The sunlight filtered in through the window and made me think of the curtains that I still had yet to unpack. It’s been two days since we arrived here and I still have to get used to my surroundings, I must’ve been awake for hours by now. Getting bored of laying around, I shuffled out of my bed and into the attached bathroom. That was another thing I had to get used to. This place was huge- much bigger than our old home. The first floor had high ceilings and grand chandeliers, and everything was neat and polished. The second floor has all the bedrooms, (several had attached bathrooms and walk in closets) and long corridors that give chills in the night time. I still hadn’t been able to explore the basement and third floor, I didn’t have the time. All my time yesterday and the evening before was spent either unpacking or resting before unpacking some more. Maybe today if I can finish decorating my room I’ll get the okay to investigate the rest of the mansion.

I observed myself in the mirror while I combed my curly hair. I had fair skin, blonde hair, and a strong jaw. I mostly took after my mother looks-wise, and so did Sophie-Rose. Paisley however got a good mix of both parents, brown hair that is wavy but not unruly like mine, and kind eyes that could rival Sophie’s. Deciding I looked good enough face-wise I went back into my room and sifted through my suitcase to find something acceptable for the day. One of the few things I excel at more than Paisley and Sophie is my sense of fashion, along with history and charisma. Paisley, has great looks, a charming personality, and overall talent for most things. Sophie however, definitely has both of us beat in empathy, and flower classification; she can name the common and scientific name of probably any flower at this point, be it a common wild flower or a rarity in its habitat. Fitting myself in my navy blue sweater and olive green chinos for the day, I grabbed my phone and started heading downstairs to see if anyone was awake, shutting the door behind me.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs I was greeted by a familiar black mass bolting towards me, before she slowed to a stop at my feet. I offered a quick pat on the head and a smile, then headed in the direction she came from. She was at the kitchen if I had to guess. Upon getting closer to said destination I heard some quiet music coming from the crack in the door, recognizing the voice to be Goldy Daun (an old timey singer/songwriter my dad likes), I quickly deduced that it was my father shuffling about in the kitchen. Which was unsurprising, he was the biggest morning person in the family. Pushing the door aside I quietly walked in and sat in a stool at the island as he hummed and chopped away at the fruit in front of him. I silently watched as he set the knife down and picked up what he deemed unfit and threw them away. He turned around to grab at the container of flour he set on the island and jumped upon seeing me.

“Shhhhh- Shoot kiddo, you scared me.” He paused, with a hand on his chest. “How long you been there? It’s a little early for you don’t you think?” I shrugged.

“Just got here. Been awake for a while.” I stated, eyebrow raised. Dad just blinked at me for a moment.

“Well alrighty then, wanna help make waffles?” He changed the topic with a grin, as he turned off his radio.

“You bet I do.” I returned the grin, and suddenly the two of us were side by side trying to remember how to make waffles from scratch without looking it up, because we are stubborn like that. After a failed first attempt and a short but intense flour fight we agreed on a truce, and clapped our hands in a hand shake to seal it, sending another puff of flour into the air.

“What are you guys even doing?” A shocked, amused voice rang out from the doorway. Dad and I both whipped our heads to see Paisley in the threshold of the room and hallway.

“Uh, waffles?” Dad tried. Paisley laughed.

“Let me see that.” She walked past the two of us and peered into the bowl, then at the ingredients on the counter. Then shook her head.

“Is this… Baking soda?..” She said in disbelief “...and syrup? You put syrup into the batter?”

“Uh… maybe? Is that bad?” I can’t bake anything for the life of me most occasions.

“I mean it does the same thing but you need to put some sort of acid into the batter with it if you want it to taste good. Baking powder is better because it already has the acid mixed in. Unless you’re using buttermilk, which-” she gestured to our set-up “you’re not. And you need more syrup if you’re trying to make maple waffles”

“Well… can you do it then? We will help you wherever you’ll need it!” My dad offered.

