Myra’s Big Mistake – Chapter 2

As I cross the square, I can feel the eyes of the crowd on me. Lonely, plain ol’ Myra, daughter of the mayor, unmarried at twenty-seven, not even a boyfriend in sight, survived one failure after another, riddled with regrets, her head in the clouds and her heart on her sleeve. There must be something wrong with her, they all think. Maybe if she laid off the sweets, she’d be a better catch. Ooooh, it’s a scandal to see her paired with a skunk, too! Oh, dear. She’s never going to find someone now…

Negative thoughts swirl in my head, but I also remember the things my sisters and friends have said. I may have failed out of the I.A., but I found a different career. I look down at my body, and I’m okay with it now. I run and lift weights. Even if I still have a belly, I’m strong. I’m not the pudgy kid I was ten years ago. Remember that, Myra.

Two women my age talk about me behind their hands, but I push forward into the crowd and approach the stage set up in the far northern corner of the square. That’s where my father will address the town before the local bands play. I weave through families and groups of people drinking beers as I wind closer to the stage. Ruby is off chatting with Nosuké, and they seem happy enough. I won’t bother her, though she said she would support me through this big moment. It’s okay. Everyone else’s problems and feelings usually come before my own. I’m used to it at this point.

Deep breath. It’s time for a quick pep talk. Okay, Myra Kimura. You are an adult. You are capable. You are creative and kind. And you don’t need anyone else to accept you or give you worth.

Now, if only I believed all of that.

In a stroke of good luck, Mom, my older brother, and two of my five sisters are standing together eating doughnuts and drinking beer. They’re smiling, and they appear to be in positive moods. I can’t ask for a better time.

With a sliding step, I insert myself into the family circle and surprise everyone.

“Hey!”

All the smiling, laughing faces turn to shouts. My sister, Suri, shrieks as she trips and falls backwards to the pavement right next to her dog, Finn.

“Myra!” Mom points at Mochi, her voice hoarse with shock. “How… what?”

“Surprise!” My smile falters as they stare. A few surrounding people turn to see what caused the commotion, but Mom steps in front of me to block their view. My other sister, Tilli, helps Suri up off the pavement.

“Myra, darling…” Her voice is strained by her locked jaw. She grabs my forearm and turns me around to look Mochi in the face. “A skunk…” She closes her eyes and breathes out a long breath. “Everyone told me my children would be the death of me, and I should have stopped after one.”

I press my lips together, and the smile fades away. “Yes, but then you went and had six girls after Ean.”

“I did. It’s my own fault… Well, it’s mostly your father’s fault. Let’s be honest.” She holds her fingers up to Mochi, and Mochi gives them a sniff. Mom laughs. “A skunk,” she mumbles. “Of course, Myra.”

“Sorry, Mom.” And I am. I am sorrowful for always being the odd kid out, choosing the path of most resistance, opting for the unusual.

“Don’t be. Your father, though…” She shakes her head, her brunette curls shifting side to side.

“She seems kind and sincere to me, Myra,” Mochi whispers before stroking his whiskers on her hand. “Listen to her.”

Mom doesn’t know that she’s met with Mochi’s approval. She never got the animal translation chip, but she loves animals all the same. And there’s only one person on this entire planet who has the chip and can hear all the animals. She’s an anomaly, not the norm. The rest of us figure out in our own way which animals will speak to us, will pair with us. Some people never meet their pair. Others are lucky to find families of animals to pair with, even one or two from different species. Mochi was an accident for me, a happy one at that.

Ean, my older brother, wrinkles his nose. “Doesn’t he stink up your apartment?”

I roll my eyes. “He knows better than to spray inside. Give the guy some credit.”

“I can’t believe you kept this from me!” Tilli, my next younger sister, pouts, pushing out her bottom lip. “You know we’ve been praying for you to pair for, like, five years now.”

Mochi stands up and walks across my shoulders from my left to my right side. He places his front paws on my chest and sniffs at Tilli’s cat, Ivan, at her feet. They’ve been together for four years.

