SIRAP-BEYOND-THE-POND
ANGIE'S YELLOW BALLOON
(Based on an original plot by fiverr.com/amelia42)

CHAPTER 1

Tika had already spent two summer vacations
with her parents in their rented little beach house
close to the sea when
her father surprised her with the
most fabulous,
gorgeous,
awesome news
that they would take her to the sea again
in autumn.

Her friend Angie lived there by the sea with
her mother Wanda,
who owned a second-hand shop called
»All is in Wanda's land« there.
Tika missed Angie very much.

On the last summer vacation Tika had brought
her friend Melanie with her,
who had strangely
and strongly resembled the princess
of Tika's magical land.
Only the princess was half of Melanie's size and
called herself Aniemel.
Unlike Tika,
Melanie wasn't good with numbers and letters in school.

When autumn had come and they finally returned to
the beach house,
the two girls became inseparable once more.
Even Tika's cat Betecee
(which was short for ''Boots-the-cat'')
had a lot of time on his own
which (as some of you will know)
is not always good for a curious cat.

»Get Betecee out of the sun into the tent,«
Tika's father called.
The same morning Tika's father had put up a
big tent in the garden next to their beach house.
Now Tika's parents decided to
take the girls camping.
Everyone was excited about it.

Tika returned with Betecee, who was a bit wet from
playing too close to the water.
She scolded him a little for being a bad cat.
»You have been really naughty,« Tika said,
»I won’t give you a lot of milk.«

»Meeeoww...«
Betecee was unhappy about his punishment.
He was absolutely sure that
all of his can-openers knew
how much he hated water.

Tika, who seemed to have learned some
cat-ish during the summer
guessed what he wanted to tell her.

Later in the evening
they all went into the tent.
They loved how beautiful and neat it was in there,
how warm and cozy.
»This is lovely,« Angie called,
»I could live here forever!«

In the tent there were two large beds and
a very tiny bed.
One bed was for Tika's parents,
one for Tika and Angie.
The smallest one was for
Betecee, the sleepy cat.

»Look what I brought,«
Tika's father said and held something up.
»Story books!«
Tika and Angie said at the same time.
Tika dropped Betecee gently on the floor and
rushed with Angie to take a look at the books.

»I knew you'd love them,«
Tika's father said,
»it's an interesting story about a land that
existed many years ago.
A land built by magic, love and purity.
The Princessdom of Cigolon.«
Tika's father explained the story to the girls.

Angie flipped open the pages of the story-book.
There were colourful pictures of waterfalls,
extinct volcanos and fountains.
There was a bright picture of a cherry tree.
Also there was a palace made of gold and diamonds.
Both girls looked at Tika's father with big eyes.
Tika had always suspected that her father knew something
about her secret, but now
she was almost certain.
The many times she has asked him,
he had replied with smiles and riddles.

»I wish we could travel there again,«
Tika says to Angie,
»and the name sounds so familiar.«

»Hush!« Angie replied,
»it's our secret! Let us see if tonight
we find the magic chimney to climb up
the very moment we fall asleep.«



C O N T I N U E