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I own a pet dog. Obviously not a real one, my mum’s allergic to dogs and she starts sneezing every time someone with a dog walks past, or she sees someone playing fetch with their dogs at the park. It’s an imaginary dog. His name is Cream Cake, and he’s an Alaskan Malamute. He’s so soft and fluffy, I could just cuddle him all day. He’s like a big brother to me, and he’s called Cream Cake because of his cream coloured patches in place of grey ones like most Alaskan Malamutes. He doesn’t poo on the rug like most dogs, instead he uses the toilet, and whenever it’s time for dinner, he eats real human food like bacon and eggs. His favourite food obviously is cake, but Mum tells me to save it for after teatime. Cream, as I like to call him, says “You can’t have tea without milk,” and that’s exactly what I have every teatime - milk, although Cream Cake uses a straw to suck it all up. “You finished your milk very quickly,” said Mum as she cleared the table. “Actually, it was Cream Cake who drank it all up.” I added in very quickly as I moved my Scream Street mug, which was shaped like Cleo Farr, out of the way.
My name, by the way, is Evelyn. Cream Cake and I love butterflies, unicorns and tea parties in my room, which I call my secret hideout. I live with my mum and my 15-year-old brother Dan. Now, Dan’s only 15, and I’m 7, but he loves CBBC. Mum says I’m a bit too young for the channel, but Dan’s favourite show is Scream Street. He likes both seasons, but Mum tells him not to watch it in front of me, because it’ll scare me to death. It was near Halloween, and the house was decorated for this occasion. Pumpkins and bats hung in hollow paper chains past the curtains. There were carved pumpkins outside the door, and Halloween ornaments stood in pride of place at the window. My favourite one was of a ghost wavily floating out of a grave, while a pumpkin watched in awe. Cream loves the ornament too. He likes to call the ghost ‘Icing’ and the pumpkin ‘Ichabod’ after Ichabod Crane from The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow.
On this day, my brother Dan and I were settling down to breakfast at the table. I left an extra seat for Cream just in case. “What do you want for breakfast today?” asked Mum as she laid three sunny side up eggs into the frying pan, “Toast, or the full monty - bacon and eggs?” “Full monty! Full monty!” Dan and I chanted. “But mostly, I would like toast to go with that please,” I added. “You should’ve asked for sausages.” whispered Cream. “Oh yeah? Mmm-hmmm, I see, I caught you stealing from the butcher’s shop yesterday. My mum was wondering where that pound of sausages had come from.” “But sausages are my favourite, especially with bacon and eggs.” said Cream. “Who were you talking to just now?” asked Dan. “No one,” I said, pointing at my empty seat. “Mu-um!” called Dan, “Evelyn’s talking to her imaginary friend again!” “Don’t be so harsh on Evelyn,” said Mum, “When she has imaginary friends, she can talk to them whenever she pleases.” She poured some milk into Dan’s Freddy Lupin-shaped 100% Wolf mug he got from Truffle Shuffle. The mug’s pink hair stuck up like it had put its paw in a electric socket, its blue eyes staring at Cream Cake, who seemed a little freaked out by his smile.
“This…is better.” he said, pointing to my Cleo mug. “Hey, Evie, have you heard?” asked Dan. “What?” I asked. “When you were five, I saw Cleo and Luella hugging - as frieeeeends! Ooooooooo!” “Uh oh! But I prefer it when she was with Luke and Resus!” “You haven’t even seen it yet, come on, don’t be a wuss!” At that point, Mum put a plate of bacon and eggs on the table in front of me, complete with two slices of toast spread with her homemade jam. A sniffing sound filled the air. I looked forward and saw Cream sniffing the smell of a complete breakfast. “A real breakfast, ho boy, what a treat!” Cream and I shared a whole breakfast between each other. Cream was always a messy eater, he always got egg yolk all over his fur. “And this incident is airing today,” said Dan, “I’ll be the first to see it, as well as who’s carrying my milk.” He pointed to the little white dog face on his mug. Its blue eyes stared at me and sparkled. “You mean, 100% Wolf?” I asked. “Yep.” “And Scream Street?” “It’s Endless Summer, you jerk,” said Dan. “Hey! Dan!” scolded Mum, “Don’t be so harsh on your sister. She’s too young for these kinds of things.” “By the way,” Cream told me, “Wolves don’t drink milk, they eat goat’s cheese, and so do I, although my breath feels a bit smelly. I ate some last suppertime. Wanna smell it?” “Actually, no, I…” Cream breathed all over me. The stink stench of dried up milk filled my nostrils. “Eeewww! Gross!” I cried.