“Yes I can.” She agreed “Dad, you can help me with the batter and plating. Owen, you can get the tableware, and can you make that sweet tea again? It’s my favorite.” She finished with a smile. I saluted and we moved around the spacious kitchen, trying to remember where everything was and gathering things we’d need for the waffles and tea. After digging around one of the boxes for a while I managed to get a hold of a white table cloth, and I used it to cover the large table in the next room. I also grabbed Sophie’s vase of flowers that she picked from the garden yesterday to put in the middle. Going back into the kitchen I saw that they almost had the fresh batter completely put together, so I got started on the tea. It’s an herbal tea, with a bit of vanilla, and some blueberry extract (and a few secret ingredients to tie it all together). By the time the concoction was put into boiling water they had already started setting waffles onto plates, and dad was going the extra mile, covering them with whipped cream and the fruit he chopped earlier and powdered sugar. Luckily this process took a while, so that left enough time for me to set the utensils and get the tea cups and napkins onto the table. It was around then that I could hear Sophie-Rose’s tired, but excited voice chanting through the halls that she smelt food. I smiled as I went back into the kitchen. Paisley finished with the last of the waffles and was now helping dad decorate them, while I quickly grabbed a broom and dustpan to take care of some of the flour all over the floor. As I dumped the powder into the garbage, mom walked in looking tired.

“Well, well. Look at you early birds. Making breakfast?” She rubbed her eyes, mom was never big on mornings. As any completely sane person should be if you ask me.

“Waffles! The boys are great at this, they hardly needed any help at all...” Paisley teased, I responded by jutting out my tongue at her, and she giggled. Mom rolled her eyes.

“Oh trust me, I already heard they were incredibly skilled from Alice.” The sarcasm basically dripped out her mouth. While the grinning dog wagged her tail behind her, now grey and white on the top of her body.

“I’ll clean her up after breakfast.” I said behind a grin. She looked ridiculous. I moved back to the stove where the tea was cooling in the teapot and poured it into a pitcher filled with ice.

“Do you wanna get Sophie, momma? Foods all done” Paisley said as she and dad were grabbing plates and heading to the dining room, Alice at their heels. I followed shortly after alongside mom, who turned down the hall to get the little one. We placed mom’s seat at the head of the table, with dad to her right and Paisley to her left. I took my seat next to Paisley, and Sophie usually sat beside me or dad, we let her decide once she came into the room with mom. Breakfast tasted great, Paisley’s waffles and my tea went together really nicely, as different as we are we collaborate really well.

“So, your father starts his new job tomorrow. I won’t have to work for a little longer to help finish getting settled here.” Mom started “And as you know this place is very big and very old, there’s a lot that needs to be explored still. All I ask is that you stay out of the tower for now, until we can have someone find out if its stable. The rest of the property is open to you.”

“Can I go in the tower? I’m very small, there’s no way I could make it fall!” Sophie practically begged.

“No can-do kiddo. But momma and I were talking last night, and since we have way too many rooms to really know what to do with, we thought you could do with your own spaces just for you to do what you want with. You can pick any empty room that isn’t already claimed and keep it, and clean it and do whatever you want with it.” Dad advertised happily before mom interrupted.

“-As long as you let us check it out and give you permission first.” she gave us a look that said ‘don’t try to pull anything that will get you in trouble or there will be consequences’.

“Cool!” I was ready for this, I’ll explore the basement and pick one of those rooms and it’s gonna be cool. I was already planning what I might do with my own extra room in my head. A look at my sisters showed they had similar expressions on their faces.

“Once you completely finish unpacking your bedrooms then we will give you the go ahead to start looking.” Mom finished, and each child silently agreed to a race using nothing but eye contact. Aside from the normal excitement and conversation, breakfast ended uneventfully; and all three of us were rushing to our rooms to get everything put together.

