Chapter Eight

Crys proved herself to be a bright child. She was constantly playing with the block set that we bought her for her birthday. She wanted it set up in the living room rather than her own room. She loved to make little buildings, only to knock them down. She seemed a little too gleeful about that part sometimes.

She also enjoyed baking her own meals. I worried about her eating muffins for all her meals but she insisted. I found it hard to say no so I let it go. Plus Cinder seemed to think it was a good thing and though Cinder could be pretty insane, he always seemed to know what to do.

I sure never baked anything that looked that good when I was her age. I suppose there was nothing to do but be proud of my little girl. She was so grown up and serious though! I really did worry about her. I suppose there was nothing to really worry about though, she seemed to ignore it if I tried to talk to her about it anyway.

Well one day, we all got invited to a party. It was a friend of mine from work who invited me. Cinder came with me. It was a costume party, he chose to dress up as a clown. Crystal didn't want to come so we left her at home to play with the telescope.

I thought I looked pretty good as a military woman. All serious and what not! Maybe this should have been my career path?

First things Cinder did was start telling fortunes. This guy, also dressed as a clown, was his first victim. He allowed Cinder to read his fortune and I listened, curiously. I never let Cinder tell me mine.

"You're going to do something pretty great soon. Maybe a new wife? A new baby perhaps? Or maybe you'll win big at the Fall Fair!" He sounded so sure and excited as he told the man. The man looked disappointed but then thoughtful.

"I have been thinking of proposing to my girlfriend...Maybe...Maybe it's time!" Cinder nodded encouragingly  I had to admit, I was proud of him.

Next he found his way inside, I went for the food and he went for the Crumplebottom sister dressed as mermaid.

"Don't you want to hear your future?" He asked her, practically begging.

"Um...No" She shook her head.

"But I'm good at my job!"

"You seem like a nutjob to me buddy. No" Then she walked away. Cinder seemed really upset. I wish she would have just let him tell her fortune. Surely it couldn't be that bad right?

He also asked this firefighter but he too said no to Cinder. I think he's related to the mermaid somehow but I didn't catch his name. Poor Cinder was so disheartened by then though.

So when this woman finally let him tell her fortune he was so over joyed I heard him stuttering a little when he thanked her. I watched, a little curious, as he concentrated, putting together her future in his mind.

"Good luck is coming your way" He told her. I thought it sounded a little fortune cookie-ish. She started to complain but he went on "But be careful, it comes at a price. You will loose something dear to you. Don't fret though, you will find yourself happier once it is all over"

Pretty good eh? Cinder must be doing well at work.

He then turned and bothered the mermaid once more.

"What do you want? I don't want to hear your lame fortune, clown boy"

"I don't need to touch you to see your future!" He yelled at her. I didn't hear what else he had to say, another person started talking to me and I was across the room but I could see him waving his arms and looking quite...un-Cinder like.

Finally I grabbed him, stuttering half-formed apologizes at the other guests and dragged my lunatic husband out the door. I loved him, but jeeze! He needs to take a chill pill! I wondered what set him off. Maybe his career choice is a bad one for him?

When we got home, he set about fixing our TV which has been broken for about a month. No one got around to fixing it and quite frankly I've been so busy with work and Crystal to worry about it. Speaking of Crystal, I had sat on the couch to read a book next to her but when we came in she got up and quietly skipped off to her room. That girl likes to be alone a little too much. She's a very private, serious person, even at such a young age. It worries me.

Every night when she came home, she would do her homework straight away at the little desk I bought for her in her room.

Then she would generally paint the rest of the day away. On weekends, this was mainly what she did.

I brought it up to Cinder that night. We were still in our costumes and we were finishing off the cake from Crystal's birthday a while back.

"I'm worried about Crystal. She seems to keep to herself. She doesn't have any friends at school"

"She'll make friends, Lefia. Calm down" He smiled, looking calm and as Cinder as ever. "Maybe she doesn't like anybody at school. This isn't like back home, you know everyone because you've grown up with them your whole life. This is different. Give her time"

I had to admit he was probably right, as always. Who ever heard of the man always being right? I was losing my edge.

But at least now that Crys was a little older, we had time for some fun now. I have to admit, we were trying for another baby, but I knew I wouldn't get one. It depressed me in ways I can't even explain. With Crystal being older, I wanted another baby so bad. It seems I was not meant to have one though.

We tried though and I was happy that Cinder was always ready to try, though his looks grew more and more sad every time I asked.

I often wandered the house after such episodes and after one, I saw some strange lights outside. I wandered outside and looked at the rainbow of colors dancing above me. Was it a sign?

