CYNTHIA MEYERS: PRINCESS OF EMBORA

CHAPTER ONE

The last day of school is my favorite day of school! And most people would agree with me on this. Let me get straight into the point.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

I thought that I would be going to the creek today and seeing the new things Robbie was going to be selling. Instead, I had to sit with my mom in an old store waiting for nonexistent customers to come in and buy something. I begged my mom to get new stuff. Stuff other than old cups and rings that no one in their right mind would buy. The whole store looks haunted. I planned to save up all of my allowances so I could pay somebody to clean up the store. Mom insisted that I spend it on something from the store. What's the point in getting money for working when I'm just going to give it back to her?

Mom doesn't check to see how much she's giving me anymore. She just hands me a couple of dollars and goes on with her life. So, I usually save some of my money so I can buy Robbie's treats. Anyways, today wasn't normal. At all. At four, two people came into the store! This had my mother running around and smiling every time they walked past the desk. When Aunt Ghana came to the shop and saw the two people, she stayed in the security room to make sure they weren't going to steal anything. Why would someone want to steal something as old as the things in this store?

When the people pick up a few things, they come back to the desk. "What have you bought?" mom asks in her character voice. The two people (both women) put a cup on the table and a plate. Mom gasps and tells me to stay at the desk. "Stay here, Cynthia," mom says to me. "I need to tell Aunt Ghana something." Mom stares the people down as if she is trying to stare into their soul. Finally, Mom goes into the security room. I just stand there looking at their items. It was a very awkward moment.

"Guspar Dei Mai?" One woman asks. I didn't know what language she was speaking so I just shrugged. The woman smiles and nods her head. "Very expensive plate you have here. We knew we would find her here." The woman says to the other woman. The women go back and forth talking to each other in their language. When mom comes back, she hands the ladies an envelope.

"This should explain everything. Sorry, I took so long. It took a few drafts just to get this thing done. Are you wearing perfume? Very nice perfume. Want to know how we built the place? Um, anything else you need? This shop is very nice. Oh, I'm being rude! Let me introduce you to my daughter, Cynthia." Mom says all of this in about five seconds (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating). She talked all over the place when she was worried or scared about something. I leave the front desk and go into the office. I knew I wasn't supposed to go into the office but, I was desperate. I wanted to see some of the drafts mom had written. In her office, she kept everything in a certain place. They were all in binders that were put neatly on a bookshelf. When I was three, my parents turned the guest room into my office. They thought I was going to be the next Mozart and wanted me to practice and learn in the office. I just wrote all over the walls and took every book mom had put on my bookshelf and threw it on the floor. Mom and dad had to repaint the room and turn it back into the office. I had no idea that my mother was pregnant at this time. I just thought she had a poop baby.

One binder on the bookshelf stood out to me. It was labeled EMBORA in sharpie. What did Embora mean and what did that have to do with the store? I grab the binder from the bookshelf and open it. There were about seven papers in it. They were all labeled: DRAFT FOR EMBORA. The first paper was written in pen. The second was blank and the third was written in white crayon that I wasn't able to see that well on white paper. I could only feel it.

Dear Embora and everyone in Guspar,

I am so sorry for what happened these past few years. I hope that these diamonds will be enough to pay for the things that we have done. Tell father I am sorry.