(Content warning: This chapter does go into parental death and violence. The scene may be upsetting. And while this book is pegged as Middle grade, there may be some darker moments. If you don't wish to read the scene, once you get to the scene where Gloria opens up the sketchbook to her dad, skip down to the blue teardrop to continue on with the story. Overall, enjoy).
My mom adjusts the blanket around Serena as Serena sleeps. Kissing her on the forehead, she tucks aside a strand of her hair before standing and walking into the kitchen. Working on sketching out the stone statues we saw, I note the details about the snake's eyes. In the picture the snake has red eyes. Why color the snake eyes?
Examining the other pictures, I note that the owl has yellow eyes along with the fox. The eagle and jaguar have green eyes. The hare and deer have purple eyes. And the elephant has orange eyes.
Pulling out a purple coloring pencil, I fill in the hare's eyes. Why color the animals eyes? What do they mean? And why put an elephant in with woodland creatures? Why not a bat or something?
Shaking my head, I pull out an orange coloring pencil and fill in the elephant's eyes. Hearing footsteps, I turn to see my mom walking in with a plate of food.
"Hey sweetheart," she says as she sits down next to me. She looks over at my drawings. "Wow. Those are really good."
"They're alright," I say, tapping my pencil on the page. "Although, I wonder why the statues' eyes are all colored."
She takes my phone and examines the pictures. Her brow furrows.
"How odd," she says and hands me back my phone. "Nine animals, two pairs each of the same eye color. Except the elephant, serpent, and wolf each have a different eye color."
"I wonder why," I say, as I continue sketching out the deer. "Seems a little odd to me."
"Maybe it's to give the stone statues more character," My mom says, taking a bite of her food.
"Maybe," I say, tapping my chin in thought. "Whatever the case, it does make them look cool."
She nods in agreement. Hearing something shift, we turn to see Serena waking. She yawns and rubs her eye. My mom smiles warmly.
"Hi sweetness," she says softly. Serena makes small noises as she sits up. She slowly climbs out of the chair and over to mom. Mom sets aside her empty plate and Serena comes up onto the couch. She curls up next to mom and mom wraps an arm around her shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" Mom asks.
"Better," Serena says in a sleepy voice. Mom chuckles and kisses the top of her head.
"That's good," she says, stroking Serena's hair.
"Can we still go to the lake tomorrow?" Serena asks, looking up at mom.
"Yes," Mom says and kisses her on the forehead. "So long as you don't wander off again."
"I won't," she says, and mom hugs her tighter. I smile and continue sketching. We sit in silence for a while. Finishing up with the deer, I colored its eyes. Putting away the color pencil, I turn a page in my sketchbook to a clean one to draw the eagle.
"What are you drawing Gloria?" Serena asks and I turn to her. I pull up my phone and show her the pictures. She nods. "Can I see your drawings?"
I flip to the first drawing and hand her the sketchbook. She examines the picture, brow furrowing. My lip quirks up when I notice how much she looks like mom when she does that.
YOU ARE READING
The Royal Hood Book 1: Rise of the Royal Hood
Fantasy12-year-old Gloria just wants to have a nice vacation after the dark year and a half she and her sister and mother have had. However, during their vacation, they are attacked, and her mother and sister are taken. Gloria is forced to jump and ends up...
