the secret book

chapter 1: the book

on, everyone, we need to tidy the house!” Emma shouted. “We need to prepare for Grandma! She’ll be here any minute!”

“Of course,” Emily muttered, grabbing the mop with a sigh. Of course, Dad had put Emma in charge of organizing the event. He always did. To be fair, it must have been quite a bit of work to be in charge of four girls and one boy, but it still annoyed Emily every time.

“Well, we may as well prepare,” Emily thought, as she mopped the kitchen floor. It was a annoying, but she didn’t mind it too much—Grandma’s visits were always fun. Sure, there would be the usual bickering with Mom, but Grandma always brought gifts, and those gifts were worth the fuss.

“Emily!” Emma shouted again. “You’re getting water all over yourself. Go change!”

Welp, better than mopping, Emily thought, tossing her wet clothes into the tumble dryer and heading to the shower. A few minutes later, she was standing in front of her closet, wrapped in a towel, her long red hair still damp.

She looked at the mess inside: piles of clothes stuffed carelessly on the shelves. Honestly, Emily, the least you could do is fold them! Emma’s voice echoed in her head.

But despite the chaos, there was one thing that made Emily’s closet special.

The top shelf. It was the secret part of her closet that no one, not even Mum—who was the tallest in the family—could reach without a ladder. That is, until one particularly hot summer day when Emily, trying to reach the air conditioner that Mum had placed on top of the closet, had stumbled upon something unexpected.

It was a small, brown leather-bound book, about the size of her pocket but thick, though light. There were no markings on the cover, no title, nothing to indicate what it was. Curious, Emily opened it. Inside, she found the words: The Full Journal of Magic from A to Z for Beginner Wizards, by Brandy Readford The words didn’t seem to make sense.

Curious, Emily opened it. Inside, she found the words: The Full Journal of Magic from A to Z for Beginner Wizards, by Brandy Readford. The words didn’t seem to make sense, They were written in a strange, looping script—nothing like English. It looked like some sort of sign language, with intricate symbols and swirls. And the pages—they were old, yellowed, with strange illustrations of magical creatures and landscapes.

suddenly her usually noisy house turned earily quit.

emma gave a hoarse wisper “ shes here.”

chapter two: the mysterious gift

Her grandma didn’t visit often. It was a long drive from Aldburg to Giethoorn, and the last time she’d visited, Emily had been just nine years old. Now, she was twelve, a whole three years older.

Emily raced down the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the steps. She reached the bottom and paused, her breath catching in her throat. This was her chance—she could ask Grandma about the book. Grandma had the biggest collection of books in the world (okay, maybe not the world, but definitely in their town). If anyone knew about the mysterious book, it would be Grandma.

They were already crowded around Grandma, who was holding a large, lumpy bag. It looked like it was filled with gifts.

She was wearing her usual bright yellow scarf, wrapped carefully around her long neck, and draped so far down that it almost reached her knees, and Her blue, flowery dress.

“Well, come on now!” Grandma called, “Let’s go to the living room so I can hand out the gifts!”

Emily watched as Grandma settled herself on the red couch, her grandkids plopping down around her, eager for presents..

I wonder what Grandma got me… she thought, trying to push aside her curiosity. There would be time to ask about the book later, when Grandma was more settled. For now, it was time to enjoy her visit.

next! grandma announced. lily was 5 and a big fan of disney princesses. grandma pulled out a large package, carefully wrapped in pink wrapping paper covered in gold crowns with a large pink bow on top.

lily’s eyes widened as she saw what was inside the package: a pink sparkly dress with a puffy pink skirt complete with a little gold crown with a pink rhinestone right in the middle.

okay, now for susie!

susie was about as different from lily as it gets. while lily liked playing dress up, susie liked reading pretty much any book she could get her hands on. she had a large rock collection displayed on her wall, painted army green and liked disappearing for hours with a book so heavy emily didn’t understand how the 8 year old susie held it. grandma gave susie a reading light and a series of books about mythological creatures (great, looks like we wont see susie for another 2 weeks. emily thought to herself)

but all her other thoughts were drowned when she realized it was her turn next. she wondered what grandma would give her. perhaps a notebook? a tee shirt? last time she gave her a notebooks(wich she had not use yet) and a fancy ink pen(wich she did use). maybe a necklace .. she thought. but before she could think anymore, grandma interrupted her thoughts.”now, for susie!” grandma smiled at emily as she walked up to her to give her her gift. it was a small square box wrapped in brown paper and 

for emily was written in black ink written on it. as emily turned back to sit on the lumpy beanbag on the floor before her siblings got it, grandma whispered “open it in your room!” to emily

“last but not least” grandma said handing emma her gift: a cylinder shaped package  wrapped in blue wrapping paper in side there was a rolled up poster of a rainbow  and a set of new paintbrushes with glittery handles, wich emma ripped open carefully, making sure not to rip the paper so she could use it for an arts project. 

as soon as emma finished opening her present, emily thanked grandma for her gift and ran up the stairs, two at a time, wanting to get to her room as soon as possible