Midnight Feast by Titania Woods Page A

‘It’s just – well, my family always make it a really special day for me. We go to my grandmother’s, and – and it’s always just wonderful.’ She bit her lip, thinking of Gran’s cosy kitchen and delicious honey cakes.
    â€˜Oh, Twink.’ Bimi touched her arm.
    â€˜But this year I’ll be at school for my birthday,’ continued Twink. ‘And Gran was away during the hols, so I didn’t get to see her. She’s only just got back, and now my family’s going to go and see her without me. They’ll be doing all these glimmery things without me on my birthday – it’s like they don’t even care!’
    Bimi rubbed her silver and gold wing against Twink’s lavender one. ‘Twink, I’m sure they care! But it’s really too bad that you have to miss all the fun.’
    Twink swallowed hard, already ashamed of her outburst. She knew that her parents had tried their best to make it up to her, with a special party at home before she left. It wasn’t their fault that her gran had been away, or that Twink’s birthday fell during Glitterwings term-time.
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    â€˜I’ve just – I’ve just never had a birthday without them before,’ she said softly. Her cheeks reddened as she looked down. ‘It’s going to feel a bit strange, that’s all.’
    Bimi nodded sympathetically. ‘I know. I’m glad my birthday comes in the holidays. But you know, that will be strange, too, not being able to spend it with my friends from school.’
    Twink hadn’t thought of that. She stroked a bluebell’s smooth leaf. ‘I suppose things are different when you go away to school, aren’t they? We’re not babies any more, and things are just harder sometimes.’
    â€˜That’s true,’ said Bimi. ‘But they’re better, too. Look at us – we can fly now, and we’re going to the best school in the world!’
    They smiled at each other. Twink thought how glad she was that she could talk to someone this way. She was the luckiest fairy in the school, to have Bimi for a best friend.
    â€˜Come on,’ she said suddenly. ‘Let’s go to Daffy Branch, and make sure we’ve got beds beside each other again!’
    The two girls took off, swooping over grass and flowers. Twink laughed as they zoomed through the double doors of the school at full speed, dodging fairies from older years.
    â€˜Watch it, you kids!’ someone shouted after them.
    When they got inside, Twink paused, gazing upwards. The inside of Glitterwings was even more wonderful than the outside: a high, high tower filled with a soft golden light. Fairies flitted in and out of its many branches like brightly coloured birds.
    â€˜Hurry!’ said Bimi. The swirling gold and silver pattern of Bimi’s wings sparkled as she took off, and Twink remembered how she had thought Bimi the most beautiful fairy she had ever seen when she first met her. Now she was simply Bimi – her friend.
    She flew to catch up with Bimi and the two fairies spiralled upwards, passing empty classrooms and dorm branches filled with arriving fairies. On impulse, Twink did a quick somersault in the air, the wind tickling her wings.
    Bimi laughed. Twink grinned back at her, feeling a bit better. It had taken her ages to learn to fly the term before – much to her embarrassment when the rest of the first year was whizzing about like dragonflies! Now, though, she couldn’t get enough of it.
    It’ll be all right, she told herself firmly. I learned how to fly, so I can learn anything – even how to be away from my family on my birthday.
    When the girls reached Daffodil Branch, Twink saw with satisfaction that it was just as they had left it – a snug, comfortable branch with cosy moss beds and glow-worm lamps. An upside-down daffodil hung over each bed like a canopy. Their uniforms would be daffodils, too, with the