancakes are your favourite, your mother told me so already.”

  “She did.” I smiled for the first time. “When did you talk to her?”

  “Oh, your mother has been in correspondence with me for quite some time. How else could I make your bedroom almost the same as the one you had on Avalon? Your mother wanted your transition to Earth to be as easy as possible. She has given me some recipes for your favourite food and told me everything about you. I must say I am really looking forward to having you here.” Sara said.

  I looked Sara over noticing her brown shoulder length hair and her pleasant disposition. “Thank you.” I said.

  “Come, come with me,” Sara said indicating for me to walk with her to the kitchen.

  The contemporary white kitchen had cupboards and stainless steel fittings, along with a breakfast island strategically centred in the middle of the room. I perched up on the breakfast barstool and faced the island while my guardian put some oil and butter into a fry pan.

  “So, Holly. You can call me Sara if you like. I do not intend to take the place of your mother. You can think of me as a friend of your mother’s, as an additional parent, someone who has both her and your interest at heart. When people ask you why you call me Sara, you can say because you live with your aunt.”

  “And what about when they ask about where my parents are?”

  “You can say they are no longer around. You don’t have to expand; people won’t probe you for further information, at least not in the beginning.”

  “What will I say when they ask me for more information?”

  “You can tell them your mother sent you away to live with me because she was unable to look after you. Tell them she was unwell and now she is not with you anymore.”

  “I suppose saying it like that means it’s not a lie.”

  “Exactly. Now, how do you like your pancakes? With syrup, Nutella or sugar and lemon?

  “Syrup please.”

  “Then syrup it is,” Sara said handing me a stack of four pancakes.

  I wanted to be angry, to be rebellious about being sent to this hell-hole called Earth, forced to live with some random Avalonean guardians who would assume to be my parents. But I couldn’t. So far this hell-hole Earth, was not a hell-hole at all, and my new guardians were nothing but nice. My grudge seemed to lighten as the day went on, with Sara and Stuart showing me around the house and giving me time to shower and change into one of my new outfits, a pair of jeans, a plain long sleeve white top and a cute little fitted tweed jacket. I told Sara I liked my new wardrobe and she seemed pleased to have made me happy. I entered the living room displaying a big grey comfortable corner sofa with tons of inviting cushions sprawled all over it. The suite nearly devoured the whole room, but didn’t look out of place. I wanted to take a running jump and dive onto it, but restrained myself.

  As if reading my mind Stuart said, “It’s pretty comfy looking, why don’t you take a big run and come and sit over here?”

  I looked at Sara and then looked back at Stuart and took a running jump and landed flat on the sofa, laughing hard. “That was fun.”

  “I bet it was. Listen, Holly. Everything in this house is yours as much as it is ours. You don’t have to ask to come and sit in here with us, you just do it.”

  “OK,” I said sitting up and looking down at my hands.

  “Right. Now that you’re washed and changed, let’s do something fun.”

  My eyes lit up. “What shall we do?”

  “Umm let’s see, we could go bowling,” Sara said.

  “Bowling? What is that?”

  “It’s a game, and it’s fun,” Sara said coming over to my seated position on the sofa, “Come on; let’s take a drive. I’ll show you where we live, where your new school is and how to bowl.”

  My mum was right, this would be an adventure. I stood up and followed Sara outside.

  Chapter Three

  Sara led me to the car, a strange looking item with wheels, very different to our hovercraft back on Avalon. I walked around the whole car, touching the surface with my hand, discovering this strange but interesting object for the first time. I looked inside.

  “I like the cockpit,” I beamed.

  “We don’t call it a cockpit on Earth. It’s called the driver’s seat and next to it is the passenger’s seat..”

  “How does it work?”

  “Exactly like a hovercraft but with wheels that touch the road.”

  “Wow!”

  “It’s different isn’t it?” Sara laughed. “I remember when I saw these Earth vehicles for the first time, I felt exactly like you.”

  “Sara, how long have you been on Earth?”

  “Well let me see, I’m thirty-six now, so I’ve been here for…. twenty-two years.”

  “Wow, that is a long time.”

  “I suppose it is for a twelve year old.”

  I nodded.

  “Come on hop in,” Sara said opening up the doors in one click. Stuart climbed in the driver’s side while Sara sat next to him in the passenger seat. I had the whole of the back to myself. “Are you comfortable back there?” Sara asked, craning her neck around.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Let’s go for a drive and show Holly where we live, Stuart. Holly we live in Warshire, Lanbridgshire.”

  “Warshire?” I said with a scrunched up face. “Warshire, Lanbridgshire. What a weird name for a place.”

  Stuart and Sara laughed at my revelation then Stuart announced, “We’re going to get on just fine.

  I eagerly looked out the window at the streets as we navigated our way around Warshire. Some of the houses were huge, but some were small blocks of houses, flats, is how Sara had explained it to me. Sara and Stuart’s house was medium sized, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, situated on an estate, where some of the house facades look the same. It was a comfortable size but smaller than my house in Avalon.

