Part 3: Lina
Mommy and Daddy. I wish we could have been a normal family. I wish we could have been one of the families that had picnics and told jokes at the dinner table and had parent/daughter talks. I wish it could have been like that.
Lina sat in front of the easel in her mommy's room. The room smelt like sunflowers. The whole house smelt of them. She knew if she was caught in here, her mommy would hit her, but it was the only place in the whole house you couldn't hear the fighting. Mommy and Daddy were arguing again. Lina had no idea what it was about, but Luna had groaned something about greedy materialists and had stormed out of the house. Lina figured it was probably about money. Luna always left when their parents fought about money. Lina curled up tighter, pulling her legs harder against her chest. Luna always left when she needed her. She wished mommy and daddy would stop fighting. She wanted to go outside and play, but she'd have to walk past them to get to the door, and then they would start screaming at her.
The noise lessened and slowly Lina crept out of her mother's studio and down the hall. Looking over the railing, she listened to their shouts. Mommy screaming that Daddy's shop didn't pay the bills, Daddy shouting the Mommy's paintings brought in no money at all.
Scared, Lina ran back to into the studio. She'd wait there a few minutes longer before going downstairs. Crying, she laid her small head against her mommy's paint box. She balled her tiny hands into fists, and prayed that they would stop. Why wasn't there enough money? What her life would be like if there were…
The studio door suddenly banging open brought Lina out of her thoughts. Surprised, Lina jumped back, knocking over her mommy's paints. Nervously, Lina watched as the colors spread out over the carpet in a puddle, the colors mixing together to create a sickening brown. Lina lowered her head and turned to face her furious mother standing in the doorway. She didn't even have a chance to apologize before her mother started yelling.
"Do you know how expensive those paints were? And the carpet! We'll never be able to afford to clean it!" Her mommy's howls followed Lina into the night as she ran from her house, tears stinging her eyes.
Mommy and Daddy. I refuse to let my family go through that. So I will plunder treasure from every bandit gang in the world, until I am rich enough that I will never have to worry about money again. Mommy and Daddy, I won't do to my kids what you did to me.