Told ya I'd update soon time to meet some peoples i'll nag my artist and hopefully have new cover art soon.
Not cool, Dad, I think to myself bitterly, not cool. So what if you're finally introducing us to the world? So what if Rave is back? Well, no, I condescend myself, we're actually worried about that... But was it necessary to sick Alicia on us!? Little-Miss-Border-Patrol stashed everything! She even went as far as to swipe our exclusive frequent membership card, our Barista 2000 - it's like the Brew Master 3000 but can't do frappes, pitifully - and stole our coffee pot. She's a psycho! We even made a Starbucks run this morning after I came back from night fishing, but most of the drinks disappeared when everyone started showing up. They thought it was alright to drink our coffee?!
We had fresh fish for breakfast, thanks to me. It's now 10:45 in the morning, and Dad won't be here for fifteen minutes… Perfect! In our bedroom I glance around, looking for something. Our room isn't really anything special, neither is our house, really. We have a simple one story home on the edge of the suburbs, just the way we – Winona, Wendy, and I – like it. It's an hour outside of Seattle - with traffic - but we don't mind, mainly because that's the way Winnie prefers. Winnie is one-third of me; the cold-hearted, hockey-loving, bitchy, psycho, western part of Washington. Wendy is another third, with a love for the outdoors and farming. I myself am a little in-between, liking the sun, but more of a fan of the quiet buzzing of nature, rather than white water rapids or completely indoor activities only.
Anywho, there's a few shops down the block, and a Starbucks within walking distance, for my current state of mind. We have a relatively small front yard, but behind our house, we own several dozen acres. You can't really tell just by looking though; directly behind our house is an almost-forest of tall, old trees. On our property there's a lake, two ponds, and a small river. Whenever I'm not fishing on them – being the only one of us that enjoys the hobby - I let the locals use them. Figure skating is almost as much fun as hockey in the winter, and when Winnie emerges, she'll do both on the slick, frozen water. Wendy will water-ski and raft on the water in the summer.
Golly, am I getting off task.
Our room is splashed with monochromatic blue hues, and we had a mural done of the Cascade mountain skyline. We also have several posters of famous people from our state, like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Nathan Adrian… Not to mention our small bookcase of the autobiographies of them, and of others. We have a small addiction to writers (myself), rock stars (Winnie), and sports o small snow globes sit on top of the bookcase, under a book we were reluctant to get, but felt the need to, because it was set in Washington; Twilight. We also have desk lamp that we made ourselves out of coffee cups (Coffee is one of the only things all three of us enjoy), and I quietly marvel it for a moment, before reaching in the inside of the lampshade. Found it! I grasp the small rectangle of plastic duck-taped to the underside. Emergency $50 gift card. I slide the gift card into my wallet and pack my suitcase. I look at my alarm clock, reading the 10:50 from the bright red LED bulbs. Damn, that took longer than I wanted. With Daddy's crazy driving he'll be here any time now. Daddy is always worried about our little addiction, something about the combination of his weird hero complex and the fact that caffeine is technically a drug makes us almost want to listen to him and get off the drink. I am mildly worried about Rave but I'm lucky I've never directly been attacked by him. That reminds me…
Unlike our siblings, we can't exactly take our pet with us to England. Every one of our siblings has an animal, a pet; a friend. They have been with us for nearly as long as we have existed, and seem to be as immortal as we are. Ours is a black stallion we adopted. She was wild, but we found her badly injured and nursed her back to health. Her name is Cherish, she's as fast as lightning and can jump like a pro. Wendy herself loves riding her, Winnie loves braiding her mane, and I personally love feeding her and caring for her. It works out nicely, since we can switch personalities at will. She'll have to stay in the stable... I called them earlier, they said they will pick her up tonight. As I climb into my car, saying 'I'll be back in a minute' to our siblings, I can hear Winnie and Wendy in my mind, chattering about the excitement of meeting everyone. I begin wondering what Canada will be like as I drive down the road to give us our coffee fix.
POV change! Meet Arizona!