  “What do you do?” I asked my guardians.

  “I’m a school teacher,” Stuart said.

  “I work as a graphic designer,” Sara finished. “Do you know what you want to do when you get older?”

  “Not really. My dad’s a doctor and my mum’s a dentist. I might do something like that, but then again I might be a teacher, I like the idea of teaching. I like drawing too.”

  “You might like graphic design then. I’ll show you my work sometime.” Sara said.

  “I’d like that.”

  The banter continued in the car as we drove down the highway. I was feeling relaxed around Sara and Stuart and they happily answered all my questions. I couldn’t stop looking at the cars on Earth, so many different shapes and sizes and with wheels! We stopped at some lights and looking across into the vehicle next to me I saw a baby in a car seat sitting in the back of the vehicle, just like me. It made me think about our hovercraft car in Avalon, and where my baby brother would sit. All of a sudden I realised I would never know my brother and a single tear dropped from my eye as I began to think about what I had given up. Perhaps I should have accepted my union with my chosen one for the sake of staying with my family.

  “What are you thinking about?” Sara asked.

  “My family. I’m thinking I will never meet my brother.”

  Sara turned around to face me, “Holly, you have to look at this as gaining rather than losing. You never know what will happen in the future, but here on Earth you can make things happen. Earth is much more interesting than Avalon, there is so much to learn here. Your mother wanted you to come here so
you could choose to live your life on your own terms, especially when it comes to who you are going to spend the rest of your life with. On Earth there are some places where they still arrange marriages, but others that don’t. They have different religions here too, and something like 195 countries governed by rules made up in their own country. All countries run differently, but some are more different than others, for example they talk about the Western World, that means these countries are developed and third world means under-developed. Some countries are much more advanced than others. There are rich countries and poor countries. Earth is amazing; the diversity is extraordinary and complicated, completely dissimilar to Avalon, where all our rules are run by The Royal League.”

  “That does sound strange,” I said speaking from my twelve year old viewpoint.

  “Here we are.” Stuart pointed on ahead. “This Holly, is going to be your school.”

  “Wow!” My eyes grew big at the sight of the large grounds where a large manor house stood straight and centre. “Look at that house, its massive.”

  “That’s not a house, it’s a school. Your new school and it’s one of the best schools in Lanbridgshire.”

  I squinted my nose at the name again. “When do I start?”

  “In a couple of days. We thought you might want to get a little settled first.”

  “Do you work there, Stuart?”

  “No, I wish. I think the teachers stay there forever. They never have any positions come up at that school.”

  “So, why am I going there, then?”

  “Your parents insisted on you getting the very best education.”

  I nodded, understanding. My education was of the upmost importance to my parents. My mum always went on about how vital it was for me to do well at school; she wanted me to have the freedom to choose whatever career path I wanted.

  “It’s gorgeous.”

  “Yes, it’s pretty special”. Stuart said. “Did you see your school uniform in your wardrobe?”

  “Kind of, at least it looked like a school uniform. It’s a checked shirt, blue skirt and blue blazer with a plain blue tie.”

  “Yep that’s it. Right, let’s go and find this bowling alley?”

  Stuart drove to a place where there were lots of buildings together. He called it Warshire town centre. We parked up and Stuart and Sara walked me around town briefly, pointing at some of the shops and telling me a little bit about what they sold. Once we arrived to the town square I noticed many outside stalls selling all kinds of stuff. I must have looked like a person from a strange land (and I was exactly that) as I inquisitively scanned the stalls, the products being sold, touching things, spinning around with my arms out to the side of my body as I tried to come to grips with the strange new world. I looked at many different types of people, some were shopping, some worked behind the stalls, I even saw a couple of people sitting on the pavement with their feet in sleeping bags, a dog lying dutifully by their side. In Avalon, we very rarely saw poor people, let alone homeless people, the law makers would not tolerate that. Vagrants in Avalon, I don’t think so. Avalon is perfect and clean and everyone has a roof over their head. The only downside to Avalon, in my view, was their adherence to a union with your chosen one. I mean not everyone wants to get married, and what about Marcus, my chosen one? With me leaving Avalon would he ever enter a union?

  We continued to walk through the town until we reached a big new building, which kind of looked out of place given the surrounded buildings looked much older. Stuart pushed open the double glass doors and held them open before directing me towards another door which led into a big open plan space with boothed seating areas and polished wooden floor alleys. Stuart went to pay at the counter while Sara and I waited. Sara told me to watch a man who was about to take a bowl.

  “Holly, look. He is holding the ball with three fingers and throwing it down the alley and trying to hit those pins at the end.”

  “I can do that,” I said.

  “The bowling ball is heavy, you’ll see.”

  We took our place at one of the alleys and Stuart and Sara showed me how to play and how to score. We were having lots of fun and decided to eat some dinner, I had a burger and drank a strange drink called coke. Sara said coke was only for special occasions as it rots your teeth. I don’t plan to drink it again, why would you want to drink something that rots your teeth, my mother, a dentist would definitely not approve.

