In the old stories of Egypt, Satis was the goddess of the floods of the Nile River. My name means "she who shoots forth." According to the books, she was a war, hunting, and fertility goddess who was seen as the mother of the river. Our mother, Fatima, named me and my twin brother Imsety after Egyptian gods. I suppose she meant us to become god like.
I don't remember much about her or our father, Samir. Mom told us that he was a major crime boss in a company called MorcuCorp. We were little when we were adopted and smuggled away from Egypt and neither of us have been back since.
It has been a struggle for us to hold on to our Egyptian language and customs since arriving in Sunset Valley. When Halima was here she helped with that, but now that she is gone all Imsety and I have of Egypt is each other. I miss her, a lot. I'm sure Imsety does, too.
One thing Mom and I have in common is we both love to read. As soon as I got to Sunset Valley she gave me her own Simlish primers first, then I moved on to more challenging books, including her own aunt Meg Plumb’s Moon Colony series. My love of reading is the reason my Simlish is much better than my brother’s. I’ve been complemented on my good diction and penmanship.
The house next door to ours on Pinochle Point had been vacant for as long as I can remember, until very recently, when a family moved in. The best part is the family has not one, but TWO girls our age!
The oldest of the two girls, Carrie Phillips, asked if she could ride the bus home with me. I didn’t refuse.
School has not been easy for me or my brother. We’ve been teased for our heavily accented Simlish and I’ve often sat alone in the cafeteria, or if Imsety has the same lunch period, he’d come sit by me. “My parents thought a change of scenery might do us some good,” Carrie said as she sat next to me. I didn’t know what that meant.
I followed Carrie into her home, and she explained that they hadn’t quite finished packing yet, so there were boxes all over.
Meanwhile, I took a glance outside the window and I saw Imsety running toward our house with Carrie’s younger sister, Amy. Amy has a blond ponytail, while Carrie’s hair is darker.
“Satis,” Carrie said, “you have an unusual name.”
“It’s Egyptian,” I told her.
“Wow, you’re from Egypt? Where all the pyramids and stuff are?”
“You got it.”
Carrie told me her father Peter and her mother Elizabeth decided to move the family for a change of scenery. Then, Peter got a job at Landgraab Industries and Elizabeth began working at Doo Peas in journalism.
I got the feeling there was something Carrie wasn’t telling me.
No comments:
Post a Comment