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Description
Tira and Billy stood in the ginormous doorway. Tira clutched her suitcase tightly. There wasn’t much in it, but it was all they had. Billy held her other hand, staring up at the house in awe.
“Are you sure that giants don’t live here?”
Tira looked at the house again. She couldn’t believe one person would ever live in such a house. It was about twice the size of their old orphanage, and that held nearly forty people. Maybe even more. Maybe there were giants in the house, and that’s why their uncle was so secretive…
She shook the illusion out of her head. This was reality, not a fairy tale.
Tira smiled at her little brother, “Yes Billy. I’m sure there’s no giants living in here.”
“Oh. Okay.”
They stood there for a few more minutes.
“Tira?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we gonna’ knock?”
“Oh yeah, right,” she promptly knocked on the wood and took several steps back. The door opened to reveal a very large man with a mustache and a square monocle.
“Are you the orphans that I have requested?”
Tira was a little bit irked at his wording, “Yes, we are you niece and nephew. Pleased to meet you.”
If her Uncle recognized her tone of voice, he didn’t show it. In fact, he seemed largely distracted. “Ahh, yes. Pleased to meet you and such. How many are there? Two? That’s all? What do children like? We have a large garden you can play in. Don’t bother me. Children have names, don’t they? Don’t answer that, of course they do. What’s your names?”
Billy seemed to have not noticed their Uncle’s odd behavior. He walked right up to him and held out a hand, “My name’s Billy! Billy Strange! But my friends sometimes call me Cipher or ‘one eye’.”
Tira couldn’t help but frown. His ‘friends’ were certainly far from friendly.
Uncle Perry seemed to be focused for the first time since their meeting, “Billy? Bill Cipher? What a coincidence. You can call me Uncle Tad. ‘Tad’ Perry Strange.”
“Your name is Tad Strange? Tira told me it was Perry.”
“Perry is my birth name. Tad is my other name for when I’m… never mind. Who’s this young lady?”
He certainly is a tad strange, Tira thought. “I am Bill’s sister, Tira Strange.”
“Tira? Odd name. Sounds a bit like Tear, don’t you think? Tira Drop. Tear Drop. Do you cry a lot?”
She huffed, “No.”
“Really? Wonder why that is then? Never mind. We’ll see to that later. What do I do now? Show you around the house. Yes, yes. Come on, orphans, I’ll show you around the house,” he turned around and walked briskly away, muttering to himself. Tira and Bill exchanged quick glances before following too, Tira still lugging the heavy suitcase.
“As you can see children, this is the… kitchen. We use it for cooking and such. Don’t bother me. C’mon orphans, don’t dawdle.”
He led them to the next room, “What we have here is the main room. There’s a fireplace and a few couches and a table and a map and… well… lots of things. Moving on.”
“Over there is the office. My office. Don’t go into it. Don’t bother me while I’m working. None of you children happen to be lactose intolerant, right? Of course you aren’t. Good. Stay away from the office. Over there is the library. Visit it whenever. Downstairs is the cellar. Upstairs are your rooms and mine. Up-upstairs is the attic. I should show you where you rooms are. Let’s go then.”
The large man walked up the stairs, but then stopped suddenly and turned around, “The toiletries are down that direction in the hall. I believe you would need to use the bathroom, yes? Now let’s go up the stairs.”
They continued walking up the stairs. Portraits and stuffed animal heads lined the walls. Bill scooted closer to her when he saw the animal heads. He never liked seeing dead things. Not even stuffed ones.
They reached the top of the stairs, and their Uncle continued his nonsensible ramble, “Your rooms are over there. You don’t mind sharing, right? I shared rooms when I was younger. I quite liked it. Over there is the master’s bedroom. My room. Stay away from it. Feel free to explore or do… anything really. Tell me if you need anything. I’ll be downstairs in the office. Don’t bother me until later. Unpack your things. Good evening,” and with that, he walked back down the long flight of stairs. Tira gave him an odd glance and breathed deeply. Was this the man they were going to spend the rest of their childhood with?
