The Starry Maiden

The Storm

"Are you sure about this...?" I ask Venus from inside the bathroom.

"Yes. 100% sure. Now get your beautiful butt out here to show me." I take a breath and exit the bathroom with my new high-waisted skirt on. It comes down only just above my knees and a little lower in the back... The fabric is beautiful with the black background and the peony floral pattern. It works fantastically with the deep forest green flowing sleeveless blouse we paired it with. Venus gives me an appraising look, "You know... I think it'll look better with the shirt tucked into the top of the skirt." Venus comes up to me and tucks in the bottom of the loose blouse, fluffing it up a little so it has some room for movement. While doing this Venus spots that I have put yoga shorts on underneath the skirt and one of my favourite nylon and lacey camisole in a similar dark green under the top. Whatever makes her more comfortable wearing the outfit, I guess.

"I don't know Venus... This skirt is a little shorter than the other one..." I tug a little at the front hem of the skirt.

"If you're wearing the shorts underneath you should be fine, right?" I look at Venus sheepishly, "At least with the yoga shorts there isn't any texture or shape coming through. And if it makes you more comfortable, do it." Venus pulls her phone out of her pocket, "But it's too late to second guess. Mom is waiting for us downstairs. We have to go now..." Venus whips around grabs her bag and I pull mine off the chair. We go to the door of the hotel room and as Venus opens the door, I take once last look in the mirror. I smooth out the flowing fabric of the skirt and follow Venus to the door and out into the world.

"Be careful now!" As much as I love my mom... I do not need her to coddle me.

"Don't worry, mum. I'll make sure she doesn't go too far." My older sister jokingly says to mom loud enough for me to hear, knowing how much it irritates me to be treated like a child. And they all do it. I have my mom, my dad, my sister, Mesonyx, twin brothers, Aquilo and Zephyr, and one more sister, Venus... All siblings are older than me with Venus closest to me in age. But that makes six people who all treat me like a juvenile. Six! Despite the fact that I am, in fact, completely finished my bachelor's degree with a double major.

"You guys are acting like I'm eight years old and wandering off into the deep, dark woods all alone." I sit down on the boulder poking out of the river that I managed to clamber over to, the water rushing all around me, "I am old enough to take care of myself..." I look over to see my mom and sister sharing a laugh on the shore. I roll my eyes and pull out my camera. The way the light is sparkling off the river's rushing waters, and how the forest swallows the river further down is just perfect. I want to preserve it so I can paint it myself later on.

I take a deep breath in; this whole day has been fantastic. My mom is finally in attendance with us, we had a great lunch on the island, and mom, Venus and I are even going to go shopping later on once we return to Naples.

"Alright, did you get your picture?" Venus impatiently shouts at me.

"Yes, I did..." I slowly stand up and take a step back to the shore.

"Great! Let's get back to the docks so we can catch that ferry back to Naples!" Right... Venus had that party she had been invited to while we were waiting to board the ferry in the morning. She may be a few years older than I am, but she has always been more of a partier than I am.

"Okay, okay..." I hop over the bigger gap in the stones. One of them shifts under my weight and I hear my mom shout in shock at me catching my balance. Luckily, I am decently agile and did not fall into the river. Agility seems to be something that my whole family seems to have in abundance.

"Do not scare me like that, Astraea!" She walks up to me hands on her hips as I walk towards them over the grass. It is a wonder that she isn't thoroughly examining me top to bottom, but I can see her hands move to wringing in front of her with the effort not to.