When Julia entered the garden she was mesmerized. The garden itself was well taken care of, all the flowers and shrubs have been trimmed, watered, and in orderly spots. Tobias had taken purchase underneath a purple willow tree. He was all by himself reading aloud his book, even giving the characters voices. only stopping to eat a bit of his sandwich. Julia was nervous to disrupt his entertaining reading session but she took the initiative. 

She tip-toed her way behind the tree, “What are you reading?” She poked her head down at her brother. 

Tobias jumped out of his skin, letting out a small yelp too.

Julia took a seat next to him, “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to know what you were reading.”

“Uh- no you are okay Julia… I’m reading a book about pirates and their adventures at sea!” At first, he was scared to speak to Julia but when he talked about his book his eyes lit up.

“Well tell me about the pirates and their adventured at sea,” Julia smiled at Tobias, she herself an avid reader was excited to hear more about what book this was and Tobias’s interests.

Tobias happily explained the plot of his book up until the point where Julia interrupted him. He got really into it and even acted on some of the scenes. He did get a little embarrassed when he mentioned the romance between the the ship’s doctor and the first mate. But Julia laughed it off with him. 

“When did you like books Julia?” Tobias innocently asked Julia.

Julia panicking on the inside responds with, “I just picked it up and I’ve been wanting someone to read with,” she smiled.

Lies.

“Oh, well I’ve always wanted a reading buddy! Hey do you want to act out this scene with me?” Surprising Tobias is fine with Julias answer.

“Sure what’s happening?” Julia leans over to read some of the text.

“So! The captain, Marty, is being betrayed by one of his friends. That friend being Alex, who I already told you about their crazy history with Marty,” Tobias leans over and rolls his eyes when he talked about Alex.

“Yes I know about Alex, he wants the treasure to make himself the king of the oceans while Marty wants to help his friends and save the ocean from bad people like Alex, did I get that right?”

“Yes, you did thank you for paying attention. Okay back to where I was, oh yes the cave of despair! Who do you want to read? Alex or Marty?” Tobias asked while handing the book to Julia.

“I’ll play Alex, playing the villain can be fun sometimes,” Julias smiles.

“Yeah sure Julia,” Tobias said unamused. “Then I’ll be Marty, we should get some sticks for our swords and I can use my picnic basket for treasure.”

“Alright, do you need the book to read from?” Julia asked.

“Nope! I know the book by heart by now!” Tobias posted.

Julia let out a little laugh as she saw Tobias’s face, he was very proud of the fact he memorized his book better than his own school work. Julia begin studying the book for what she was meant to do, then something stood out to her. The terminology used in the fight was one that was familiar to her. It was fencing, the very thing she was going to the Olympics for. Tobias came back after a few minutes with two sticks that were long enough to be considered swords but not as deadly.

“Ready Julia?” Tobias asked Julia, stick at the ready.

Julia copied his stance and nodded to him.