After breakfast, I got out my Peppa Pig play tent and placed it in the middle of my bedroom. “Why are you getting the tent out?” asked Cream. “We have to be ready for 4:10PM.” “Is a bomb going off?” “No, it’s not a nuclear war, we have to be prepared for Scream Street. The moment Dan steps in front of the TV and turns it on, we head into the tent with all the essentials. Here’s what we need. I wrote down the list after we’ve eaten this morning, although a few bits of bacon grease got onto the paper.” I took out a greasy piece of paper and began to read. “Dustbin, calendar, books, games, paper, pencil, shovel, spade, crowbar, axe, hatchets, saw whistle and/or gong for alarms, suitcases for furniture or evacuation, string, pliers, first aid kit, safety pins, scissors, splints, aspirins, diarrhoea remedy, tweezers, calamine lotion, war crisis additions, lice/flea powder, rubber gloves, sanitary towel, mirror, toilet paper, eyewash.” “You don’t own these things. Plus, you stole it from When The Wind Blows.” said Cream. When The Wind Blows was my uncle’s favourite film. He can’t let me watch it obviously, because I was too little, and this film is for adults only. He saw it on Channel 4 once. It can still bring him to tears to this day.
Flower baths originated in Bali, where they were thought to have relaxing properties on those who stepped in. Well, I am in Bali now, in a spa. I stepped slowly into the bath which was filled with different coloured flower petals, and lay back with my eyes closed. It was heaven. I sniffed the air - the wonderful scent of flowers filled my nostrils as my eyes grew heavier and heavier. Little did I realise that the bath was big enough for about six people, which means soon, something will be about to happen that may spoil my bath, but will be inclusive too.
“You’re forgetting about me!” called a voice from the other side of the spa. It was Cleo. “Cleo?” I asked, “What are you doing here?” “Dad said I have to share that so-called spa experience with you, Sybs.” reminded Cleo. “Not after last time, you put on that face mask and you were possessed.” “This is different,” said Cleo, “I’m free from trouble now. Besides, we do share in everything together, right?” I nodded slowly at Cleo as she stepped into the bath. “Ooh - feels weird surrounded by flower petals floating in the water.” “It feels weird to me too. Do you have these back in Egypt?” “No, but we did have milk baths.” “Where on earth did you get the milk from?” I asked. “Goats, not cows.” said Cleo. “Yuck!” I grossed out.
Just then, I heard footsteps running towards the bath, and saw Luke racing towards me. He leapt high into the air and yelled “CANNONBALL!” “No, don’t!” Cleo and I both shouted, but Luke dived into the bath. Water and flower petals flew everywhere. I shrieked with laughter, and Luke began to splash me. I splashed him back, and soon we were both splashing each other. Cleo sighed in apprehension and said, “Alright, alright, you two, break it up.” “Hey! You’re not my mother! You’re of the wrong skin colour!” “That’s racist!” said Cleo. “Alright, no need to be offensive.” I said, “By the way, why do you want to join our spa ritual?” “Because Mum said so.” said Luke. I sighed. It wasn’t easy having a rambunctious werewolf boy in the spa with me. He dived in straight away and splashed other people. He had already scattered millions of flower petals everywhere!
I soon got used to it and I watched with heavy eyes as Luke lay on his back amongst the flowers. It seemed pretty relaxing having friends to share a unique moment with. Suddenly, I heard another cry of joy, and turned my head round to see Resus running towards the bath. He skidded on the wet floor and landed with a SPLASH in the bath. “Resus?!” we all cried as he emerged, coughing and spluttering. “My bottom hurts because of all that sliding about on the floor,” he said. “By the way, this flower bath is so relaxing. It can heal everything, especially vampire bottoms.” “Oh my god, is that all you ever talk about these days, Resus?” I asked. “Yeah,” said Resus. Then he laughed. “Only kidding! Not going to talk about my bottom anymore!” “Good,” said Cleo, “It’s gross.” “Yeah,” I sighed, and settled back in the bath, breathing in the fresh scent of flowers. Now Resus had calmed down, he was relaxing with us and wasn’t whining a lot like he used to. Resus was a wimp when it came to monster hunting, always whining and whimpering over spooks and ghosties. Now he’s safe in Bali, relaxing in the water of this spa with me and my siblings.
Suddenly, the door was flung open, and Bluey and Bingo ran in, squealing with delight. “Bluey? Bingo?!” I screeched. “Flower dive!” cried Bingo, and the two girls jumped in, splashing each other and squealing with laughter. You would’ve thought I could’ve gotten mad and ordered everyone to leave, but seeing how much they enjoyed themselves, I decided to join in and splash my friends too. “Couldn’t hurt to join in,” said Luke, and he splashed along with us. Resus and Cleo joined in too, and soon we were all splashing each other in the warm flower bath. Isn’t fun with friends just relaxing?
