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An Unexpected Visitor
Ferdinand fell out of the sky on the hottest day of the year, while Celeste and Esmerelda Barden were on the front porch eating ice-cream.
The landing was spectacular – no warning, not even a ‘good afternoon’. One second there was a speck in the sky, the next a splat on the ground, and then a great tangle of arms and legs sprawled out across the top of a luxurious velveteen robe.
Esmerelda, shocked, shot up from the step. Her ice-cream knocked against her nose and fell on the ground, where it melted into a milky muck in a matter of seconds. Celeste looked from the ice-cream puddle to her cousin – who still hadn’t moved – and then to Esmerelda, who began to cry.
‘Come on, Esme, don’t have a sook.’ Celeste used the hem of her sleeve to wipe her sister’s nose, then inched towards her cousin. ‘Ferd? Are you alright?’ Slicks of sweat ran down the back of her legs. It was so hot it hurt to breathe, but not as much as it seemed to hurt Ferdinand, who remained in the furry burgundy embrace of their robe, staring up at the thick blue sky.
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