Eileen's Oddysee Chapter 1: Short Comings

The royal family of the east Mudos Forest Katkireen tribe consists of twelve beings: Queen Reina, King Benjamin, Prince Charles, Prince George, Princess Vanessa, Princess Karen, Princess Elenor, Prince Thomas, Princess Lana, Princess Amber, Princess Hannah, and the youngest, Princess Eileen... Or at least everyone seems to THINK I'm the youngest. I am Princess Eileen, and I am 24 years old and the oldest of my siblings. But, thanks to flawed genetics, I am what you would call, pretty damn short. I am a mere 4"1, and the average height of an eight year old Katkireen. But yes, in reality, I am the oldest and the heir to the throne... Or at least I was. My brother Charles is now. I refused to marry so I guess that's grounds for 'you can't be a reliable queen anymore'. Honestly if I had agreed to marry then my husband would have just been in charge anyways so really I don't see the point in it.

"Maaaa..." My youngest brother Thomas whined. "I don't WANT Scrab cakes! I want a Mudokon pop!"

"Now Thomas you will finish your Scrab Cake or you will never have another Mudokon pop again in your life!" Mother threatened.

"Honestly I'm getting sick of Scrab cakes too..." I said in agreement. "I could really go for some Meeches Munchies..."

"What's a 'Meeches Munchies'?" Thomas asked.

"Delicious. That's what they are." I told him.

"I'm sorry but our dear friends the Glukkons say that the Meeches have migrated to North Mudos, we'll have to settle for what we still have." Father reminded me. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, at least we never get Gabbiar anymore..."

"Now Eileen..." Mother scolded. "You know how rare that deliciously is... Now eat your Slig Stew." I groaned, but continued to spoon the disgusting chunks of meat into my mouth, swallowed hard, then gagged.

"Gross..." I stuck out my tongue and rubbed my hand over it, attempting to scrape off the taste.

"Eileen..." Father said, glaring at me.

"What?" I asked. Hannah and Lana giggled.

"Eileen you will be more respectful of your food." Father said sternly.

"Why? It's disgusting." I retorted.

"Yeah! It all tastes fake!" Elenor added.

"It's too salty!" That would be Amber,

"Why don't we ever have fish anymore?" Charles.

"ENOUGH!" Father slammed his fists down on the table. "Eileen I've had enough of your odd damn attitude!" He snapped. "You will go to your room and not come out until you have learned to be grateful for your food!"

"Fine!" I yelled, standing abruptly. "I don't wanna eat this crap anyways!" I then stormed off to my room.

(Third Person POV)

Benjamin sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why do I bother...? She doesn't understand anyways..." He mumbled. His wife, Reina, rubbed his back.

"Don't worry Hun..." She then motioned with her eyes at their other children, and mouthed 'keep it together'.

"Father..." Charles, their second eldest child started. "I was in the village today... The mars ones are gone, nobody knows where they went... Did they move to the northern village too?" He asked. Benjamin nodded.

"Of course, they just didn't want anyone to be sad about them leaving so they simply left without a word." He explained,

"Just like the Leerons!" Vanessa added.

"And Kons! Oh and the Beckers! Wow it must be really great up north if everyone' shading there!" Thomas exclaimed. It was true, that for many years it seemed as though one family would move away every other month to move up north, and never be heard from again. "Even Uncle Jerry and our cousins moved up there!"

"Yes... They left too..." Benjamin took a large swig of rum from his glass.

(Eileen's POV)

I sat on the end of my bed, shredding one of the many silk pillows father had gotten me from south Mudos. 'Stupid father... Stupid crappy food...' I thought to myself. I looked over at the embroidered family quilt that hung on my wall and sighed. 'We used to be so happy... Now we're just... I don't even know anymore... Why is father so edgy now? Why is mother so anxious? Why are people leaving? Why do we have to eat this shit food?!' I sighed. 'I just need some space...' I opened my latch window and climbed out. It was almost sundown. I always used to sneak out at night and go to a clearing in the woods and look at the stars and moons. I always found it very relaxing. I slowly descended from the window onto the ground, then darted into the forest. After about twenty minutes I reached the clearing. It brought a smile to my face. The lush grass, the small wild flowers, the Zapflies fluttering through the air, it was just so peaceful. I used to come here with my father, we used to lay on the grass and look up at the sky. He used to joke that if we didn't hold onto the grass we'd fall off into space. I didn't know what happened to him... We used to have so much fun together, our whole family did... But then, when I was around ten years old, food started scarce. Hunters started coming back with less and less food, the markets became bare, every night I'd go to bed hungry. But then Father met the Glukkons. They were happy to provide us with food in exchange for our gems and silks. The market's filled back up, and the best part was us royals were allowed our own stock of food, free of charge. But then Father became really on edge, he was almost obsessed with the food. Anyone who complained about it he'd yell at. Even mother started acting strangely.

I sighed as I laid back onto the grass. Nostalgically, I gripped the grass in my fists. Maybe things would get better for us... Hopefully... And with that, I closed my eyes and fell asleep in the grass.