Counseling

Back in the Valley, the three of us (me, my husband Andy, and our daughter Sierra) were eating pieces of birthday cake in my parents' formal dining room.  My husband doesn't talk much, but apparently Sierra's behavior had struck a nerve with him.

"You're going to counseling, miss," Andy said firmly. "Your mother and I are not going to be bailing you out of prison. You've had it much too good for you to be doing the things you're doing. We do not want to see your face on a wanted poster."

Sierra peered at her father through her new horn-rimmed glasses. "If I go you're going to have to come with me."

"Oh, your mother and I are coming with you. If only to make sure you do this." Andy stopped for a moment and paused. "And another thing. You're going to college."

"College?"

"Yes, college. One of the conditions of your release from Fort Starch is that you go to college. They strongly recommended it because of your high test scores. You're smart but you never applied yourself - or at least, you applied yourself in the wrong way."

A week later, the three of us were in Dr. Bill's new Sunset Valley office.

Sierra and I didn't even look at each other during the entire session.

First Dr. Bill directed me to a large television set in his office, where he pressed play on some kind of player.
 

When the video came on, my heart sank.  I knew it was my daughter.  I knew it was her, just from the way she walked and her short blond hair.

First Sierra slaps a random boy in the face, knocking him nearly unconscious.

Next she proceeds to put a choke hold on him, leaving him gasping for air. 

The fight continues for another ten minutes, and Sierra emerges 'victorious' from the top of the pile.

Andy and I shook our heads in disbelief.  We didn't raise Sierra like this.  Not even AJ and Imsety, as rebellious as they were, were ever this violent. 

I told him how much disbelief I was in at the things my daughter Sierra has done.  The only thing that kept me from reaching over at her and wringing her neck is Andy gently whispering 'Calm down' in my ear. 

Dr. Bill looked at me.  "I have Sierra's entire Fort Starch record in front of me, and in my opinion, this girl is dangerously out of control, and if we don't get a handle on it now, she will spend a miserable lifetime behind bars."

I sighed.  "I agree."

"I hope you also agree that this girl did not become like this in a vacuum.  This didn't happen overnight.  I have parents who say, their kid was the perfect child until a certain age when bam, the bottom just fell out."

 I shook my head.  "Well, she started skipping school as a young girl.  Missing the bus, that kind of thing."

"Worst thing that could have happened was her teen birthday.  She just became completely outrageous."

Dr. Bill stopped me.  "What do you mean by 'became completely outrageous'?"

"She was being brought home by the police all the time.  Throwing eggs at people's houses, breaking and entering, that sort of thing.  Her poor brother was so distraught when she was brought home that he passed out and he ended up in the hospital. 

"My husband was simply beside himself."

"And it got worse.  I took this job in Moonlight Falls as the curator for their Museum of Antiquity, and I moved the kids.  Sierra, she loved it, the whole atmosphere.  It led to her trying a whole lot of different things...

"She dabbled in alchemy.  She used to go to Aleister's there and talk to the supers and I know she was reading texts and trying to make potions."

"She dyed her hair a whole bunch of different colors.  It's been every shade in the rainbow.  It's been pink, it's been red, it's been blue, green, black, purple.  It's been a different hue for every day in the week pretty much.  She's a natural blond like me and I don't even remember (other than today) when it's been that color."

 

"Then, we found out she was seeing a psychic.  I mean, what am I supposed to think, I find out my twelve year old is seeing a psychic.  That sent chills down every pixel I have."

Dr. Bill interrupted me again.  "Mrs. Cheesman, you're by trade a paranormalist?"

"By trade I'm an adventurer and historian.  I did do ghost hunting for a time."

"Sounds to me like she's taken after you."

"What do you mean?"

"Mrs. Cheesman, you said in your written statement that you were like this when you were a teen."

"Yes, I was, that's why I recognize the signs.  But I wasn't this extreme, though, Dr. Bill."

"She's a seeker.  It seems to me like she's looking for something.  It seems to me like she's looking for some guidance or some direction for her life.  Like I was saying before, I have her Fort Starch record in front of me.  I have all the notes they made on her.  Just from hearing you for the last twenty minutes, I'm getting the impression that this is an extremely bright young lady who needs some guidance, direction, or some kind of structure for her life.    She seems to be hungry for knowledge, just by listening to the story you're telling.  Her curiosity is apparently off the chart.  What we have to do is find a way to harness all of that for good."