I started with my clothes, luckily most things were easy to put away because I folded them before I packed them, but others were more difficult, such as most of my shirts. I had to go on a hunt to find more hangers, and wall hooks for all my accessories. Then I moved to decor, I already had my bed made from the first night here. I unrolled my plush red rug next to the fireplace across the room and put a decorative clock on the mantle, along with a cool candle lantern that was a good mix between old fashioned and modern, and then hung my red curtains over the windows on either side of my bed, they only barely covered the large windows when fully closed, so I tied them open (they look better that way to be honest). Then I hung my large mirror just above my bookshelf, and together they vaguely resembled a vanity. Then I filled the bookshelf with my books, arranged alphabetically. Then placed my all-time favorite works on the top shelf, held in place by my bookends that look like men are pushing them together. Satisfied, I realized that I took way to long on setting up the bookshelf, and rushed to finish the rest of my room. By the time I had finished completely I made a face at the emptiness of the room, I’d be getting more furniture soon, but the lack of furniture made the large room appear impossibly bigger. I took a deep breath and left the room, before I got picky and started moving things around again. When I went back downstairs and into the living room I saw Mom, Dad, and Sophie.

“How’d you get finished already?” I asked as I dropped myself onto the couch beside her, she gestured for me to lean in with a hand cupped on the side of her mouth.

“Shhh… dad helped me!” She whispered. “And I already picked my room, too!” I gasped, feigning surprise.

“You sneaky little girl!” I exclaimed and began tickling her till she wailed and kicked out. I laughed with her as I ceased my attack and leaned back. That’s when Alice came barreling in, and she investigated the small child who was still recovering from her infectious laughter.

“You’ve finished organizing your room?” My mother asked, smiling.

“Yes, I just have empty boxes to get rid of. I don’t like how empty it is in there, too much space.” I explained, petting Alice. Mom nodded in acknowledgement.

“You’ll get used to it. Especially after we get you kids some more things to fill the space. That’ll have to wait a bit though” Dad reminded. Then Paisley finally joined us.

“Oh darn, I took too long didn’t I?” She faked annoyance.

“Of course not, there’s no time limit here.” Mom reassured her, unaware of our unspoken contest.

“I was the fastest!” Sophie raised her hands in accomplishment. “I already picked my room, we’ve been waiting for you here ever since.”

“Oh yea? Lets see it then.”

“No! It’s secret until I get to finish it!” She protested.

“Oh come on! I can help you! We can work on it when mom and dad aren’t home.” Paisley tried.

“Hmm… Okay, but no boys allowed until then!” Sophie decided.

“Whaaat? I can’t believe this.” I leaned back dramatically with my arm over my face. “You two are rude, despicable even!”

“I have been cast out in my own home already?! What a cruel family!” Dad flopped over onto his side, feigning death. I rolled my eyes at his over the top display and stood.

“Are we good to explore now then?” I asked as I stretched.

“Yes you’re good to explore now.” my mom assented. Paisley and I left the room.

“Where are you gonna look, Paisley?”

“Third floor, wanna come with? We can look together.”

“Yea, alright. Can we look downstairs first?” I asked, Paisley thought for a moment.

“Yea okay. Lets go.”

The basement was illuminated much less extravagantly than the rest of the house, the further in you went the more the simpler the lights became until they were string lights hanging just above our heads, and they were still pretty, somehow. We passed several doors and hallways before we got to this point. Turns out the part of the basement that wasn’t renovated yet was more of a labyrinth, and we became afraid of getting lost so we turned to go back upstairs. As we did so, a thud rang out down the hall behind us.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, as we walked slower.

“Yea… It’s an old house… an animal probably got in somewhere or something…” She sounded unsure.

“That’s not good, we’ll have to find someone who can check that out…” I went along with the theory. Until another thud sounded out, and we both simultaneously began running. We got to a cross roads, Paisley began to move down the hallway to the right when I grabbed her arm.

