Once Upon a Viking

Chapter 1

It was 3 pm on a Wednesday and Ciara Lewis-Addair had been stuck at her kitchen table for 24 hours. Her long black hair curled in a thick braid over her shoulder and she wore the same slim Dolce & Gabanna jeans and leather jacket she'd worn to take her daughter Zoe to the the airport.

She'd been brewing and drinking French Press raspberry chocolate coffee which had served to keep her awake and jittery so she'd alternated the java with shots of Knappogue Castle single malt from her well stocked bar.

It was officially the day after the storm. She tipped the amber bottle back and gulped down another mellowing shot for her nerves. Her eyes watered as the whiskey slid into her empty belly with a warm slow burn. She poured two more fingers of the liquid amber into her favorite coffee mug. It had been a long hard day and night.

The TV in the family room chattered and buzzed with background noises and commercials as a variety of news anchors and pundits nattered and postured about political fiascos in DC and the state of the US economy. How DID Obama stand in the polls and should Clinton really should run? It was the same old same old on the big screen.

The families stocky long eared Basset Hound, who'd been lovingly named Hound Dog by a six year old Zoe, nudged at her leg impatiently and woofed at her for his daily morning meander through the maple trees.

Baaaroooo! Baaarooo!

Ciara looked at her watch. "Sorry Hound Dog. I need a minute."

He padded to the sliding glass door to push his nose against the cold pane and then ambled back to her feet to lay with his head between his paws. She ruffled his long ears and walked to the door to let him out into the vast fenced yard of swirling snow. The Christmas lights she'd twined over every bush and tree in sight twinkled and glittered their bright white fairy light over the yard and the snowman family she'd built with Zoe and the cousins on New Years day circled her favorite clump of balsam and fraser fir trees.

From the outside her life looked like the picture perfect Christmas card. She sat on her rocker by the window watching Hound Dog poke around the yard. She hugged her knees to her chest as she played and replayed the events of the previous day over and over in her head like a broken record...somehow trying to make sense of things as if filing and ordering them would help.

Christmas break had just ended and her daughter had flown back to Cambridge..Ciara had been sad to see her go but was also excited to get started on the next chapter in her life. As she flew back from the city she'd hummed Jingle Bells and sipped at a sea salt caramel latte and smiled as she'd remembered and cherished the Christmas celebrations.

They'd just had a rambunctious family holiday with Ciara's brothers and all of her nieces and nephews at her parent's Brooklyn home and then had rounded out the holidays with a final family gathering for New Years Eve at Ciara's Vermont Christmas tree farm. Ciara had treasured the memories of her family as they slept and snored in various rooms of the estate farm house. The last day they were together she'd tip toed to the kitchen to whip up a batch of her famous pecan waffles with fresh butter cream and they'd spent the morning of the new year with mimosa toasts to health and happiness and a hilarious round of resolutions and promises they knew they would never keep.

Dad had said "Ah my lasses and laddies...I'm givin' up the drink this year." And he'd hoisted a tumbler of whiskey.

"Here's to a long life and a merry one (another shot) A quick death and an easy one (a beer chaser) A pretty girl and an honest one (a swig of Ma's drink) A cold beer - and another one!" (another shot of whiskey).

Then it was Ma's turn.. "This year I'm gonna relax and give you kids the space yer always askin me for. May the keep you in the palm of His hand, and never close His fist too tight! (a shot and a raised fist in the air).