I suddenly had a bad feeling about the lights. They were not a good sign. I decided to run but before I knew it I was being sucked up into the air. I screamed and shouted, but no one seemed to hear me.

And away into the spaceship I went. I can't tell you what happened up there, I don't think I want to know. I just know it felt like I was gone for a very long time.

Next thing I knew, I was on the sidewalk in front of my house and an alien was next to me. They gave me a wave and a handshake and then jumped into their ship and were gone. Confused and startled I stared into space as I tried to line up the pieces of what happened to me. Seems like Cinder was right again. Aliens were dangerous.

And they apparently gave you stomach aches because my stomach hurt. I didn't remember it even hurting this much when I got sick when I was carrying Crystal.

To make myself feel better, I went back inside, changed into my PJs and then ate some jellybeans. Those always made me feel better one way or another. I loved that bush.

Well the next morning after telling Cinder about what happened and watching him go running to the hills to find where the Aliens went, I approached Crystal about her upcoming birthday. She didn't speak to us much. It worried me. She didn't seem to have any friends.

"Crystal honey, are you busy?"

"Nah Mom, what do you need?" She didn't look up from painting though.

"Well, its just your birthday is coming up. I figured you might want to invite a friend"

"No. Everyone at school thinks I'm a freak. I rather not" She dipped her brush into the paint and began painting once more, softly humming to herself. I figured that was her sign for me to go away. I sighed and trotted right back out the open door. I worried about her, but I had no idea what to do.

Well later that week, Crystal went to the pool and she met a friend, not that I'd know about it right away.

They took to each other quickly, talking about painting and many other subjects. I just noticed Crystal coming home from school every day with a grin on her face. I figured she had found a friend, but I didn't want to pry.

"Hey mom" Crystal started, plopping on the couch after school one day.

"Yes baby girl?"

"Remember you asked if I wanted to invite a friend for my birthday? I found one. Her name is Sheri Ivy. Can she come?"

Ivy...Probably related to that Annalove woman I met when I first came here. I wondered if she would be rude like that woman. Of course, I didn't want to deny my daughter having a friend over. That would be mean and it was so many years ago now. I bet that woman didn't even remember me.

"I already asked her to come. But I figured I better make sure its okay too"

"Of course honey. We were still throwing you a party, we were just going to invite our bosses over" Which was true. I needed to become better friends with my boss and so did Cinder. We knew it was Crystal's party, but we knew she was going to take off once she could. She didn't like people very much. That was why it was such a surprise to hear about Sheri. I was happy though. Proud of my little girl.

Then it was her birthday. Her father is just out of frame but don't fret, he's there! The brown haired teen is Sheri. She looks nothing like the woman I fought with. Huh. The woman at the table is my boss. She brought hot wings and was too into eating them to celebrate.

Wow she looks like me.

A change of style later and she looks...beautiful. I guess. Must be a phase she's going through but she looks happy. Sheri had to go to work though and she ended up leaving early. Oh well, she was a sweet girl though.

Crys caught me in my bedroom after the party. "Mom, mom! I have exciting news."

"What is it?"

"I decided what I want to do with my life. I got a part time job that'll help me out and everything. I can't wait to start."

"Well what is it? Are you going to tell me or keep me guessing?"

"Mom....I'm joining the military!"

"Oh that's so good...You're doing what?!"

Chapter Seven

Life went on, Crystal still refused to go outside most times and instead remained inside her nursery, playing with the few toys she had. She suddenly decided she hated her lessons and rather play with her fairy bear. I was a little miffed about that, but she screamed bloody murder if I tried to even touch the bear. Oh well.

On this particular day, it was rainy - as usual - and Cinder was tending to his plants. I was doing chores. I never watered his plants for him though, so I didn't really expect help with cleaning the house and whatnot. Plus, he tended to clean his plates after he was done - usually.

"Hey Lefia, today I'm going to be doing some experimentation with my Alchemy Set" He said, as he bent to pick the flowers off one of his strange plants. "It's probably best if you take Crys and have a girl's day out. If you could, maybe run to the Alchemy Shop and see if they have any glowing mushrooms."

I picked up the plates from the table and gave him a look. "Don't do anything dangerous" I knew that asking him not to do whatever it was that he was planning was pointless so instead I just warned him to be careful.

"Sure, sure" He waved his hand and bent to tend to his mushrooms. I sighed and hurried to finish the dishes. He disappeared into the Alchemy room before I was even done.