“We have to go left!” I urged.

“I’m pretty sure we went right, to get here?”

“We did! We are going backwards so its reversed, we have to go left!” I quickly explained.

“Right, right! You’re right let’s just-” Another Thud, and I held her arm tighter and pulled her along to the left. I almost didn’t recognize where we were, until the lights started getting normal again, and then we found the stairs and raced up them and nearly tumbled over each other to get through the large doors at the top. After essentially falling through, we laid on the floor to catch our breath. I closed my eyes as the adrenaline began to subside, until I felt something warm and slimy pass over my face. My eyes shot open and I pushed at Alice, who had come to make sure we were okay.

“No Alice! Stop it I’m fine!” I flailed as the large dog attacked my face with puppy kisses. Paisley laughed at my dilemma a few feet away as I managed to pull myself to my feet. Once I managed to find my breath yet again I laughed as well. The entire scenario was suddenly hilarious. A couple of teenagers scared out of their minds from some sounds in the dark basement of their new house. It sounded like an overused story trope. We laughed a while longer together until we heard mom calling from the kitchen for lunch. We still smiled as we approached the kitchen. Where we found mom at the counter, using a butter knife to spread mayo on a piece of bread. She had her glasses on, and her brown hair pushed back with a green headband. On the island were a few plates with sandwiches, and potato chips. Sophie was already munching on her triangle at the end chair, looking too small for the island.

“You two find your rooms?” Mom asked when she noticed us.

“No, but we’re getting there.” Paisley said vaguely. I nodded in agreement. Mom smiled.

“Alright. Why don’t you two have a seat and have some lunch, you can get back to it after.” she waved at the sandwiches on the counter. After all that running, food sounded great; the two of us took a seat and went for it. We made some small talk while we ate, neither of us mentioned what happened in the basement. After lunch we still didn’t immediately go explore, instead we spent some time in the garden with Sophie-Rose and Alice. It wasn’t until later we finally made our way upstairs.

The atmosphere was easy as we made our way up to the third floor. Paisley and I didn’t say much except to comment on a room here and there. The two of us are close to the point where conversation is rarely necessary if we want to enjoy each other’s company, usually content with comfortable silence. I tugged on her sleeve to bring her attention to a small stairway tucked into the corner of a hallway far towards the back of the house. We slowly walked to it, a little uneasy after exploring last time. The stairway was narrow, and would only allow one person at a time. I observed the view outside the large windows as she started going up the stairs. The sky was a beautiful mix of orange, gold, and pink- a stark contrast against the dark silhouette of the forest around the castle. I could have stared at the sight for longer but my attention was drawn by my sister’s voice urging me to follow, so up the stairs I went. The room at the top was comfortable, but dirty. Hardwood floors and windows were caked with dust, there was a second level in the room closer to the ceiling, accessible by a metal spiral staircase. If the room had been clean and furnished, this could be an incredibly relaxing and elegant space. I could already think of several ideas for what this place could end up being and I knew just how I could make it happen… but then I saw the look on my sisters face. Eyes filled with wonder, I could practically see all the thoughts and ideas swirling around her head as she spun in a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. I knew I couldn’t take this from her. After convincing myself that this space suits her personality much more than mine and that I can find something else later, I finally spoke.

“You should claim this place.” Her head jerked at the sound of my voice.

“Wait, are you sure? You found it first.”

“Yea I’m sure, you stepped foot in here first. And ‘sides, this place would really suit you if you got it all cleaned up.” I insisted. Before I could say more Paisley was skipping back to hug me. I smiled and gave her a pat on the back, glad that she was so happy about this place.

“Let’s go find mom and dad so they can give you the okay to keep this place.” I reminded her as she pulled away, and she nodded vigorously.

“Lets!” She said before skipping off to the stairs. I decided as I stood there for a moment longer that I’d look for my own space tomorrow morning. Satisfied, I followed Paisley.