Journey to Psitharis

Chapter 1

     The moving van pulled up to the new house, resonating with the ancient creaks of one of the old Viking ships making port after a long battle. The moving men who loosely resembled Vikings weren't the most reliable sort; two hours into packing up our apartment into their ancient artifact of a vehicle they had dropped several boxes marked "FRAGILE" and put a chink in the headboard to my bed. "Good thing it was your ratty old headboard and not my new one. The way you decorate your room you don't need anything nice." Aurora smiled, flipping her blonde curls and bouncing away as she relished the destruction of my property. For the fifteen thousandth time I had to fight the urge to slap the back of my little sister's head as she retreated. Of course pointing out the damage to Mom didn't help at all.

     "Medora, just deal with it and we'll glue it or something" she sighed, rolling her eyes as she nudged past me, sneaking a box marked "DISHES" past the movers. "Does it look like I have time to deal with your problems?" Glue it, she says. That headboard was practically an antique, not to mention precious to me. There was an engraving of a knight riding forth on his trusty steed to the dragon's keep, only the dragon's keep had never actually been finished and the only thing that existed of the dragon was his long tail and his hind quarters; after that it was just a solid piece of wood. I think it was someone's pet project, they were attempting to rehab an old headboard and got bored and abandoned the project at some point. But when I found it for twenty bucks at a flea market I bought it anyway. I was with Granddad and he had no problems hauling it in his truck for me. My mom blew a gasket when I brought it into the house, but I could have cared less. I didn't have rails to attach it to, so I just placed it behind my old mattress and support and there it remained. Granddad and I decided to finish carving out the castle and the dragon whenever we had a free moment. That free moment never came.

     Granddad smoothed things over with my mom regarding the new addition to my room; he was always good at taking my side with all things big and small when it came to her. Yes indeed, John Parker was a peacemaker. Everyone loved him, and I was his biggest fan. I loved how he always wore the same old scuffed shoes and tan slacks, and how Grandma always rained storms above his head, begging him to wear something OTHER than a plaid shirt to church on Sunday. She always relented though; nobody could ever be angry at Granddad for long. That included my mom. I think with her it was just the knowledge that she couldn't win an argument with him that made her stop trying. So, when Grandpa championed my cause, she did little to challenge him, and I kept my "hideous" headboard.

     It was the last great argument he fought for me before he....before he died. A heart attack took my real white knight away from me. When Grandpa died, I was really lost. Grandma was always wonderful, but there was just something about him that made me feel whole and safe. He was my only friend, the best of me and the only good link my mom and I shared. And all that was left after the devastation was the failed relationship between Mom and me. The princess and the dragon's butt. Mom was the butt.

     "Whatever." I scoffed. Arguing with my mother did very little good and usually made her unbearable to live with and me a nervous wreck. So these days I sidestepped as many arguments as possible. It wasn't worth the effort.

     "Curb the attitude, Mer." was my mom's sharp reply. I just kept moving. Don't call me Mer, I thought. I headed to my room to grab my own box of breakables. I didn't trust the two goons throwing our furniture about to handle my most important stuff. I took the box and put it in the back of the car, where I was always consigned to sit; Aurora always sat in the front passenger seat, so I knew it would be safe there. I put the box on the back seat under some coats and hurried back to packing before my mother could find me out.