Observant Muse

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11/08/02
Dear Diary,
When I grow up, I'm going to be a rock star. I will be famous and everybody will love me.

Trina chuckled as she blew the dust off the pages of the diary she'd had as a teenager. The thing had been in the attic for years and since she'd found it, she had been poring over the pages, laughing at her 12-year-old self.

13/08/02
Hi Diary,
I met the most beautiful boy today. He has curly hair and blue eyes. I don't know his name yet, but I'm going to marry him.

This one had her laughing out loud as she remembered her silly crush on TJ years ago. She definitely didn't marry him, but they'd dated, and her first heartbreak was seeing TJ making out with her sister. Oh well, she closed the diary and set about looking for the decorations box that had brought her into the attic in the first place.

“Honey! Should I come and help you search for the box?” her husband Neil yelled from the kitchen.

“No, dear, I got carried away. I should be done in a few minutes” she shouted back. Locating the decorations, she grabbed the box and decided to take her diary to finish reading it. The decoration was for her daughter's birthday. Her only child Muse was turning 10 in two days, and Trina and Neil were as excited as the birthday girl.

“Look what I found” she said to Neil as she walked into the kitchen grinning.

“A chest full of Gold?” He asked, taking the box from her and kissing her forehead.

“Ha! Well, it's almost as precious as gold” she replied, holding out the book to him.

“What do we have here? Noo! Trina Willoughby. You want to traumatize me with your teenage secrets?” Neil asked, laughing.

“Very funny, but I'll have you know I was a cool kid!” she replied, laughing.

“Yes I can see it here, cool enough to hide in the bathroom during algebra classes” he replied shaking his head in disbelief as he glanced through her diary.

“Well I hated the teacher, but I promised I started attending after the teacher was changed” she said wide-eyed.

“And that is why you're a world-renowned artist” Neil replied.

“Anyway, I was thinking of getting Muse a diary as part of her gift. She loves writing like her bestseller Dad, so I'm sure she'll love it” Trina said.

“I concur, as long as we can steal and read it every weekend, so I'll know which boys to scare off. Hopefully, she'll draw pictures of them to make things easier for me. She's blessed with both our talents, you know” Neil replied, flexing his arms.

“You're terrible, but if we get caught, count me out” she replied with a wink.

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The birthday celebration was a success, Muse was the happiest kid as she ran about happily with her friends, eating as much cake and food as they could. After the celebrations, Trina and Neil tucked a sugar high Muse into bed.

“Thank you so much for my party. It was spectacular, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm 11 now!” Muse said, wriggling happily underneath her duvet.

“We have one more gift for you” Trina said, producing a beautiful pink Diary from the drawer. It also had a pen with feathers at it's side. Muse grabbed the book in delight and hugged her parents.

“Alright, kiddo, enjoy your diary. Mummy had one when she was about your age, and she loved it” Neil said staring at his daughter proudly.

“Goodnight princess, we love you” Trina replied, pinching Neil on his leg.

“Goodnight parents, I'll write about my birthday then I'll go to bed” Muse promised, already bringing out the pen attached to the diary.

Contrary to Neil’s plans, Muse went everywhere with her diary and kept it safely so they couldn't steal it or read its contents. She wrote in it at least five times a day and sometimes giggled when writing, but she never let her parents near it. Whenever they asked her what she was writing in her diary, Muse replied, “Oh, everything, and anything”.

“It seems like Mrs. Stanley has a new gardener” Muse mentioned casually one night at dinner.

“I don't think so, she doesn't have a garden baby” Neil said to her, chuckling.

“Why do you think she has a new gardener?” Trina asked.

“I'm just very observant about my surroundings, mum. I see the man from my bedroom, moving around with his tools” She replied shrugging.

“Hmm, she probably wants to take up gardening then,” Trina said.

The issue of the gardener was forgotten until Mrs. Stanley's house was burgled five days later. The neighbors watched in alarm as police cars pulled up and Mrs. Stanley, a young widow, sobbed uncontrollably. She just couldn't understand how all her late husband's expensive paintings had been carted away.

Her safe had also been cracked and cleaned out. Everything of value in the house was gone, despite the security cameras and top-notch home security system. The police discovered that the camera feeds had been tampered with. So there was no footage of the crime or culprit.

They police left with little or no evidence, as the burglar had been very meticulous. They returned the next day to question the neighbors, and that was when Trina and Neil told them about the gardener Muse had talked about. There was no way to identify who the person was as they hadn't seen him themselves.

The officers left with a little hope and at least a possible lead. They returned when Muse got home from school for further inquiry into the gardener.

“I certainly hope the thief is caught. Mrs. Stanley looks traumatized” Trina said as the officers sat in her living room for the second time that day.

“We'll do our best ma'am” one of the officers replied.

Speaking with Muse gave the case a breakthrough, as Muse had not only written about the gardener descriptively in her diary, she had also drawn pictures of him in one of her notebooks. They left happily with the books, promising to return them soon.

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The street was thrown into another shock as Mrs. Stanley was arrested the next day. The officer told Trina and her family the whole story when he stopped by to return Muse's books. It turned out the gardener was, in fact, a tech guy who Mrs. Stanley had hired to tamper with the security cameras in the street and the security system in her home.

There hadn't been a burglary, as Mrs. Stanley herself had carted away her belongings and hidden them in a warehouse on the other side of town. She did it because she was going bankrupt and needed the insurance money.

“Wow” Trina and her husband exclaimed after the officer had left.

“I'm glad the cased has been solved. I was beginning to worry about our safety” Neil said, relieved.

“All thanks to my darling girl Muse” Trina said proudly.

“Yes, thank heavens she writes about other stuff besides hiding in the school toilet, kissing boys and future husbands like her mum” Neil teased.

“I knew I should have never shown you my teenage diary. I am ever going to hear the end of it, am I?” Trina replied laughing.

“Probably when I'm old and wrinkled” Neil replied, laughing as well.

“Can I read mum's teenage diary?” Muse asked excitedly.

“NO!” Trina and Neil said as Muse looked at them with an innocent smile, wondering how they would react if she told them she'd already secretly read the first twenty pages months ago.