Queen for a Day

Ch. 2: Heart of Stone

The day my sister finally hatched from her egg is a day I'll never forget.

When dad heard that she was starting to hatch, he immediately stopped playing with me and ran as fast as he could to my sister's room. He was so excited!

I followed him, but of course, I wasn't as fast. I was only a toddler, running on tiny legs. By the time I had made it to my sister's room, she was already out of her egg and in my mom's arms, wrapped up in a blanket.

I could hear my mother's voice from inside the room. "Just look at her! She's so beautiful!" I heard her say. "She's truly going to make a difference in our kingdom someday, I can feel it!" She sounded so happy.

But then, I heard dad's voice. He did not sound happy. The tone of his voice sent a chill down my spine, and not in a good way. "Seriously?" I heard him say. "No one is going to listen to someone like her. She looks nothing like us." My mother sighed.

"The only thing "different" about her is her hair, darling. And that can be easily fixed with a little hair dye. It's no big deal," she replied.

"No big deal?" I could hear dad's voice beginning to rise. "NO BIG DEAL?! IT IS TOO A BIG DEAL! SHE'S...SHE'S..." He couldn't even get the last part of the sentence out. He knew what she was. He knew since the very beginning! He just couldn't say it, nor did he want to admit it. So, he just turned around and stormed out of the room.

I was puzzled. Why did he sound so upset?

"Dad?" I called after him.

"Not now, Katheryn."

"But-"

"I SAID...not now..." I closed my mouth and just watched him walk away from me.

I waited until he was further down the hall before entering my sister's room. The lights were on now, but they were very dim. My mother was sitting in a rocking chair, looking a little sad. But, when she saw me enter the room, she replaced her sad face with a smile.

"Hi, Katie," she said. "Are you here to meet your baby sister?" I nodded happily and practically jumped onto her lap. When she showed her to me, I was shocked. Her hair had so many different colors in it that it almost made me feel dizzy.

"What's wrong with her hair?" I asked curiously. My mother chuckled.

"There's nothing wrong with her hair. It's perfect just the way it is," she responded. "I don't know why your father doesn't like it, though..." Her smile disappeared and she started to look sad again. I hated seeing that look on her face.

"Is daddy mad?"

Mom sighed. "No...sweetie...he's probably just a bit grumpy, that's all. He and I haven't gotten a lot of sleep these last couple of weeks."

"Oh...okay."

My sister's eyelids slowly began to flutter open, revealing two beautiful emerald-colored eyes. My mother gasped.

"Why hello there, little one!" she cooed. "Aren't you just the sweetest little thing. Did you have a good nap?"

Of course, she didn't respond. She was just a baby and could only make noises. She looked up at mom in wonder, while mom just smiled and booped her nose.

"My little Roxanne."

Roxy wrinkled up her nose, then let out the cutest sneeze I had ever heard.

"Oh! Bless you, dear!" Mom giggled.

I giggled a bit, too. This caused Roxy's attention to shift away from mom and over to me. I froze and just stared at her. She did the exact same thing. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours until mom finally broke the silence.

"That's your big sister, Roxy," Mom told her. "Say hello, Katie!" I gave her a little wave.

"Hi...?"

Roxy opened and closed her hand, which made it look like she was waving back at me. Then, she offered me a tiny, toothless smile.

It was at that moment that my heart melted into a puddle of goo. I looked at mom and she immediately understood what I wanted to do. She secured me better in the center of her lap, then when I stuck my arms out, she carefully placed my baby sister in my arms. I smiled at her.

"Hi, baby Roxy! I'm your big sister Katheryn! Nice to finally meet you!" I stuck my pointer finger into the palm of her hand, and I watched as her little fingers grabbed onto it so I could shake her hand. Trust me, it looked about as weird as it sounds.

But then, Roxy giggled, which only made my heart melt even more. I hugged my baby sister close to my chest.

"I'm gonna love you forever and ever!" I squealed. Mom smiled at the two of us.

And I did! I still love her more than words can express to this day! Both mom and I loved Roxy with all of our hearts...

My dads heart, on the other hand, was starting to grow cold. He still loved me, and he reminded me every day, but I never once heard him say those three special words to Roxy.

Ever.

"I love you, my little rockstar," he'd say to me while passing us in the hallway. Then Roxy would stand still and smile up at him as he went by, waiting for him to say, "I love you too, Roxy!" Instead, he would just walk past her, acting like she wasn't even there. It was soul-crushing to watch, and even more soul-crushing to see her smile fade away when he didn't say it.

Then, to make it even worse, she'd look up at me and ask, "Katie...does daddy hate me?"

I never knew how to properly answer that question, so I always responded with, "No. He just expresses his love for you differently." If only I had known that he had never loved her to begin with, maybe it would've hurt less, because I believed what I told her, too.

But the scariest part was that over the years, she eventually got used to only hearing him say, "I love you, Katheryn," and never, "I love you, Roxanne."

He would only acknowledge me, and would do everything in his power to ignore my little sister. But why? WHY?! She deserved just as much attention as I did if not more! What was so terrible about her? Was it her hair?! Was it her personality?! Was it because she always seemed so happy?!

...I never got a proper answer to that question, no matter how many times I asked him. He'd just say, "Because she's different."

But I thought being different was a good thing...and it is! Its just that he didn't think it was...

The day my sister hatched is a day I'll never forget, because that was the day when my dad's kind heart was replaced with one made out of solid stone.