“I’m not sure the cat likes me,” he says, backing up my shoulder.

“He doesn’t like anyone but Tilli.”

“Ivan?” Tilli asks, bringing her hand to her chest in mock seriousness before she laughs. “He’s an old crank, and everyone knows it.”

“Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done about this,” Mom says with a shrug. “You’re certain it’s for real?”

I nod. “We’ve been together for a few months.”

“A few months?” She inhales. She’s hurt, but she accepts it with a nod and a sigh. “It is what it is.”

I hate that phrase, but today, I’ll take it.

Relieved and relaxed, I soften into the family conversation about my aunt, Marianne, Mom’s younger sister, who also has a giant family of her own. Altogether we are a crowd of eleven cousins, the Kimuras and the Moritas. We would be even bigger if my dad had any brothers or sisters but he was an only child.

Mom’s family is like many who came from Earth a generation ago. Under the domes of Nishikyō, the last city on Earth, families were restricted to one or two offspring at most, so it was just my mom and her sister. Here, we have a little land to spread out and plenty of resources to make up for the significant loss of humanity during the wars and the Exodus.

Mom freezes as her eyes zero in on the crowd across the square.

“Dad is coming.” She turns to me. “Do you want to introduce Mochi today?” Her stare is serious. “I would caution against it. You know how he feels about nocturnal animals, and he’s been in a state getting ready for this big speech.”

“Let’s delay,” Mochi says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s one thing for me to mention it, but this should be his decision. “I should go off and make my rounds. Do excuse me.”

He shifts on my shoulder, and I crouch down to give him access to the ground. I smile as I watch him saunter off, his tail in the air and people diving to get out of his way. They would laugh to hear his deferential little, “Excuse me. No, excuse me,” mutterings.

My face heats with a blush as he disappears into the shadows. Mom’s hand rests on my arm. “You look to be in love… with a skunk.” She throws back her head and laughs. “Any young men or women getting the same aspiring looks from you?”

“Mom,” I drawl out, warning in my voice, “you know how much I hate that. And it’s men only. Never been interested in women. I have too many of them in my life.”

“Your father would say the same,” she responds with a wink. “Even a good sum of animals in the house are female.”

“Poor man.” I roll my eyes. “And no, there’s no one. You know men stay away from the Kimura Family. That’s why we’re almost all single.” I sweep my hand out at my sisters, only a few of which are present in this circle. We’re missing Winta, Rosa, and Demi, but they’re probably off enjoying the fair games and food. “Except Suri. Lucky girl.”

She shrugs. “Erik says hi, but he’s working tonight, and I’m not in space for once.”

She sighs and turns to survey the crowd. Her eyes follow a group of individuals behind us, so I turn to face the stage. Dad and his advisors are having a tense discussion about something. Several of his top people are frowning and shaking their heads. I wish I could read lips. I’m sure whatever he’s planning to do, it’s going to make our lives miserable.

Rising to my tip-toes, I look out over the crowd and find Nosuké looking right back at me. His face is serious when usually it’s friendly. I frown for a moment, but then I catch sight of Mochi wrestling with a raccoon behind Nosuké. I laugh and then point when Nosuké’s expression changes. He huffs a laugh at the two rolling around. We both smile at each other. That’s better. My chest warms under his friendly attention. But two gorgeous women approach him, and they rip his attention away from mine. Typical.

A murmur rustles through the crowd as the stage microphone turns on and spurts a brief amount of feedback before the deputy mayor, Dad’s right-hand woman, Mrs. Minna, steps up to the platform.

Ruby breaks through the family circle and startles me. “Myra!” She pants and tries to catch her breath. “I… I just heard a terrible rumor,” she whispers, pulling me away from my family. “You need to stop him.”

“What?” A slight smile flickers over my lips before dread replaces it. “Who…?”

“Your father is about to make a huge mistake.”

Chills rain down my back as his voice lifts over the crowd. My stomach clenches, and my upper lip breaks out in a sweat.

Oh no. What’s he going to do now?