I heard him dropping ingredients into the pot that sat in there from the living room. Hopefully there would be no explosion anytime soon. I wondered if he had to go to work. I thought he did. Maybe not. I wondered what he even did, he never did tell me. Couldn't be any worse than him shutting himself in there for days. I hoped that wasn't what was going to happen here.

I walked back to the nursery and scooped Crystal up. "Hey baby girl, you wanna go see if the Alchemy shop has anything going on? We gotta try and pick up some things for your daddy while we're there"

"Otay" She agreed easily enough. She probably didn't realize that it meant going outside.

The moment we got outside, she burrowed her head into my neck. It was as if she were going to catch on fire. Really. There was nothing wrong with going outside. Plus if we didn't go out every once in a while, how was I supposed to swipe anything?

Ah...Just pretend I didn't say that.

Well when we got there, this ditzy woman was manning the register.  I walked up to her. "Excuse me, do you have any glowing mushrooms?"

"Huh? Oh...um maybe out back? I don't know. I just started here."  How helpful.

"Well...thanks. I'll try again some other day I guess"

"Yeah....Maybe I'll actually be trained by then" Then she wandered from behind the register and I turned to set Crystal down.

I wondered what Cinder would do without his glowing mushrooms. And why did this place keep hiring useless staff? It made my head hurt. I rubbed my head gently and closed my eyes. I ended up slapping my hands over my ears though as the radio was turned on by the woman. It gave an awful screech and began playing the worse music ever. I hurried over to change it.

There better! I danced a little while Crystal sat on the floor. I didn't dance long before a woman, one of the Cumplebottom sisters, wandered in with her son. I think it was her son anyway. I figured she'd put her boy down and he and Crystal could become friends. It was about time she made some friends. No need to wait till she got to school for that.

Instead her baby cried out and began crying insistently. I think he was hungry. She just stood there and stared off into space. The boy cried and cried. I almost wished she'd put him down so I could feed him myself! Eventually I got fed up with it.

"C'mon Crys, we're going home" I said, grabbing my baby quickly. The woman watched me impassively. Really, it was like she had no emotion! It was creepy!

I hurried out the door as her child began to cry again. Maybe I should stop going out. It seems every time I go out without Cinder I run into the strangest people.

I got home and well...Cinder was dressed like this. I didn't know what to make of his outfit. In fact, I was rather confused by it.

"Cinder....What are you wearing?" I asked him. Crystal even glared at him, clearly confused by what her daddy was wearing. Sure it was colorful but it was strange.

"You know my job? Yeah I work at the old gypsy wagon telling fortunes. My boss said we get better sales if we dress the part. So I did. She said I look regal"

Regal isn't the word I would use for it.

"Alright honey. As long as it makes you happy?" He did seem happy in it. He looked quite at home in the strange outfit. I couldn't make out if I was supposed to be proud or a little alarmed. Working with Gypsies...Well, it couldn't be any worse. I worked with criminals after all.

And to see him walk to his carpool the next day all dressed up in his 'finest'! Well, he was happy, I can tell you that. He kissed me and Crys before he left and trotted out the door as if he were a king. Strange my husband might be, but at least he was happy with himself.

That was more than I could say for myself. I was worried lately. I was going to be aging up that night. I didn't want a party or cake - Crystal's birthday was in two days. I just want to celebrate with my husband but I knew he probably wouldn't be home for the event. It was sad and what was worse, I knew I was getting old. I had done very little for the tribe, except bring Crystal into the world.

So when my birthday came that night, though I was happy, I was a little afraid. What was I supposed to do? I had come here with a mission and I wasn't doing it at all! I could kick myself quite frankly. I knew that with this last stretch, I had to figure out what I was to do. I just had to.

And with that, I aged up, just as Cinder came into the room. Same as ever, but I felt a sense of peace now that I had a plan to figure out what to do. If anything, I would leave something for Crys to do. If I got the ball rolling, perhaps she would be able to figure out what else had to be done.

And two days later, it came to Crystal's birthday. Out came the blowhorn. I was sort of happy now that I didn't have a second child but the second I thought that, I regretted it. I wanted another baby to hold. I was getting on in my years and I realized that I wanted more than one child to carry on my name and legacy.

Crystal was a big girl and blew out the candles herself.

She grew up into a sullen and serious little girl. She looks more like Cinder every day, only with my hair color and a strange eye color. We built another room for Cinder to keep his plants and Alchemy station and used the old room for Crystal's new room. A bit of new paint on the walls and some furniture and she was ready to call it a home!

A little adjustment to her sense of fashion and her hair and she looks quite cute. I really think she's cute. Maybe its just because I'm her mother? Either way, my little girl is growing up so fast. Soon she'll be an adult and then what will I do?