Panic

I'm panicking!!! This is the best I can do! I hope it works!!! Mom found it in the basement and was using it as a decoration.

Help!

I can't write for very long. Just trust me, Olivia. Send me some sort of weapon. It's all I can do to keep them from noticing the Diary. Please, help me! You are my last chance.

~Arabella

Text Talk

Wow, you ARE weird. I thought that I would give you an example of how girls your age talk these days.

" Maddie: Hi BTW u left ur cam. in our strllr
Olivia: thx i was lkn 4 tht
Maddie: lol it out of chrge
Olivia: Ya. i gtg eat bi
Maddie: bibi TTYL c ya
Olivia: c u ltr"

There you go... 13/12 year old text talk. In my century...This is what it means...

" Maddie said, Hi, by the way you left your camera in our stroller.
Olivia/Me said, Thanks I was looking for that.
Maddie said, Laugh Out Loud, It's out of charge.
Olivia said, Yeah, I Got To Go eat goodbye.
Maddie said, Byebye Talk To You Later. See ya.
Olivia said, See you later"

There you go. (translated to old people language by Olivia Leek

Hey, my mom is planting a garden in the back yard. There was a little patch of soil there, with a little path leading up to it. Did you have something there once?

LMK. ( I decided I would start teaching you these things. So if you ever get a cell phone... Or so I don't have to write so much. :) This one means - Let Me Know-)

~ Olivia

Special thanks to Maddie for creating the (made up) conversation! Thanks Maddie!!!

September 11, 1644- around 3 o'clock in the afternoon

When you go to the attic to find something, be firmly assured that you will indeed find something. Unless, of course, the house has been abandoned for many years, in which case, there will be naught but the dust of the decades... I apologize for my strange speaking, but you're mentioning of the attic sparked my inner author and philosopher. I am one strange being, am I not? I feel that I must be a whimsical fairy of sorts, for I am as unlike from any of my family as day is from night. But, to return to the original point...

A mirror? Yes, I own a mirror that fits your given description, but there is one difference; my mirror has no engravings upon its back. But, I suppose, I will have the mirror engraved eventually- what a strange thought! You know more of my future than I myself do!
Yes, my mirror is indeed valuable. My father is a wealthy merchant as well as a member of Parliament. The mirror in question was a gift from the Prime Minister of India.

I have been standing in front of the mirror for many minutes, and -/`~

The Mirror

Okay I am just going to bypass all your questions 'til another time because I need to talk to you.

I went up to the attic today just to see what I would find and I found something...

Do you know of a mirror that is gold and it's engraved with a leaf pattern??? It says on the back in black ink "Property of Arabella of Belfast". It is beautiful. And I don't like old stuff like that but WOW. It's pretty! Looks like it costs a lot!

I was thinking about how you can see my writing. I was wondering if at 3:00pm tomorrow you could stand in front of the mirror (if you have it).

Olivia

September 9, 1644- around 1 o'clock in the morning

First of all, I am envious of you for being so clever! If I could have imagined such an excuse as you, my siblings would never be nuisances again! Unfortunately, there are too many of us to be able to have so-called "alone" time with either of my parents.

Second of all, a "pen"?! As in a pig sty? No, wait- I apologize for my rashness, for I did not read the entire sentence before I began to write. Does your "pen" resemble a shaved quill? It sounds marvelous! I have often wished for such a thing, quills and inkwells can become rather messy.

Thirdly, if you don't punch in the numbers, why say "punch"? Are the buttons round and the type that one sews on? And how can a number be written on a button? Buttons are made of glass, wood, or valuable metal. Writing upon one must be extremely difficult. Do you yourself write the numbers on the buttons? Even more so, do you make your own cell phone, or is there a man with the profession of making cell phones? How large are cell phones? Surely they must be somewhat small, for you would not be able to hold one if it was large. Your cell phones are so very complicated!!

Lastly but surely not the least, I am sure you are wondering why I have not written for so long. It is a gruesome tale, full of terrifying twists and turns... actually, I just got punished.

One of my six sisters told my mother that I had been writing in this book. My mother, the beautiful Lady Marianne, disapproves of writing for anything but letters. When she had thoroughly looked it over, I was accused of writing a novel! Of all things, a novel! Of course, I bowed my head in supposed shame, for trying to explain our shared phenomenon of nature would lead to much worse punishment. Then my mother told me that I "was defiling my hard-earned, beautiful penmanship by writing such ugly letters!" She was referring to your writing, I had not the courage to tell her that. So I was punished, not to write anything for four days. My mother even went to the extreme of ordering my brother Jonathan to spy on me, in order to make sure that I was not writing behind her back! So I was forbidden to write until this present date. It infuriates me!

Farewell for now,
Arabella

Oh

I appreciate your concern about me. But living with her for as long as I have, I have figured out how to hide. You see my sister really likes to shop. So I simply told my mom that I was out of shampoo and I really needed to wash my hair. Of course my mom believed it and of course Rachael wanted to go. I mean shopping AND getting to be alone with mom for an hour or so. Her two favorite things. So I got it covered.

Okay first of all we use something called a pen. It is like ink in a tube and when you press you can write. Not a "quill".

And, you don't "punch" in the numbers. You push in the buttons with the numbers written on them.

There you go,

Olivia