Mente Sonum

Chapter 5

"Kid! I told you to clean your room!"

"Sorry, mom, can't hear you! See you later!"

"Little shit." Emma couldn't help but chuckle. So the boy was a slob, he never picked up his stuff, but that was something she could deal with. Her teen couldn't pick up his underwear from the floor but at least he wasn't doing drugs or sneaking behind her back. He was always forthright about where he was going and who was going to be with. He allowed her to put a tracker on his phone and he never gave her a hassle when she called to make sure he was okay.

Emma bent down to pick up the boxers when a large, tomb-like book caught her gaze. She furrowed her brow. She remembered Henry reading that over the summer. He would sit on the couch and read aloud as she cooked them dinner. She felt a pull towards it and so she walked until her toes grazed it's hard cover.

"Once Upon a Time," Emma read the title out loud. She lifted the book with a grunt.

"Ma?" Emma startled, fumbling the book slightly, only catching it with assistance from her knees. "What're you doing with my book?"

"Hey, kid, I thought you were going out?"

"I forgot my keys. You're finally going to cave and read it?"

Emma sighed, "Honestly... Okay, I just felt a pull toward it."

"Yeah, okay," Henry chuckled teasingly before snatching his house keys from his bedside table. He leaned forward and gave her a sweet peck on the cheek. "It's a great book. It describes three different love stories, fairytales, from a new perspective and one is even LGBT. It's really cool."

"LGBT?" Emma caressed the binding softly, feeling that magnetic pull become stronger.

"Yeah, it's the love story between The Evil Queen and The Savior, who is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming."

"That does sounds kind of cool."

"Totally! It's a slow burn. Their story is the longest cause it's the only completely original and modern tale. Obviously, Snow White and Prince Charming and The Beauty and the Beast have been done before but Swan Queen hasn't."

"Swan Queen?"

"That's what the book calls their section. The Evil Queen is, obviously, the queen part and the swan represents The Savior, because it's white and pure. Swan Queen. It's my favorite story."

Emma sat down on his bed, "Tell me more. You know I don't have the patience or attention span to read."

Henry threw his keys onto the beside table before plopping down next to his mom. He grabbed the book from her and opened to the section labeled 'Swan Queen'.

He pointed to the blonde and brunette women, a small boy between them, "The brunette is The Evil Queen, the blonde is The Savior, and the boy is their son, they call him The Little Prince."

"The Savior kinda looks like me."

"Egotistical much, Ma?"

"Shut up," She drawled playfully. "Just tell me the story."

"I've told you this before but I guess I should've know you were really paying attention to me."

"Sorry?"

"Yeah, yeah. So The Evil Queen is betrayed by Snow White and she searches for revenge for decades. She finds it, or she though she found it, in a curse that would drag them all from The Enchanted Forest to our world--"

"Woah," Emma shook her head. "The Enchanted Forest?"

"Yeah, that's where they're originally from but they traveled here through a portal." Emma blanched. "You okay?"

"Tell me more."

"Anyway, the curse creates this town called Storybrooke--"

"Fuck..." Henry looked at his mother, who was shaking her head with a bitter smile painting her lips.

"What?"

"Kid, in this story, is there a Cora and Henry?"

"That's The Evil Queen's parents. How'd you know that?"

"Is there a witch named Zelena?"

"Yeah, that's The Evil Queen's step sister, who curses them all back to Storybrooke after they were forced home. So you actually listened to me when I read, huh?"

"Maybe, cause I've been having deja-vu moments that I think are coming from hearing you read this, but you remember my patient?"

"Regina, duh. You talk about her all the time."

"She told me she's from The Enchanted Forest, has a step sister named Zelena, and that she's in love with her arch nemesis' daughter."

"That's accurate. Snow White was The Evil Queen's arch nemesis for a long time."

"So she's been getting her delusions from this book?"

"Beats me, Ma. I'm just a teenager who should be at a party."

"Oh! Sorry, kid. Go. We'll talk later."

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, it's just that I was starting to wonder if maybe..."

"What? That this woman really came from another realm? Ma, come on." He lifted a skeptical brow, teasing her with a small, amused grin.

Emma shook her head, "I guess I'll have to tell Severe where these delusions are stemming from."

"It'd make sense. This book was really popular a few years ago." Henry placed the book on the bed and picked up his keys once more.

"See you later, Henry. Be safe, okay?"

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."