Amelia Fang and the Memory Thief. Laura Ellen Anderson

the Creatures of Dark and of Liiiiiight.

      For both lived in fear of the other for years,

      Led by stories of beasts—’

      ‘I AM NOT A BEAST!’ Florence blurted out, causing the snoring fairy in the test tube to

       wake with a start.

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      Tangine glared.

      ‘UH, SORRY . . . NEVER MIND,’ said

      Florence sheepishly.

      Clearing his throat, Tangine continued

      theatrically.

      ‘. . . led by stories of beasts and unicorn tears!

      Two Kingdoms divided by terror and lies, But soon they’d be in for a pleasant surpriiiiise! One twilight, the King of Nocturnia met, A fairy?! Oh dear! But she was not a threat . . . She was kind, a true beauty, the love of his life, And this fairy became King Vladimir’s wiiiiiife!’

      ‘Wow,’ Amelia whispered to her friends. ‘He’s

      actually really good!’

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      ‘And soon baby Tangine was born . . .

       Yes, that’s MEEEEE!

      The most handsome baby you ever did see. With the fangs of a vampire, but fairy wings too?! Nobody could find out – who knows what they’d do?

      Then suddenly, one dusk, my mother was gone, The king wondered if he’d done something wrong. He searched every night, every day, all year through, And the older I got, the more distant he grew . . .’

      Tangine then got down on one knee and cast

      his hand across his forehead dramatically.

      ‘I was spoilt, I was lonely, and then I started school,

       But I acted a bit like a silly young fool!

       I stole a pet pumpkin and took someone’s chair,

       But a special friend showed me how that wasn’t fair.’

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      Tangine looked over to Amelia and blushed.

      Amelia beamed back, happy that she and

      Tangine were now such good friends.

      ‘She found out my secret, but she wasn’t scared, And that’s how I knew that my friend really cared. We went on a journey to find my lost mum, To the Kingdom of the Light in the dazzling sun!

      But little did we know that the unicorn lords;

      Those mighty horned horses their citizens adored . . .

      Had kidnapped my mother! Oh yes, you heard right!

      So, we grabbed our baguettes and we put up a fight!’

      ‘HEH HEH.’ Florence chuckled at the memory

      of brandishing bread baguettes and baked goods

      as weapons against Alpha Unicorn and his

      unicorn lords.

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      ‘The truth was revealed – and my mother

      was freeeeeeed!

      The Creatures of the Light and the Dark all agreed,

      We’ve no need to fear one another anymore,

      Together we’ve so much to learn and explore!

      So, the King of Nocturnia is now full of glee!

      (Even though he was briefly turned into a bee.

       Yes really.)

      And that’s the tale of how two

      kingdoms made amends,

      And how the Creatures of the Light and the Dark

      became frieeeeeeeends!’

      Tangine threw both arms in the air, and sent

      glitter flying across the whole classroom. Once

      upon a time this would have terrified his

      Creature of the Dark classmates, but now

      everyone cheered and clapped and twirled

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      round in the glittery rainstorm.

      Amelia stood up, chanting Tangine’s name, followed by Grimaldi, and then Florence.

       The fairies appeared to be crying sparkly tears

       of joy.

      ‘Tangine La Floofle,’ said Miss Inspine with a look of shock on her skull. ‘That was quite

       possibly the best presentation any student has

      ever given in my class. TOP MARKS!’

      CHAPTER 3

      SUBLIME

      After lunch, Amelia and her friends made their

      way to the Coughing Classroom, in the deepest

      recesses of Catacomb Academy, for a brand-

      new lesson.

      ‘I WONDER WHAT OUR NEW LESSON IS?’

      said Florence.

      ‘I hope it’s more fun than Zombie Social

      Studies,’ said Grimaldi.

      Amelia giggled. ‘I’m excited to meet our new

      teacher,’ she said. ‘I heard it might be someone

      from Glitteropolis!’

      Amelia and her friends approached the

      classroom, where a plump and wrinkly man

      with thick-rimmed glasses, a big curly moustache

      and huge fairy wings was waiting by the door.

      ‘STUDENTS!’ he smiled, his teeth shining blindingly white. ‘Come in, come in! Welcome, welcome!’

      Amelia, Florence, Grimaldi and Tangine took seats at the back of the classroom, carefully

       avoiding any snot that the Coughing Classroom spluttered in their direction.

      As Amelia looked around the Coughing Classroom, she noticed it had been adorned from top to bottom with glossy print-outs of Ravishing Recipes and pictures of the new teacher posing with various cooking instruments.

      Once the class had settled down, the teacher half-skipped

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      to the front of the classroom

      and threw his arms out as if he

      were about to invite everyone

      over for a great big hug.

      ‘Hellooooo, students of

      Catacomb Academy!’ he sang. ‘I

      am terribly delighted to be

      joining you all in your

      wonderfully dark and dismal

      city of Nocturnia. I’m your new

      cookery teacher, Mr Sublime!’

      ‘Oooh, cookery class!’ said

      Amelia and Tangine in unison.

      ‘HEH, SOUNDS LIKE MR

      SLIME,’ Florence guffawed.

      ‘Florence!’ Amelia whispered,

      half-smiling.