Bill interrupted her thoughts when he tugged her arm, “C’mon Tira! I wanna’ see our new room!”
Bill dragged Tira to the said room and opened the door. She was surprised to see it clean. Nearly everything else in the house was old and dusty.
The room was spacious, with two beds on opposite sides and a window above each. There were two nightstands with drawers and a gas light next to the beds. There was also a closet and a desk. The room was simple, but certainly better than anything they’ve lived in before. Bill immediately ran to the bed on the left side, “I call this one!”
“Why do you want that one?”
He pointed to his eyepatch, “That way I’d be able to see you.”
“Fair enough.”
She set the suitcase on top of her bed and started unpacking.
“Uncle Tad is funny, isn’t he?”
“That’s certainly a polite way to put it.”
“He just keeps talking and talking and talking. I like him. He’s funny.”
Tira nodded absentmindedly. She didn’t know what to think of their Uncle yet, but funny certainly wasn’t a term she would use.
Bill strolled over, “Wanna’ go see the other rooms in the house?”
Tira looked at Bill and back at her half packed suitcase. “You know what? Why not.”
“Yes!” he grabbed Tira’s hand and dragged her out, “It’ll be an adventure! Just like those stories you read to me!”
The prospect of adventure sent Tira’s mind reeling. There could be anything behind those closed doors. Long lost relics, treasure chests, hidden maps, magical wardrobes…
She shook her head. She was letting her imagination get the better of her again. That happened a lot, even though it shouldn’t. She was the older one. The mature one. It was Bill’s job to be imaginative.
Billy and Tira ran down the stairs. “I wanna’ see the library first,” he said.
Tira and Billy pushed open the heavy oak doors together, coughing slightly at the cloud of dust that rose up. Their eyes widened when they saw what was inside.
Books. Loads of books. More books than they could ever possibly imagine. The two siblings could only stare in awe for several moments before exchanging gleeful grins.
This was going to be fun.

Description
Tira and Billy stood in the ginormous doorway. Tira clutched her suitcase tightly. There wasn’t much in it, but it was all they had. Billy held her other hand, staring up at the house in awe.
“Are you sure that giants don’t live here?”
Tira looked at the house again. She couldn’t believe one person would ever live in such a house. It was about twice the size of their old orphanage, and that held nearly forty people. Maybe even more. Maybe there were giants in the house, and that’s why their uncle was so secretive…
She shook the illusion out of her head. This was reality, not a fairy tale.
Tira smiled at her little brother, “Yes Billy. I’m sure there’s no giants living in here.”
“Oh. Okay.”
They stood there for a few more minutes.
“Tira?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we gonna’ knock?”
“Oh yeah, right,” she promptly knocked on the wood and took several steps back. The door opened to reveal a very large man with a mustache and a square monocle.
“Are you the orphans that I have requested?”
Tira was a little bit irked at his wording, “Yes, we are you niece and nephew. Pleased to meet you.”
If her Uncle recognized her tone of voice, he didn’t show it. In fact, he seemed largely distracted. “Ahh, yes. Pleased to meet you and such. How many are there? Two? That’s all? What do children like? We have a large garden you can play in. Don’t bother me. Children have names, don’t they? Don’t answer that, of course they do. What’s your names?”
Billy seemed to have not noticed their Uncle’s odd behavior. He walked right up to him and held out a hand, “My name’s Billy! Billy Strange! But my friends sometimes call me Cipher or ‘one eye’.”
Tira couldn’t help but frown. His ‘friends’ were certainly far from friendly.
Uncle Perry seemed to be focused for the first time since their meeting, “Billy? Bill Cipher? What a coincidence. You can call me Uncle Tad. ‘Tad’ Perry Strange.”
“Your name is Tad Strange? Tira told me it was Perry.”
“Perry is my birth name. Tad is my other name for when I’m… never mind. Who’s this young lady?”
