Chapter 21- Mutant and Proud
After the meal was squared away, the only thing to do was wait for sundown as all Jewish holidays started at sundown. Amanda sat on the windowseat in her room, with a Hercule Poirot mystery. She had recently discovered the complete series in her father's library and she discovered that she had liked them. Charles and Amanda had watched the books that had been turned into movies, "Death on the Nile" and "Murder on the Orient Express" and the one that had nothing to do with the Belgian detective, "And Then There Were None." At the moment she was reading "Murder on the Links" and it was difficult to put down. (A/N: Actually true. I just read that novel myself and it was hard to put down as it got very interesting.)
"Must be some interesting book, Amanda," a voice jarred her out of her book. Amanda looked up to see Hank and Raven. Both were in their blue forms at the moment.
"Hi, Uncle Hank, Aunt Raven. I'm just killing time until sundown and Chanukah starts. We have about two hours until sundown. You both are coming, right?" Amanda asked.
"Of course. We wouldn't miss it. Do you want us looking normal?" Raven asked.
"It doesn't matter to me. I like you both ways, Aunt Raven," Amanda said.
"I think we alarm the Nicholls' when we look like this, though," Hank said.
"It does take some getting used to, Uncle Hank, but you might be called "Beast," but anyone can see you aren't really. It's like "Beauty and the Beast;" true beauty is found within and you are a good person. People like Stryker don't know what they are talking about," Amanda said.
"You've seen that fairy tale?" Hank asked.
"Abba took me to the theater to see the cartoon when I was eight. I liked it. "Beauty and the Beast" is one of my favorite fairy tales along with "Pinocchio," Amanda said with a grin.
"Your Uncle Erik likes them too. He was watching "Snow White" and "Dumbo" with the kids," Raven said.
"Yeah, probably one of the last movies he watched at a theater before the Nazis told Jews that theaters were forbidden to Jews. I love the old movies of the 30's and 40's. Abba and me watched Bela Lugosi and Casablanca and Robin Hood and Zorro. With Ima I watched old Shirley Temple films and Gone With the Wind. And every kid has watched The Wizard of Oz," Amanda said.
"You have a broad view of movies," Raven said.
"That was what Rabbi Jonathan said when I prepared for my Bat Mitzvah last year," Amanda said.
"I think we should be in our human forms, though. You and your father don't mind when we look like this, but some people are terrified when they look at us. I'm not ashamed of being what I am. I just don't like scaring people," Hank said.
Well, remember what I said in Cuba, Hank. Be mutant and proud," Raven said.
"Mutant and proud?" Amanda asked, wrinkling her nose.
"That was what a girl in England said to me and your father. I thought what she said was weird too. It was hard to be proud of being a mutant, but in the end she was right," Raven said, giving Amanda a hug.
"I think it's easier to be proud when I can hide that I have eidetic memory. That's not exactly something that people can see. I remember how scared Ima was when I cut myself with a knife and healed instantly. And I don't know how I'm going to hide that I can fly," Amanda said.
"Here you don't have to. Except for Moira and Dr. Nicholls and his wife, we are all mutants," Hank said.
Easier said than done, Amanda said as she made her way to the bathroom to clean up for tonight's celebration.