Through the Eyes of Emily Prentiss

Chapter 1

Italy, 1975

"Mommy Mommy look!" a young girl with long flowing dark hair and innocent brown eyes ran across the yard carrying what looked like a mess of leaves and twigs. "Emily I do not have time for this. I'm at work." the girls mother was cold, and never seemed to care much for the young girl. Her life had been a revolving door of nannies and housekeepers hired to keep the girl company. Elizabeth never had time to entertain such childhood fantasies, and her daughter had one of the most active imaginations she had ever seen. "But Mommy! I made it special for you!" the girl gave her biggest toothless smile as she showed her mom her work. "That's nice dear. Just leave it on the porch." "Okay Mommy! But we have to be careful cos it's really special and I don't want it to get all messed up!" "That's nice dear." the woman repeated, thumbing through paperwork outside on the porch swing. The pair lived in a nice home in the heart of Rome, Italy. Elizabeth Prentiss was an ambassador, so they moved often. The young girl had already lived in several Middle Eastern countries and at the mere age of five was already fluent in English and Arabic. She attended a very wealthy private school and had a flood of private tutors to ensure she was learning the Italian language as well. "Your tutor will be here soon. Vai fare il tuo lavoro Emily" (transl: go do your work) "Okay Mommy!" the young girl ran up the stairs and disappeared into her room to prepare for her lesson.

The next morning, the young girl excitedly jumped up onto her mother's bed, jolting Elizabeth awake. "Guess what day it is Mommy!" "Go back to bed Emily, it's far too early for you to be awake." "It's my birthday! I'm finally this many!" The girl held up five fingers and smiled at her mother. "Is it really?" "Yep! October 12th! It's my favorite day of the whole year because I get to eat cake and open presents and see my friends and-" "Emily!" her mother cut off the girl. "Sorry Mommy but I'm so excited!" "Let's go downstairs and have breakfast honey, what do you want for your birthday?" "I want a kitty kat! A cute little black kitten with pretty eyes!" Emily held up her favorite stuffed animal, a black kitten with green button eyes. "You know you're not allowed to have any pets." "Please Mommy" she looked at her mom with the biggest brown eyes and a quivering lip. "I said no Emily. But we can go to the zoo and look at all the animals if you'd like." "Okay..." the girl crawled off her mothers bed and ran off into her room where their maid had laid out clothes on the dresser for the day. "Happy Birthday little miss Emily" said Lucia. Lucia was the Prentiss's maid and Emily's nanny here in Italy. "Thank you Luthia" the child replied with a lisp that came from her missing front teeth. "You look beautiful. How does it feel to be five?" Lucia asked. "I feel like a grown up!" the girl said, puffing her chest as if that would made her look older. "Well little miss, it's time to get ready! Best not to keep your mother waiting." "I know."said Emily. The girl changed into her birthday dress and ran down the stairs to meet her mother in the kitchen. The pair ate pancakes with chocolate chips in the shape of a smiley face, Emily's favorite, and took the car to the zoo downtown. When they returned, her father called to wish Emily a happy birthday and she, her mother and Lucia shared pink cupcakes, and opened presents before Emily drifted off to sleep.

The bus came early the next morning to pick the child up for school. She ran to the Cooley boy, eagerly showing him her new toys she got from her birthday yesterday. From across the courtyard, the Benton boy ran up to Emily yelling "Happy after Bird Day Emmy!" at the top of his lungs. The girl smiled and hugged him and said. "Thanks Matty!" Her mother always wondered why her daughter befriended those boys, they came from wealthy families though, and besides, Emily never really did get along with the girls in her class. Elizabeth always wished that she would, thinking maybe it would make her daughter more normal. She decided to ask the child at dinner that night, hoping to get her to be more like a regular girl. The girls parents were also all people of importance and Elizabeth wanted her daughter to only be friends with the children of the highest of people. Later that night, at the family home, she brought it up. "Emily dear, why don't you play with the girls in your class more often?" "Because they're mean Mommy. And they don't like me because I'm friends with boys. They think that's gross."the girl answered. "Well young lady, I think you should try and be their friend, talk to them. They seem like very sweet girls. And I don't think you're giving them a chance." "Why can't I just be friends with Matty and Johnny? They like me and their really nice!" "Emily. Just ask if they want to play. You need to make some more friends. Okay?" "Okay Mommy."

Italy 1976

The young girl finished her school year, top of her class as usual. Her mother was indeed proud of her, but would never allow herself to show it. She never showed much emotion towards her daughter. She believed it made her weak as an ambassador and as a person. Elizabeth didn't want her daughter to grow up entitled, or selfish. She believed that children that were praised too much grew up to be weak, that they would always piggyback off the successes of their parents and never become independent. Emily was already a pretty independent child, she was a free spirit, but she was far too reckless for her mother's liking. Her mother enrolled her in every extracurricular activity possible to keep her active mind busy. The young girl took art, pottery, french, and even played soccer and tennis to run her out of energy. She was hardly ever at home, which gave Elizabeth time to do all of her work and forget about her responsibilities as a mother. Emily's father was overseas in the Middle East. He was a Colonel in the United States military so he had been on an assignment for awhile. Emily hadn't seen him since she was three and her mother was relocated to Rome. He called when he could, but Emily missed him more than anything. "Mommy, when's Daddy coming home?" Emily asked. "I don't know. Now get some rest, we are going somewhere special tomorrow morning."her mother replied. "Goodnight Mommy." "Goodnight Emily."