Hi Friends.
We've made it to the first chapter of The Swordbearer!
Oof. You know when you realize you're actually about to put something out there for everyone to see? I was extremely tempted to edit heavily before posting this but that is not the point! The point of this project is to embrace and honor the cringe of our childhood selves. But to ease the vulnerability hangover, I'd love to know in the comments; what was the cringiest thing you did when you were 11? Mine was definitely thinking that 14 was an appropriate age for the heroine of an epic fantasy adventure ...
Confused as Hell? Start here.
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I loved the big city, the hustle and bustle of daily life in New York. Needless to say I was a bit bitter about this whole move. Okay, “a bit” is kind of an understatement. The last day in New York I stood in my empty room and sobbed. On the drive to Bethel (which took a while) I wouldn't talk to mom or dad, just sat stiffly in the backseat of the car and fumed. I'm a little theatrical. But I couldn't help it. I was a city girl moving to the country. Ugh.
Just the word “Bethel” made me want to cry. The only exciting thing that had ever happened there was when a twelve year old girl - I think her name was Mindy or something – disappeared. Not exactly the kind of excitement you want either.
Four hours after we left New York we pulled into Bethel. It was just a little logging community sheltered in the valley of the mountains and surrounded by forest. There were a handful of houses, a school, a couple of stores and a community hall. As far as I could see, there wasn't even a mall! Plenty of logging trucks though. Tomorrow dad would be in one of them. I sighed.
Compared to the little down town apartment the three of us had lived in, our new house was huge! But to anybody else, it was just a plain, white, regular sized house with two floors and an attic. Nothing special. Inside, the house was even more unremarkable. Wood walls and hard wood floors. Downstairs, there was a kitchen, adjoining dining room and a family room. There was one perk to the house; upstairs were two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a couple of supply closets. Still, the fact that I got my own bathroom wasn't enough to cheer me up.
Before we go any farther, you should know two things about my mom. One, she's a total neat freak. The only place she didn't clean a gazillion times daily, is my room. And that's only because I locked the door before I go to school. Two, she could probably fit an elephant into a suitcase. She's one of the reasons we didn't have to hire a moving van. the other reason being that we didn't have much to begin with. Nevertheless, it took me three trips to move my stuff from the backseat of the car to my new room, and a couple hours of unpacking before I finally flopped down on the bed.
I glared at the wall, now covered in posters of shirtless male actors. What can I say? I needed all the comfort I could get at a time like this!
Everything was so unfair! Dad getting laid off and then this stupid move. He'd worked for Bear Stearns, don't ask me what he did, I don't know. And now he's a – a logger!?
I could remember in vivid detail, the day I got home from school and he was there, still in his work suit. I'd found it unusual because he didn't usually get home until nine or ten.....
***
I'd said goodbye to my friends in the lobby of the apartment building. I'd ridden the elevator to the tenth floor, unlocked the door directly across from it and walked in. I stopped at the site that greeted me.
Dad was sitting on the bar stool, with his brief case lying on the counter beside him. He was staring aimlessly at nothing. Mom was sitting on the couch, also staring at nothing.
“Hey dad,” I'd said cautiously. “Why aren't you at work?” Mom and dad had looked at each other in a way that warned me bad news was coming.
“I got laid off Rachel,” he'd said slowly.
“What?”
“I got fired.”
I had stood there is shock. My dad? Fired? “But, why?”
“Well, you know the Company I'm with? Bear Stearns?” I'd nodded
“It collapsed this morning, it lost everything. Lots of us were left jobless.” He'd taken a deep breath. “Rachel, we've got news that you're not going to like.”
“What?”
“I've been searching all day for a new job, and there isn't much available for a Financial Planner.”
“What?!” At this point mom broke in.
“Do you remember your father's parents?” she'd asked.
“They died before and just after I was born, right? Granddad ran a logging business or something?”
Mom had nodded. “The man who bought the business after he died, offered your father a job. He's taking work as a logger,” she said.
“I – In New York, right?” I asked moronically, there were no loggers in New York. I wasn't surprised when mom shook her head.
“Your grandparents were from Vermont Rachel. We're moving.....”
***
I couldn't stand it sitting in my room with nothing but my bitter thoughts for company, so I walked downstairs and through the front door. I was going to take a walk. What I didn't know was that I hadn't been alone. A small creature had been watching me the whole time.
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Thanks for reading and I'm sending lots of love to you in these uncertain times!
xxKathleen
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