The Daily Tot 6/6/6666

Willow Estate, Ferrow St., Finnlit Peaks, Astrosky, Lumiera, 1912

It was a loud day. The type of day where it seemed like everybody was shouting on purpose. The type of day where silence was worth a few thousand silvets. The type of day where the sheer volume of the noise was enough to cause an avalanche. And considering the amount of snow resting a little further up on the mountains, perhaps they should have been far more careful. It was Adeline Willow's 11th birthday and everyone in the mansion was running around frantically to make last minute preparations for the gala that evening. Wreaths of crepe paper flowers decorated the sconces in the hallway, and blue geraniums were stuffed in every vase. Meanwhile, Adeline's younger sister Acantha had been tasked with polishing and washing the enameled glass windows. It was a tedious task, as the manor was made almost entirely of glass and silver. Acantha was not completely unhappy however as Adeline herself was spraying anti-rust on the copper vines that decorated the garden walls and wrapped around the pillars. The Willows cared more about keeping up appearances and their reputation then celebrating the reason for the occasion. She supposed her sister deserved the lesser chore of the day. Washing the windows was a deadly job that none of the servants agreed too. It required being lowered down a slim metal cord to where the windows were, and precariously hanging onto the window frame to avoid plummeting downward to her death. In theory it was not a job that should have been done by an 9 year old, but nobody else was willing to do it except Acantha and Adeline. Adeline did it because she enjoyed it. Acantha did it occasionally because she didn't want anyone to think she wasn't as brave as her older sister. However, on this frosty night, Adeline had argued that since it was her birthday, she shouldn't have to go out in the sleet and hail to wash the windows. Acantha shivered now. She was wearing all of her warmest clothes, yet the sleet tore at her and the wet seemed to soak into her thick coat. She could still hear the shouting of orders, and the clattering from the other side of the window. Even the howling winds weren't loud enough to drown out the cacophany of the preparations. Acantha sighed. She had just about finished polishing the windows and was ready to go back inside and drink some cocoa. She sat on the window ledge and pulled on the rope, ready to climb it back up. But instead the entire length of the silver cord came tumbling down. What? How could this have happened. The cord was metal. It was polished daily and would not fray easily. She pulled up the end of it and touched it. "OW!" she cried in pain. The hot metal had burned her fingers. Someone had melted it off from it's hook. Considering how cold it was, they had probably done it only a few moments ago. "HEY! Who's up there! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! I CAN'T GET BACK NOW!!" Acantha yelled. No response. They must have fled. Acantha waited a little, half hoping that someone would come back with a ladder and she would be allowed to yell at them for their foolish prank. No one. She turned around a little and began pounding at the window, hoping that someone would hear her. She shivered, not from the cold, though it was freezing, but in fear. How would she get down. Would she freeze to death in this cold without anyone to help her? How long could she cling to the window ledge? Nobody could hear her pounding over the sounds outside. Suddenly, she remembered her sister, who was probably still outside spraying the vines. "ADELINE!!!!!!!!" she screamed desperately. A pause- then she heard the footsteps of someone running towards her. "What is it Acantha?" her sister asked worriedly. Acantha breathed a sigh of relief. Her sister had heard her over the squall. "The rope has been cut, Addie. I'm trapped up here." she whimpered. "Oh! I'll go inside and get help! Just hold on, Acantha!" Adeline told her. She ran to the door and tried to open it. Locked. Someone didn't want the sisters to go back inside. Someone wanted them to stay outside and freeze. She ran back. "Acantha it's locked but I have an idea for you to come down. Tie the rope to something sturdy and lower yourself down carefully." Adeline instructed. Acantha looked down at her, eyes wide with fear. Adeline tried to smile at her sister as Acantha slowly lowered herself down the rope. When she finished she was still 3 feet short of the ground. Adeline rushed over and pulled her sister down, hugging her. "Acantha, we're stuck outside until someone remembers us. It's alright, it should only be a little bit before they realize that we're missing. Let's go to the shed." Adeline hurried towards the little shed behind their house while Acantha traipsed along behind her. They huddled behind the snowplow. Adeline took off her jacket and wrapped it around her shivering sister. She could hardly feel her toes, and after some time dozed off. It surely couldn't be long before someone found them...

Two hours later Mrs. Willow burst into the shed, scowling. "GIRLS! I do not know what you mean by hiding here. We've been searching for you for an entire hour! You MUST go inside and get ready. I'm very disappointed in you Adeline. You know everyone is expecting you inside for your birthday. "What?" Acantha asked wearily. Beside her, a frostbitten Adeline was unconscious, though she seemed to be freezing. "What's wrong?" Mrs. Willow asked. "We've been here for hours. Someone cut the window cleaning rope and locked us out of the house." Acantha said. Mrs. Willow paled. "Someone is intent on sabotaging our grand party! We shan't let them get away with them!" she declared. "But Adeline is sick." Acantha pleaded "She needs to rest." "Indeed. I don't know what she was thinking giving you her jacket. She could have gotten ill any other day and it wouldn't have made a difference. I don't see why she chose today!" Mrs. Willow huffed. Acantha frowned "It's her birthday. I'm sure she didn't plan on spending it in bed." she said. Mrs. Willow ignored her. "Well the show must go on! We cannot let the saboteurs get away with doing this. It was probably those dreadful Connings." she said.

Mrs. Willow looked at the comatose Adeline and then back at Acantha. The two sisters looked almost entirely identical except for Acantha's curls and Adeline's straight hair. It would be a shame to make all the guests go home... "Now Acantha. How about you pretend to be your sister for the night? Tommorow we can do a proper birthday for her." Mrs. Willow said. "But- I'm not Addie! Why can't we just cancel the party?" Acantha replied. "It would just be for one night. What harm can a little pretending do?" Mrs. Willow replied firmly, picking up Adeline and beginning to carry her up to the house. Acantha followed reluctantly. For the rest of the night she pretended to be her sister while the real Adeline rested upstairs with a terrible case of pneumonia. It turned out that one little night made a big difference, because two days later, Adeline Willow was dead. And Acantha was still taking her place.