Through the halls

"*Tick* *Tock* Tick* *Tock*" made the sound of an elderly Grandfather clock as the minutes and seconds on it went by idly, wasting away, nothing to be seen or nothing to do.

The seconds and minutes kept on ticking away until finally the hour hand, minute hand and second hand landed on twelve with a loud chime seemingly waking up the Grandfather clock from its slumber as it stood up with a yawn, opened its brown beryl eyes and shook its pendulum with its smooth woody hands, causing the loud sound of a jingle to vibrate around the Palace.

Once the vibration was over the old Grandfather clock sat back down as its feet disappeared, its hand went to its face as it move the hour hand, minute hand and second hand to the number 1, it closed its eyes and went back into deep slumber, void of any life that was just present a short while ago.

"*Yawn*" said Annie as she looked up from the book she was reading and her eyes caught the clock on the library wall that stated it was 1pm.

"Guys it's 1 o clock" said Annie as she yawned once more and looked at Maddie and Matt who were busy reading as well as they looked at her.

"Wait a minute, that's weird, it's not supposed to be one, it's supposed to be 12 remember?" asked Maddie in confusion as she looked at Annie and Matt.

"Not exactly, remember Ollie told us that all clocks in the witch realm would be ahead with an hour because of the farming season, or something like that" said Matt as he stood up to place the book he was reading back on the shelf.

"Ahh of course, and only you would listen to that blondie" said Maddie with a scoff.

"Maddie, I thought we were past this whole thing with you and Ollie, he's our friend" said Annie as she stood up and shook her head.

"Correction, he might be your friend, but that still doesn't make him mine" said Maddie as Annie shook her head.

"Besides, I am so bored, reading this book over and over again is starting to annoy me, I promise you that I am on the verge of burning it and watching its ashes fly away in the wind" said Maddie as she stood up.

"Geez, then stop reading it Maddie, we can't replace any of the books in here, they are priceless" said Annie as Maddie played with her hair.

"Yeah, yeah, where's Curtis? I haven't seen him all day" said Maddie as she returned the book back to the shelf.

"I'm not really sure, he should be with Aunt Stella" said Annie with a frown.

"Well I'm hungry, we should go and check if your mom has made lunch yet" said Maddie with a smile as Matt laughed.

"And what's so funny to you Matt?" asked Maddie as she looked at him.

"Maddie with the way you've been eating lately, It's hard not to picture you adding more weight" said Matt as he laughed.

"Hey, hey so what if I've been eating a lot? It doesn't matter, it's not like I have something better to do, besides, can you blame me? Annie's Mom is a great cook, and I am not going to add any weight" said Maddie.

"Unlike some people, I have the power to remain fit, even though I do stuff my mouth occasionally" said Maddie.

"I am glad that you admit to it" replied Matt as he laughed and Annie shook her head, these two just loved to pick on each other.

Annie said nothing at all as she walked out of the library, she was starving as well, she needed to get something to eat.

"Hey wait for me Annie" said Maddie as she rushed out of the library after Annie as Matt followed after her and the three of them made their ways through the halls.

...

"Hmm well that's weird, I thought your mom would be in here" said Maddie as she Annie and Matt entered the Palace's kitchen that was always ever clean, neat and tidy.

"Me too" said Annie as she looked around and Maddie walked to the kitchen island as she frowned when her eyes noticed an obvious weird colour that did not match with the harsh brown colour of the countertop.

"Hey I found a note, it's from your mom" said Maddie as she picked up the note.

"What does it say?" asked Annie as she looked at Maddie who started to read the note.

"Oh she says that she and your dad went to the orphanage with Uncle Capi, she says they will be back before dinner, and that she knew we would be hungry so she made us some cookies that are kept safely in the oven" said Maddie as Matt walked to the huge oven and opened it as he brought out a tray full of cookies.

"Oh okay then" said Annie as she smiled.

"Your mom is the best, she knew we would need something to munch on while she's gone" said Maddie as Annie laughed.

"You really are becoming a foodie Maddie" said Annie as she laughed.

"Can you blame me? I appreciate skill when I see it" said Maddie proudly.

"Now come on, those cookies won't eat themselves" said Maddie as Matt placed the tray on top of the countertop of the island as Maddie rushed to sit down and Annie sat beside her and Matt sat on her left.

"Mhmm so warm, soft and chewy" said Maddie as she munched happily on the cookies as Matt and Annie looked at each other and laughed as they shook their heads.

"You're right though Maddie" replied Matt as he took one cookie and ate it.

"Of course I am, you should know that by now Matty boy" said Maddie as Matt just smiled as Annie took a cookie and the three of them continued to eat as they entered into a comfortable silence.

They had all run out of things to say, it was something that had becoming common for a while now, things were... well boring.

"You know what, I'm kind of getting worried now, where is Curtis if he isn't with your mom and dad?" asked Maddie.

"I honestly don't know, but I don't feel anything fine, he should be fine" said Annie as she ate another cookie.

"If something was wrong, I would feel it, but everything seems calm, I just hope he shows up soon and doesn't disappear for five days or something" said Annie with a sigh and a shake of her head.

"He'll be back soon, after all, if he was going somewhere, I am sure he would definitely tell you" said Matt.

"I hope so" replied Annie as she munched on a cookie and they entered into silence once again.

"Oh finally, there you guys are, I went to the library to look for you and you weren't there" said Ollie as he walked into the kitchen happily, with the usual jolly smile on his face.

"*Ugh*" said Maddie as she groaned as if her freedom had been taken away.

"Blondie" called Maddie with an obviously displeased look on her face that Ollie seemed to ignore.

"Maddie, how are you this fine day?" asked Ollie with a smile as Maddie scoff.

"Don't mind her Ollie, she's just being Maddie, you want some cookies that my mom made?" asked Annie with a smile as she looked at Ollie and handed him a cookie.

"Why thank you Annie, chocolate chip" said Ollie as he bit into it with a smile.

"My favourite" replied Annie as she smiled.

"What took you so long dude? I thought you said you would be at the library by 10?" asked Matt as Ollie looked at him.

"Yes, sorry about that, there was this High Council meeting that ran super late, I couldn't even leave if I wanted to" said Ollie as he sighed and sat down opposite Annie on the other side of the island.

"Was it that serious?" asked Annie with a frown.

"Let's just say it was a bunch of mature men with grey beards arguing and almost getting into a physical fight" said Ollie.

"Oof over what?" asked Matt.

"You don't want to know honestly, I'll tell you later not now, I don't want to ruin the happy mood" replied Ollie with a smile as he took another cookie and Annie and Matt nodded while Maddie seemed to be thinking about something.

"So enough about me, how are you guys this fine day? What were you up to while I was gone?" asked Ollie with a smile.

"Well nothing much actually" said Annie.

"Annie you say it as if we have actually have something to do that's important" replied Maddie while reaching out for another cookie.

"We are just reading, and reading, and reading with no sight in end, we have nothing else better to do" said Maddie.

"So in long and short blondie, we are bored" said Maddie as she looked at Ollie in annoyance.