  Sara said we could play one more game and then we had to go home so that I could shower and change. She wanted me to get a good night’s sleep. I was feeling a little exhausted probably because I had so much information to take in. I realised I really liked Sara and Stuart, they were like having a favourite uncle and aunt that cared for you, bought you presents and whenever you saw them they always had interesting things to say to you.

  Chapter Four

  I was both scared and excited about going to my new school, meeting kids my age and making friends. I changed into my new school uniform and tied my long brown hair into a ponytail. I walked downstairs and met Sara and Stuart who clapped when they saw me. “Look at you, you look gorgeous in your school uniform,” Sara stated taking a photograph of me. “I’m going to send this to your mum.”

  “My mum.” My eyes widened with excitement.

  “Yes, I spoke to her last night and told her you are settling in very well. I also told her what a great job she did bringing you up.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled knowing my mum would be proud to hear that, she was always saying politeness costs nothing. “Has she had my brother yet?”

  “No, not yet. Here have something to eat and drink before you set off,” Sara said handing me some toast and a glass of juice. “Do you want to eat a bowl of cereal too?”

  “No thank you.” I ate my toast and jam and downed my orange juice quickly.

  “Holly, we bought you a gift for your first day at school. It’s only something small, but we figured you would need it anyway.” Sara picked up a large gift bag and handed it to me.

  It was a canvas school bag with a pencil case and plastic drink bottle. “Thank you. I love it,” I said appreciatively.

  “Come on, let’s get you off to school,” Sara said. “It’s got a very good reputation and it is for day pupils and boarders.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked remembering my mother saying something about boarding.

  “Well, they have some children who live at the school.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s a boarding school with day pupils. Children can opt to board if it suits them and their families.”

  “Am I boarding?”

  “No. Not unless you want to. But you have plenty of time to decide. You have enough changes to deal with at the moment, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Yes.”

  “Stuart’s going into work late so we can both come with you and make sure you get settled. We will both come and collect you at the end of the day, too.” Sara smiled warmly.

  “OK, thank you,” I said putting my school bag over my shoulder.

  We drove most of the way to school in silence. I kept thinking about my old school, my old friends, my mum and dad and how different things would be for me from this day forward. I told myself that going to a new school on Earth would be like my mother said – an adventure. Stuart parked the car in front of the school and the three of us got out and approached the huge building.

  We stood in front of two giant wooden doors and pressed a buzzer.

  “Hello,” came the voice on the speaker.

  “Hello, this is Stuart Shaffer. I’m here with my wife Sara, and Holly Stephens, It’s Holly’s first day at school.

  “Yes, Mr Shaffer we are expecting you, please come in.”

  “Wow! Look at that fireplace,” I said looking up at Stuart and Sara as we entered the reception.

  “Yes, now that’s what I call a proper fire,” Sara replied, looking at the huge fireplace burning wood, the flames blazing vivid b
lue and orange colours.

  I stood for a moment in front of the fire enjoying the warmth and listening to the wood crackle. “It’s the most welcome entrance I have ever seen.” I said.

  “Me too.” Sara agreed.

  The receptionist greeted us before leaving to find the Head of the school. A smart man in a suit with white hair came out to meet us, introducing himself as Mr Allen. We went into his plush office, and the three of us took a seat on the leather chesterfield sofa. I looked out the big bay windows straight into the beautifully manicured school gardens. After a short interview in which Mr Allen asked about my interests, I said my farewells to Sara and Stuart. I walked off toward my new classroom with Mr Allen pointing out areas that might be of interest to me; the library, toilets, court-yard, cafeteria, the design technology room. I was to be assigned a school buddy, who would look after me for my first week and ensure that I settled in. Mr Allen opened the door to the classroom and gestured for me to enter before him. The whole class stood up as we entered the room until Mr Allen said, “Good morning, Year 7.”

  “Good morning, Sir,” came the collective response from the whole class.

  “You may sit down.”

  Everyone took their seats. “Year 7 I am proud to announce we have a new class member. This is Holly Stephens who has previously been home schooled. I hope you all welcome her into your class and make her feel very comfortable.”

  “Yes, Sir,” they replied in unison.

  “Holly, your teacher is Mrs Fisher. Mrs Fisher, I will hand over to you now.”

  “Thank you, Mr Allen,” my teacher said. “Holly, please can you take a seat next to Emily?”

  Emily put her hand up so I knew where I was suppose to go and I navigated my way through a small number of tables to reach the space next to her.

  “I’m your new school buddy,” she whispered. “I’ll show you the ropes.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered back. So far so good.

  Mrs Fisher returned to the front of the classroom and reiterated Mr Allen’s words, “Welcome, Holly. We hope you feel very comfortable here. If you have any questions, we are all here to answer them. Right class, please get your things for science.”