"But... Daddy - " She was cut off as she was ushered out of the basement. "But - Grace - she's down there!" She protested before she could stop herself. She would probably get punished now. Her father always hated it when she talked about her friends.
But Grace... she was
REAL.
Lily sighed again, shuffling forwards to grab a small box. She peered inside it, sighing when all she saw was the silver of knives, forks and spoons. She picked it up easily, and wandered into the kitchen to put them all away. However, when she got there, all she saw was a box full of their mother's broken china plates. She sighed, and put them away, deciding not to mention the plates. She might get in more trouble if she did. She shuffled out again afterwards.
Lily decided that she wanted to explore on her own. Maybe... Maybe where Abby and Leigh were earlier?
She hurried up the stairs, and jumped for the attic. On the third try she managed to grab the string that hid the attic away, and pulled it down. It almost came down on her head, but she jumped out of the way. It made a little
thud as it hit the floor. Lily waited, holding her breath, until she thought it was clear, before clambering up the steps.
"Woah." She muttered as she took in the surroundings. There were rows and rows of boxes. She stumbled through them all, having a peek into them all, but not trying to be nosy. She didn't really see anything she recognized. She sneezed a little at the disturbed dust. Then she spotted a small hole in the wall. "What's through there, I wonder?" She asked herself. Then, carefully, picking up her feet, but placing them one in front of the other, like walking on a tightrope. She reached the hole, and slipped through quite easily. And there, in front of her, there was a small teddy bear. Confused, she walked over and picked it up gingerly. She held it gently in her hands, and examined the small thing very gently. She stroked a fingertip over it's missing ear, and over it's torn tutu. "Who do you belong to, then?" Her voice rang out in the attic. "I'll look after you, I will." She promised the small bear, sitting down on the wooden beams of the attic, amidst the dust, examining and stroking the soft bear.
Mitchel smiled at his mother again, and picked up a box full of his things. He hoisted them into his arms, and passed his brother. He scowled at him. "You pick dinner, I don't care." He sighed, and snapped, at the same time. In truth... Mitch was jealous of Nigel. He wished that he was in Nigel's position - liked by both his parents. He sighed to himself and headed up to his room. His music was still playing loudly. Apparently nobody had noticed yet. He smiled to himself and began placing things around the room, tacking up posters, placing a mattress on the bed (Once he found one, of course) and then making his bed, flopping down on it, just sighing to himself as he listened to the way-too-loud music and stared up at the ceiling.