Sweet Catastrophe

Chapter 8

"Kookie, how long will it be before I can walk to the top of those hills? I wonder what's on the other side."

"No, Princess," I would answer; "it's just more hills."

"And what are those golden rocks like when you stand under them?" she once asked. The abrupt formation of giant moonstones that separated The Land of Darkness from her own land particularly attracted her; especially when the setting sun shone on it. I explained that they were too smooth to walk on, with hardly enough space to stay stable.

"And why are they bright so long after it is evening here?" ______ pursued.

"Because they are higher up than we are," I replied; "You can't climb them, they are too high and steep. In winter the frost is always there before it comes to us. Even in summer I have found snow on those rocks."

"Oh, you have been on them!" she cried gleefully. "Then I can go, too, when I am a woman. Has daddy been on them, Kookie?"

"Please don't call me that, Princess," I answered hastily. "I don't know about The King, but what I can tell you is that The Land of Darkness is grim compared to where you live."

"Really", she quizzically looked at me with a knowing grin. She thought I was lying. "And how would you know that? You never even been there!"

"But I have."

"Really?"

I sat on the dirt of the King's property gazing towards the horizon beyond those rocks. I remembered my childhood; my parents more than anything. "I was born there, but I only spent about the first five years of my life living there."

"Do you remember much of it?"

I remember too much.
My father was an alcoholic; a cruel and cynical man who was obsessed with my mother. She was faithful and loving, but because she was so beautiful he often wondered why she chose to marry him -- a scrappy looking fellow. So afraid that she would leave him because of it, he would constantly harass her about her whereabouts beating her when he didn't like her answer. Even now, eighteen years old, I still remember how much pain she was in.

"I don't remember much about it after your father took me in. My apologies, Princess."

The young ________ murmured to herself. "Then one day, when I am a woman, we can go there together."

One of the maids mentioning the Suitor Ceremony made ______ turn her head with a desire to attend this event. She teased me about it; and said that she would belong to the handsomest and richest prince in The Land of Darkness, and that she would invite me over for tea often. This way, we could experience the land together. But the Princess measured her age by months, and, 'Now, am I old enough to go to The Garden of Eden?' was the constant question in her mouth. The king was amused by this but she still received the answer, 'Not yet, love: not yet.'

I'll say my father died when I was fifteen. My family was of a delicate health. My mother and father both lacked the strength and backbone that you will generally meet in The Land of Light; which may be why The King was impressed with my capabilities given my background.

What my father's last illness was, I am not certain. I think, he died of a kind of fever; slow in development but incurable, and rapidly consuming life towards the end. My mother wrote to inform me of the probable death, and entreated me to come to her, if possible; for she had much to settle, and she wished to not be alone. She was the one who insisted the King deliver me safely into his care. Her hope was that I might be a Knight worth honoring, and then come back to her to tend to her needs.

I never attended the funeral, but ______ and I had stayed a week with her to keep her company. Seeing her after ten years was scary. I wondered if she had changed for the worst since I had left the home. Being alone with my father was no picnic, but a torture. However, I was surprised to see that my mother glowed more than ever during the week we stayed.