By-Ceton
"Claudia Fitzgerald! You come in this house this instant or I swear, child, I will beat you with this spoon!"
Claudia was in the woods in the back of her home trying to get her petticoat off a branch it had decided to snag on. It was time for tea and if she didn't get home soon Lydia, her familie's cook, maid, babysitter, and everything and anything else, would come and drag her home by her ears and Claudia's ears were still red from the last time she did.
Claudia finally un-hooked her dress and ran along a well worn path that she knew by heart. She hopped over the fountain in the backyard and jumped clean over the four step staircase leading up to the back doors, where Lydia was still waving her spoon and scolding her. Claudia entered the dining hall and sat down in her usual seat which was in the exact middle of the long table.
Everyday at four o' clock, Claudia always came in from play. Her father would come in from whatever he was doing at the time and her mother came in from the drawing room with any of her friends that choose to come to call that afternoon. Claudia Fitzgerald was an only child in a huge house that her father said had been in their family for generations. She was 12 years old but she considered herself very mature for her age. She learned alot of things in her afternoon excursions through the woods surrounding her house. She didn't associate with many of the children near by though. She was home schooled by Lydia all day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays so she never went to school to see any of the other children. Claudia never figured out what her father did while she did her other things. He choose not to tell her and she, in turn, choose not to care.
Her father was Herman Fitzgerald. He kept to himself most of the time and was always in his library. Claudia loved to read but her father was in the library all the time and she wasn't allowed in under any circumstances other than that she or someone else was dieing, the house was on fire, or the President choose to call. So, after much crying and alot of screaming, Claudia's father turned the guest room nearest to her bedroom into a library. To prove that she hadn't thrown a tantrum for nothing, she went into her library and locked the door for at least an hour everyday. As much as Claudia liked to go on her own adventures, she also liked to read those of others too.
She preferred Lewis Carroll and Ronald Dahl. She loved fantasy and anything that brought her out of the boring little life she thought she lived. Claudia's mother, Clair Fitzgerald, was born a hostess. Claudia couldn't remember a day when her mother didn't entertain a guest except during foul weather. Her mother was always in a a cheery mood. As much as she had to do, she always made time to play with Claudia. She loved adventures almost as much as her daughter and sometimes had to answer the door in full costume and have to ask to be excused for a moment to take off the armour of a fierce lady warrior.
Claudia couldn't complain about what she was given. She had a huge house to explore. Hours and hours to fill with playing and concocting new games. She had miles and miles of woods to find adventures in. But, the only thing she didn't have was a real friend to play with. She didn't like to play with the other children because..........well in her words,
"They're just simply stupid."
Lydia frowned, "Well look who's talkin'. You is a child!"
"I am not a child. I am a sorceress searching the world to get out of this 12 year old body I have possessed."
Lydia smiled, "Is that so? Demon possession is more like it, Get outta my kitchen!"
So Claudia sat at the dining table listening to Lydia bustle around in the kitchen....