It was a rainy night outside our hotel suite. Me and my extended family - Luke, Resus, Cleo, Luella, Six, Bluey, Bingo, Muffin, Socks, Mr Watson, Mrs Watson, Alston, Bella, Niles, Eefa, Dr F, Bandit, Chilli, Uncle Stripe, Aunt Trixie and Nana - were all staying in this luxurious suite which consisted of three bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room. Chilli booked it for us because we all needed a good relaxation session after a long week of school and work. After all, it was the Summer holidays. We were quite looking forward to it, what with a fridge full of chocolate and drinks and a bottle of champagne that was waiting for us…
…but the first night we stayed, I was particularly scared. The whole room was dark, and spooky shadows cast themselves on the walls. Rain poured down outside and lightning flashed. BOOM! CRASH! I was sleeping next to Luke, Resus and Cleo, so I had been protected from the wild wind and rain outside. I gently shook my brother. “Luke?” I whispered. “Luke? Are you awake?” Luke opened his crusty eyes and rubbed them. “What do you mean?” he yawned. Resus and Cleo were awake too. “I’m scared, there may be ghosts outside,” I whimpered. “Don’t be silly,” said Cleo, “Nothing’s outside.” “But it’s true, I saw a ghost!” Luke took me in his loving, gentle arms and whispered: “Sssssshhhhh…there there. It’s okay, it’s okay. There are no ghosties outside. They might scare us to death if they were around.” “There’s no need to be afraid,” smiled Resus, “Look, no ghosties.” But he was wedged in between Cleo and Luke so he couldn’t get up. “I know, Luke and I are here to keep you protected,” said Cleo, and we all hugged seeing as we are the best friends on the planet.
Just as our embrace got cuddlier and warmer, we heard a loud BANG from outside. It wasn’t a bomb going off…it was thunder. Luke, Resus, Cleo and I screamed and ran for safety inside Six and Dr F’s bed. They were sleeping together in the same bed, so I was glad there was enough room for all of us. “Six…there are ghosties outside,” I whimpered. “Ghosties?” asked Six, rubbing her eyes, “I think you’re wrong. There are no ghosts outside.” “No ghosts? There are ghosts!” “Stop arguing you two and go back to sleep,” sighed Dr F. “But auntie, it’s true, those loud bangs will make us want to-” BANG! Another lightning crash sounded. All of us hid under the covers, but Aunt F took me in her arms and stroked my back. “It’s okay, darling, it’s okay. Those ghosties won’t do any harm to you. Neither will they do any harm to any of you.” “Aunt F, you’re really kind,” I yawned, and felt safe in the embrace of my aunt, a mad scientist who dedicated her time to creating inventions, only to bask in the safety of playing with her niece.
There it was again! BANG! This time, we were joined by Six and Dr F as we screamed and dashed out of bed, straight into the second bedroom, where Eefa and Luella were sleeping. We leapt under the covers, and Resus snuggled close to Luella. “What’s the matter, my dark angel?” whispered Luella. “Ghosties!” whimpered Resus in a high pitched voice. “Yeah, they’re all over the place!” I added. “I usually have a spell for warding off poltergeists, but it’s far too late for that now,” yawned Eefa. She took me in her arms, and Luella hugged Resus. “There there there now now,” she whispered, “I’ll make you all better. There are no ghosties outside.” “How can they comfort me?” asked Dr F, “I’m only a mad scientist, and why do I have to be in bed beside the other-”
BANG! The loud lightning sound echoed through the air, and Luke, Resus, Cleo, Six, Dr F, Luella and Eefa all screamed and made a run for it back to the bed I shared with Luke, Resus and Cleo. The light switched on, and it was Chilli who did that. She was like the leader of the family, bold and uptight, always on the lookout for danger - especially simple ones. “Okay, stop with the screaming now. I think it’s time we unveiled all this hullabaloo.” Chilli drew open the curtains to reveal a set of trees and some rain on the window. “See? Nothing!” she said. “But..but…but….we thought they were ghosties!” I said. “Yeah!” everyone agreed. “Look, Sybil, let me reassure you - kids are afraid of ghosts all the time, but what they’re actually using is their imagination. You’re sharing it with everyone, increasing your fear more. Just think about something else and the ghosties will go away.” I looked at everyone huddled up shivering in my bed, then I looked back at Chilli. “I will!” “That’s my girl, you got it.” said Chilli. She turned the lights off. “Goodnight, everyone.” she said. “Goodnight,” we all whispered.
As we all fell asleep, thoughts filled my head. Not of ghosts, but of a world made of candy! Luke, Resus, Cleo, Six, Luella and I skipped around this wonderful sweet-smelling world. It had a chocolate volcano, pink marshmallow grass and a fountain of lemonade. Oh my, wasn’t it a sight? These thoughts filled everyone else’s heads too, and throughout the night, we dreamed this very dream, until morning came, and the fear of ghosties rubbed itself out of everyone’s minds…forever.
