'What about this? Is this magic?' Emily screamed at Luke, holding up a lovely conch.

'No Emily, it's not,' Luke answered wearily.

He felt too grown-up for this nonsense, he was 10 now and a grown man. His 8-year-old sister was really so childish.

'And this? Luke, is it magic?' Emily shouted as she watched the sea lapping around her ankles and burying her toes in brown sand.

'No Emily, it's just water,' was Luke's answer.

Emily looked at the water. Don't worry, I do believe you're magic, she thought. Then she swam for a bit. Some salty water hit her lips and she licked it off.

'Luke, it's salty! It's not water, it's salty! It must me magic, Luke!' she screamed back to the shore.

'No, Emily, that's normal for sea water,' her brother told her.

Emily pouted and got out of the water.

'Well how come I can fly when I'm in the water, hmm?' she asked.

'That's not magic, that's physics,' Luke said.

'You use that fizux to explain everything nowadays!' exclaimed Emily.

She trotted back to the water and sat down in the sand. Luke was so boring! It seemed like he was wiser when he was 8. She was 8 now, and she was wiser than him. Maybe people were wisest when they were 8? Emily put her elbows on her knees and cupped her face in her hands. At that moment, an old-looking green glass bottle was swept onto the shore by a wave. It stopped right at her feet. It was corked and sealed shut, and there was an note inside.

'I'll bet you're going to tell me this isn't magic, either,' Emily said to Luke, holding up the bottle.

Luke opened an eye and looked at the bottle.

'No, it's not magic, it's a filthy bottle. Throw it away! People should know better than to litter in the sea,' he said.

Emily frowned and looked at the bottle.

No way am I going to throw you away. You have a note inside, you're special!

'Kids, it's time. Come on, get your bags, and we'll go to the car,' their father called.

Emily got up, wiped the sand off her bum and walked to the chairs where Luke and herself had left their bags. Before anybody could see, she put the bottle into her bag.

'I'm ready, Dad,' she said.

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Author guidance for This story

Luke (8) and Emily (6) live with their father - their mother had left them when Emily had been just 3 years old - on the outskirts of London.

Luke tends to amuse himself by winding Emily up with stories of magic and sorcery. Emily is thought to be a very imaginative child, though it is Luke who creates the worlds he describes, and Emily looks up to Luke as only a younger sister can, believing all he has to say.

The stories Luke tells are not true, but Emily is intent on buying them.

If nobody feels like carrying on, I probably will, but please continue - I named the next chapter Magic in a Bottle, which shouldn't be too hard to work with!

updated Jul 15 '09 by Moonshine