Tree of Wishes

Rock Star Mama: An Eddie Perspective

The past is what we rely on to avoid making the same mistakes, but it's not something we need to dwell on. What happens, happens, and there's not much changing it. The best we can do is prepare better for the future. But realistically, no matter how much we try to let go and move on, there's always going to be some part of our past that clings onto us like a leech, sapping away our joy when we least expect it.

I only bothered thinking about this after seeing the little Junebug help out Anubis in ways even I couldn't have imagined. How the hell does someone solve a cold case murder in just one day? It was impossible for a boring, ordinary human, but for someone with powers from the tree, anything was possible. It was dangerous though, and people nearly got hurt in the process, so it was mostly luck that saved the day. Still, her powers had a lot of potential, and all that was holding her back was her lack of experience.

Cypress obviously knew this, hence why he was always hovering over her during her studies, poking and prodding her mind to see what made her tick. Twice now I've seen Junebug stomp out of the house in frustration, ranting about how memorizing literally centuries of historical text was outrageous. Both times she came to me to vent about it. We would pretty much chill out in the shed until she got over it and went back. I think she just needed a break, but I doubt that's in Cypress's dictionary.

After cleaning and organizing the shed, there wound up being plenty of room for me to live in there. Cypress hadn't mentioned until that point that the shed actually used to be a stable for horses back when that was the quickest way to get up and down the mountain. After cars became popular, he just threw everything remotely useful in there without a second thought, turning it into a random cluster of gardening and survival tools. There were even cans of food dating back fifty years ago! Who would need that anymore?

Anyway, the point is I was able to live in it without any problems. I bought a nice, real bed, and shoved it in the upper right corner of the shed with the rest of my stuff. Everything else that was worth keeping after the cleanup was neatly shelved away on the left side. Being surrounded by tools all the time made me feel like I was some kind of blacksmith, which wasn't too bad.

Speaking of, Junebug was a surprisingly good rogue during game night, which made it more fun to come up ideas that didn't center around not letting Cypress's character destroy everything in one turn (and that was after his character was nerfed via a curse). I would have taken her for the type who went with a Lawful Good Cleric, but maybe she liked playing against types. During one of our sessions, right when we were getting ready to bookmark it and call it a night, Junebug brought up something unexpected.

"There's something odd about this villain," she said while tapping the miniature of a sorceress. "The way you described her made me think of someone who looked a lot like you, but was different."

"You sure he wasn't just inserting himself in there?" Anubis asked.

Junebug shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"What? Are you trying to psychoanalyze me or somethin'?" I joked, then waved my hands around to pretend I was in despair. "Oh, woe is me! I can't stop thinkin' 'bout moms and dicks so I have to project them into my games!"

I thought she'd joke back or get annoyed, but instead she looked at me with a serious face and asked, "What was your mom like?"

The room was silent. Suddenly, everyone had their eyes on me, curious to know the answer. I had given them an abridged version of my life story, but I never went into detail about my mom. It's not like she had any importance in my life other than giving birth to me.

"I dunno," I answered truthfully with a shrug. "I mean I have checked on her to see if she was still alive, but that's 'bout it."

"Do you wish to know?" Cypress asked, then glanced over to June. "Not that you have to, of course. We shouldn't force you."