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Private thread with @Caradoc Browne
Chelsea, West London. May 3rd, 2020. Sunday, 11:30am.

The Yu's home was located on one of the most beautiful streets in London, with pastel Instagram-worthy houses that looked like something straight out of Mary Poppins. The sound of busy traffic from the main road could be heard from a distance, but the street was fairly quiet, bar the chirping of the birds and soft hum of chatter coming from the houses. It was a lovely day, with the sun shining down kindly and the skies cloudless and blue - anyone who walked onto the street would likely think they had stepped into a fairy tale.

Like most children her age, Juniper's excitement was at its maximum on her birthday. Much to her family's dismay, she had woken up at the unholy hour of 7am and proceeded to let the entire house know that it was finally May 3rd with an enthusiastic squeal and jump on their beds. They had groaned, begged for her to have mercy on them... and gone straight back to sleep. Juniper responded to their rudeness by picking up her violin and playing a very out-of-tune version of "Happy Birthday" around the house until everyone was awake.

For some reason, her father had thought it would be a good idea to gift her a Nerf gun, a decision he would soon regret when she began to run around the house and shoot at her siblings. Her older brother could usually fend her off quite easily, but due to the fact that it was her birthday he appeared to be trying to tolerate her nonsense. Annalise did not take it so well. Being the big baby she was, she started screaming and shouting when one of the orange foam bullets landed in her cereal, but Juniper only giggled and scuttled away, dodging the spoon thrown at her with a snort of laughter.

Fortunately for them, her enthusiasm had momentarily faded after a few awkward phone calls from her relatives in China. Juniper never knew what to say to her grandparents - they always told her the exact same thing. Look how big you're getting, you're such a pretty girl, next year you'll be taller than me... Her cousins were just as awkward as she was - it was pretty clear that they had been forced to talk on the phone - and all her aunts and uncles ever asked about was school. This was why she didn't like parties...

But her energy had miraculously returned when Jeremiah pulled the birthday hat off her head. She was now chasing him up and down the street, laughing breathlessly as she cursed at him. Jeremiah was a lot faster than she was, and he skillfully dodged the nerf darts she was shooting at him, shaking the hat at her tauntingly. "It's my birthday, this is so unfair! Jeremiiiah!" Juniper effortlessly switched between Chinese and English as she spoke. She nearly face planted as she tripped over a fallen branch... oh, God, her stomach hurt from laughing so hard. "Give it - back! Ugh, I hate you so much!"

Jeremiah tossed it at her all of a sudden, throwing the hat like it was a frisbee. "Catch!" It hit her in the face and she shot a nerf dart at his back as he ran up the stairs and into the house, slamming the door behind him with a howl of glee. Juniper jammed the hat back on her head and sat down on the stairs outside to take a breath and stop laughing, her back against the rail. Her birthday was off to a good start.

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@Caradoc Browne

A few minutes after she darted back into the house, wearing the pink birthday hat with pride once again, someone knocked on the door and the bell rang. Juniper could almost feel the entire house pause to look in the direction of the front door as the dogs rushed to press themselves against the wood, barking and yelping to alert everyone of the visitor. Her mom had craned her neck around the corner, a strange look on her face. Juniper shared her confusion - Aunt Ava was coming for lunch, but that wasn't for another hour or so, and she wasn't having a party...

"Mom, did you invite anyone to our house?" she asked, moving forward to pat the dogs. "If you invited any of my classmates, I swear... oh my God, Bear, Honey, chill out." The two dogs quieted down on command and the eleven year old attempted to read her mom's expression for any giveaways about who might be at the door, but it was almost blank, bar her furrowed brows and the slight downturn of her mouth.

"Can you go get that, honey?" said Madeline, voice uncharacteristically shaky.

Juniper tried to push this detail to the back of her mind - her mother was never nervous, and seeing her like this made her nervous too. "But Mommm, it's my birthday. Can't Jere get it instead?" She gave a half-hearted protest, but her hand was already pushing down slowly on the door handle. Her stomach gave a strange flutter of nerves for some reason as she opened the door just a smidge, one brown eye peeking out to see who it was.

Well, no one she recognised... Juniper could not help but shrink back slightly at the unfamiliar face, although she opened the door a little further. Her status as the birthday girl would be made obvious by the pink hat on her head, and she was flanked by two dogs - Bear, a large Chow-Chow, and Honey, a golden retriever who would run out to sniff the visitor inquisitively. "Can I help you?" she asked politely, putting on a friendly smile. She smoothed down non-existant creases in her skirt, eyes darting back for a moment as her mother gave a faint gasp. "Are you sure you have the right house?"