Once upon a time, some years in the future. Not too soon but before the United Kingdom wins the Eurovision, the world was calm in the small apartment, fourth floor, in the Rufford Heights. Sunlight broke in this small home, creaking through the vertical blinds. Painted flowers on a powder blue walls lit up, the glitter embedded in the paint sparkled when the sun glossed over its surface. In the rest of the apartment, the sunlight woke up the rumbling alarms on bedside tables. In the master bedroom, the alarms were put to sleep by a girl with wild brown hair. The mornings were her friend, most of the time. She sat up and tried to unleash herself from the grasps of the person next to her.
This morning, like every morning, she began her day by opening the windows to her bedroom. The fresh air at seven in the morning was like nothing else. Living so close to the country sides and lakes gave the wind a certain smell that reminded her of home and family, and that one Christmas where she woke to the turkey being demolished by the family dog, small is size, big in appetite. She placed her hair on top of her head and draped her dressing gown over her body. Behind her, in bed, came a mumble and a huge wave of an arm, missing the bedside table by an inch. The wild haired girl jumped back onto the bed and placed her face close to the sleeping person, slightly breathing. A slight tickle, near her ear, is all that was needed to wake them up.
‘Come on, it’s time to wake up. It’s not a good day to sleep in.’ A few gentle rubs of the eyebrow and a kiss on the lips was all that was needed to seal the deal and wake up the sleeping beauty in the bed.
‘No, just five more minutes, with you in the bed.’ she said as she grabbed the robed girl and rolled her back on the bed. They both lay in the bed, with smiles on their faces. A shared look in their eyes showed a look of wanting and wonder. ‘Do you hear that Wren?’
‘You mean the rumbling in the other room?’ said the wild hair girl.
‘Yeah I have a feeling the monster has woken.’ The two girls shared one last kiss and stepped off the bed. Wren left, heading to the door of the bedroom and looked back at her girl on the bed.
‘Hey Fae?’
‘Yeah?’
‘I love you.’
Wren left the bedroom, quickly followed by Fae. They walked down the hallway, arms wrapped around each other. At the end of the hallway, they stood in front of a door. Inside the room, hidden behind, they could hear faint giggles and scuffling of feet. Fae grabbed the handle and slowly opened up the door. The blue powered walls of the glittered painted flowers shone in the early morning sunlight. A small single bed lay still in the middle of the room. The giggles had disappeared but a mice squeak could still be heard. Their eyes followed the sound and curly brown hair could be seen dropping behind a toy chest.
‘Well.’ Said Wren, ‘looks like someone's birthday breakfast should just go to the dog.’
The sound of breakfast and dog in the same sentence alerted the small Chihuahua, asleep on a light pink dog bed, causing its ears to poke up and a look of excitement to appear in its eyes. More giggles came from behind the toy chest but still no movement. Fae gently grabbed Wrens hand, and placed her finger to her lips in a shushing motion. The both slowly started to leave the room and they each had a foot out of the door when a small young girl with equally long wild brown hair came running towards both Wren and Fae.
‘No, Mommy, I want my breakfast. It’s my birthday. I have been waiting all year for this.’
Her small legs ran as quick as she could and then wrapped her small arms, as far as they could, around her mother's legs.
Fae picked up her daughter and walked out of her room, followed by Wren and the small patting of their oldest babies feet. This small family walked into their small living, which, for that day was the center of a princess experience. The walls were covered in balloons and bunting, streamers and a banner which spelt out, in pink glitter, ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYNE!’ hanging from the archway, leading to the kitchen. The young girl ran into the center of the living and smacked her hands to her face in shock. Rayne swirled around, taking in all that surrounded her.
She spotted the small brown dog and ran over to hug him. She picked him up.
‘Packo, look at all of this.’ Rayne picked up a tiara that was on the coffee table and placed it on top of her puppy's head. ‘We are going to be princesses today.’ She dropped the dog and the tiara and ran to the dining table where her usual dining chair had been turned into a golden throne. To her parents, they knew it was just a few boxes painted gold with a few plastic gems but to their daughter it was her dream, her very own throne. She jumped on her throne and giddily clapped her hands together. This little girl could not contain her excitement. Fae took some orange juice from the fridge and placed it on the dining table. Raynes parents walked around in the kitchen fixing the birthday breakfast while she played with Packo.
An hour later the birthday breakfast was eaten and the small family all sat on the sofas while Rayne began to open her presents. Rayne, on her own sofa began to decorate the living room with scraps of wrapping paper while her parents, Wren and Fae sat on the other sofa, cuddling into each other. They watched their child opening her birthday presents, the joy on her face, too much excitement and happiness for her brain to process. The whole family had huge smiles on their faces and at the same time Wren and Fae looked up at the wall in front of them and read the canvas that was placed on the wall exactly 5 years ago.
‘You only get rainbows in the sky if there is rain.’