"This place is so dreary and dank," I growl to myself while I casually swipe all of Whitney's coffee and coffee items. "I miss Arizona. It's so much more warmer than here…" I represent that proud state, although I share a border with about 5 of my siblings and Mexico, which is goddamned stupid. Mexico is the bane of my existence! A thorn in my side I can never get fully out, and I've never even met them! I constantly ram up boarder security, but illegal trade still occurs from that horrible country! One time I got super sick of it, so I got together my police gear and we stopped a literally underground – tunnels under the border - drug trade. Seized a ton of illegal narcotics, no joke. Yet, it's still not enough to clean up my poor, Hispanic filled cities!
I tend to get paranoid easily because of those goddamned beaners. I usually deny my brother, Robert, exists. Nothing against him, just his name of 'New Mexico'. He should be in the same boat as me, trying to control the nasty underground dealers, the growing number of both illegal and legally purchased firearms on the streets. It's just simpler for me to live Army Strong. The day they decided to allow women in the armed forces I was first in line as an Air Force One troop. Dad nearly fainted when I was ordered to be deployed to Iraq, but he finally let me go once I swore that I'd be careful and I wouldn't reveal my identity to anyone. Hell, even then he pulled some strings and had me placed in an elite squad out of harms' way.
I like things orderly, but that doesn't mean I don't have my fun. I physically look to be about 17 years old, and I have for the last fifty years now! I love liquor like my dad, but he only looks to be about 19, but the drinking age is 21. At least we don't need fake ID's to have a good time. It's a tradition in our family that once you turn 60 - regardless of your physical age (unless you still look younger than 12- that has actually happened a few times, they had to wait) he gives you your own personal liquor license. Also a special ID so we can go drinking with friends. Regardless of our age, he also taught us how to make moonshine. I don't actually drink much but it's a fond memory because we don't typically get much alone time with dad. I still remember when he taught me… He had said, "Alicia, this is the land of the free and home of the brave! Every country has a drink they're proud of. Russia invented vodka, Germany invented beer, England invented rum... And we invented moonshine, strongest ale on earth! You can make five hundred proof moonshine! But pay attention, because if you don't make this correctly, it can be lethal and even deadly to mortals." Good times, Good times. Yeah I have my fun. Cali can try to rub Hollywood in my face all she wants, but I have the ultimate trump card; Steven Spielberg. I love that dude.
But back to the matter at hand, no time for distractions! Dad trusted me with a nearly impossible task; to keep Whitney away from her coffee! He's going to be arriving soon, and I know he vetoed the new tank, but he said no to those new state-of-art heat seeking missiles! What!? It's not like I'm gonna use them right now, I just like adding to my vast collection of weapons and war vehicles! It's just a hobby! But damn, my sister has a lot of coffee! I think I'm safe - for now - though she disappeared into her room and then left with a little 'be back soon'. She is way too flighty to be of any use. My little cutie - Z - is guarding all of the coffee products.
Z, or Zona, is my pet. She's a mountain lion cub. I found her alone in the wild, and tried to find her mom. I was successful, but it was too late; she had died. I took the cub back to my place and named her. The strange thing is, Zona never grew up. She talks just fine, albeit with a strong accent, and she's the greatest friend a girl could ask for. I domesticated and trained her, and I'm proud to boast she passed the police dog certification test, even though she's not a dog- or a cat for that matter. Ever since I got back from my second tour of duty out in Iraq, I've become a police officer. Every now and again, I bring her with me. She's quite small, so it might look strange, but she's tough as nails.
I brought her up here with me because I need to keep her safe. I… I can't let that ever happen again. The last time I was overseas, Rave attacked. It was brutal and I didn't even find out about it until I came home, to find Zona mangled and bruised, barely able to move. Thank God she's okay now. I've been on the receiving end of Rave's jabs before. He's a monster, there wasn't even a fight. I want to say I lost that badly, but in truth, it was a beat down, plain and simple.
But that is the past. I must have been standing in the kitchen for a while now. Shaking off those past thoughts, I go join everyone else in the living room to wait for Daddy. I wonder what England will be like?