Shell

“Hi, Francis, or do you prefer Fran?” She sipped at her
milkshake through a straw. She reminded me of a chipmunk after
eating way too much sugar. Not that I know what that looks like
or anything.”
― Sophie Wilkinson

“I remember the number to the school’s desk because last year,
Molly thought it would be funny to prank-call a teacher and
tell them that the queen wanted to come on a royal visit. We
got detention for a week. I assure you, my friends are a very bad
influence on me.”
― Sophie Wilkinson, The Beginning

“maybe even just time travelled; we hadn’t really decided yet.
Personally, I’d rather go with parallel universe, mostly because
it just sounded so much cooler. We had no idea how or when
we could get back, which meant that we might be lost in time
forever. Fran’s parents were missing in some other timeline or
maybe even this one. We hadn’t actually gotten that far though,
to be honest. I had no idea if our actions would affect the future,
but I really didn’t think we were that important. Also, I hadn’t
had any sleep for fifteen hours. And to tie it all up, I think that
we are about to be bombed.
Eek.”
― Sophie Wilkinson, The Beginning

“We followed her up the path and to the front door. We stood
at the door while Camille knocked a few times then listened for
the tapping of footsteps against what sounded like a very old
wooden floor. The door opened, and a beautiful young woman
stood there smiling at us all.
She had long red hair and pretty freckles across her face. I was
about to say hello when Fran butted in, “Grandma?”
― Sophie Wilkinson, The Beginning