Week 4 Storytelling: The Considerate Child

Luna arrived at the restaurant early, put her name on the waiting list, and sat on the polyester bench to wait for her siblings to arrive. The first to do so was Apollo, looking just as he always did: cellphone attached to his ear, impeccable suit and tie, and dark, expensive sunglasses that he likely would not take off until they reached the table. He greeted his sister with a swift peck to the cheek, never ceasing his conversation with whatever important person on the other end of the line. Wendy showed up just before they were seated, her cool, grey dress drawing appreciative stares from all the men in the room. She didn't seem to know they even existed. Luna had long gotten past her insecurity about her appearance compared to her siblings'. She was a pale, full-figured, plain girl, but her kind heart made her more beautiful than either her handsome brother or stunning sister.

The hostess called for Luna's party and they followed her to a secluded booth at the back of the restaurant. They gave their drink orders to the tiny waitress and silence descended upon them once they were alone. Finally ditching his phone and glasses, Apollo took it upon himself to get the conversation started.

A fancy and very kitsch dinner table
(Wikimedia Commons)

"Well, how are my favorite sisters doing?" he asked, although he hardly seemed interested.

"I just got in from Paris," Wendy offered. She was always traveling, ever since her mother and father had decided she was old enough to go on her own. Once they had set her free, she blew from one place to another, never staying anywhere for long. She was only here, in their hometown, for the same reason the other two were: to see their mother, Estelle, on her birthday. If Estelle weren't so old, she would be here having dinner with them and moderating the conversation much more effectively, but she insisted her children continue the family tradition of eating at her favorite restaurant even though she hardly ever left her bed anymore and their father had died five years before.

"I've just been working, as usual," Luna explained, keeping the conversation going. "We're doing Carmen this season." Luna, like her mother, was an accomplished opera soprano. She didn't even need the immense trust fund her parents had established for her when she was born, as they had for her siblings as well.

"Fascinating," Apollo commented, clearly feeling the farthest thing from fascinated a person could be. He had always been a selfish, shallow person. His concern with outer beauty had made him one of the most sought after fashion photographers in the world and whenever he did manage to come home, he was usually accompanied by a wafer thin model he had done a shoot with recently. None of them came with him more than once.

They continued to make small talk all through their meal, seeming more like business associates than bother and sisters. When Luna ordered a whole meal to go when they had finished, Apollo and Wendy shot each other a knowing glance. She was always the plump one the look said. To-go box in tow, the three siblings donned their coats and once outside, hailed a taxi to take them to their family estate.

Victorian house
(Pixabay)

The ride there was silent, having spent all their filler conversation at dinner. When the yellow car stopped in front of the wrought iron gates of the Nox estate (5 miles outside the city), they filed out of the car, up the winding lawn path, and into the ancient house. After hanging their coats, they wordlessly ascended the stairs and paused before the floor-to-ceiling wooden door on the third floor. This time all three of the siblings shared a silent look, an awkward and uncomfortable one. Behind the door, buried under the covers of an immense bed was their mother, living out the rest of what few days or weeks she might have left. The question of their inheritance sat thick in the air, for though they assumed it would be an equal, three way split, their mother had revealed nothing about the subject. Least concerned and most at ease, Luna raised her hand to knock on the thick wooden door and the three of them entered together when a quite voice behind it told them to.

The frail woman on the bed smiled up at her three children, resting on a mound of plush pillows. They each came up, kissed her on the cheek, and wished her a happy birthday. Luna's kiss was full of warmth and love, and Estelle's eyes shone when her daughter presented her with the to-go box containing her favorite dish from her favorite restaurant. She called the other two forward indicating they should sit on her bed.

"I know what you wish to know," their mother told them. "On the matter of your inheritance, I have thought long and hard. Apollo, my son, you shall receive the summer house in India and enough money to maintain the property for as long as you live. Wendy, you shall receive the house on the plains and the money to maintain it as well. You both will still have your trust funds, of course." She paused to let the message sink in, neither child looking particularly pleased. Clearly they had expected more.

"And you, Luna, my youngest, I leave you the Nox estate and the remainder of the family fortune to do with what you please. You have always been the kindest, most caring, and most selfless of my children. I'm sure that amount of money in the right hands can do wonders for this world."

And she was right. When the fortune passed to Luna, she donated a set amount annually to several charity organizations. In memory of Estelle, she also set up a scholarship in her mother's name for a talented soprano opera student at their alma mater, Julliard.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note: This story is based on How the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind Went Out to Dinner from the book Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1912). I changed the celestial bodies to actual people with names indicating the character they're based off of (Luna is the moon, Apollo the sun, Wendy the wind, and Estelle is mother star). The punishments given in the original story were hot rays for the sun and to blow in hot dry weather for the wind. Both sentences ensure that the two will be despised by those who are subjected to their powers. The moon is rewarded by being kept "ever cool, and calm, and bright." Unlike her siblings, the moon is to be beloved by all.