He certainly is a tad strange, Tira thought. “I am Bill’s sister, Tira Strange.”
“Tira? Odd name. Sounds a bit like Tear, don’t you think? Tira Drop. Tear Drop. Do you cry a lot?”
She huffed, “No.”
“Really? Wonder why that is then? Never mind. We’ll see to that later. What do I do now? Show you around the house. Yes, yes. Come on, orphans, I’ll show you around the house,” he turned around and walked briskly away, muttering to himself. Tira and Bill exchanged quick glances before following too, Tira still lugging the heavy suitcase.
“As you can see children, this is the… kitchen. We use it for cooking and such. Don’t bother me. C’mon orphans, don’t dawdle.”
He led them to the next room, “What we have here is the main room. There’s a fireplace and a few couches and a table and a map and… well… lots of things. Moving on.”
“Over there is the office. My office. Don’t go into it. Don’t bother me while I’m working. None of you children happen to be lactose intolerant, right? Of course you aren’t. Good. Stay away from the office. Over there is the library. Visit it whenever. Downstairs is the cellar. Upstairs are your rooms and mine. Up-upstairs is the attic. I should show you where you rooms are. Let’s go then.”
The large man walked up the stairs, but then stopped suddenly and turned around, “The toiletries are down that direction in the hall. I believe you would need to use the bathroom, yes? Now let’s go up the stairs.”
They continued walking up the stairs. Portraits and stuffed animal heads lined the walls. Bill scooted closer to her when he saw the animal heads. He never liked seeing dead things. Not even stuffed ones.
They reached the top of the stairs, and their Uncle continued his nonsensible ramble, “Your rooms are over there. You don’t mind sharing, right? I shared rooms when I was younger. I quite liked it. Over there is the master’s bedroom. My room. Stay away from it. Feel free to explore or do… anything really. Tell me if you need anything. I’ll be downstairs in the office. Don’t bother me until later. Unpack your things. Good evening,” and with that, he walked back down the long flight of stairs. Tira gave him an odd glance and breathed deeply. Was this the man they were going to spend the rest of their childhood with?
Bill interrupted her thoughts when he tugged her arm, “C’mon Tira! I wanna’ see our new room!”
Bill dragged Tira to the said room and opened the door. She was surprised to see it clean. Nearly everything else in the house was old and dusty.
The room was spacious, with two beds on opposite sides and a window above each. There were two nightstands with drawers and a gas light next to the beds. There was also a closet and a desk. The room was simple, but certainly better than anything they’ve lived in before. Bill immediately ran to the bed on the left side, “I call this one!”
“Why do you want that one?”
He pointed to his eyepatch, “That way I’d be able to see you.”
“Fair enough.”
She set the suitcase on top of her bed and started unpacking.
“Uncle Tad is funny, isn’t he?”
“That’s certainly a polite way to put it.”
“He just keeps talking and talking and talking. I like him. He’s funny.”
Tira nodded absentmindedly. She didn’t know what to think of their Uncle yet, but funny certainly wasn’t a term she would use.
Bill strolled over, “Wanna’ go see the other rooms in the house?”
Tira looked at Bill and back at her half packed suitcase. “You know what? Why not.”
“Yes!” he grabbed Tira’s hand and dragged her out, “It’ll be an adventure! Just like those stories you read to me!”
The prospect of adventure sent Tira’s mind reeling. There could be anything behind those closed doors. Long lost relics, treasure chests, hidden maps, magical wardrobes…
She shook her head. She was letting her imagination get the better of her again. That happened a lot, even though it shouldn’t. She was the older one. The mature one. It was Bill’s job to be imaginative.
Billy and Tira ran down the stairs. “I wanna’ see the library first,” he said.
Tira and Billy pushed open the heavy oak doors together, coughing slightly at the cloud of dust that rose up. Their eyes widened when they saw what was inside.
Books. Loads of books. More books than they could ever possibly imagine. The two siblings could only stare in awe for several moments before exchanging gleeful grins.
This was going to be fun.