Target Practice
by Peter Howard
‘Don’t
give me that, baby, you’re doing this.’
‘But mom,’
whined Erin, ‘I’m already good enough,
you’ve never had a problem with my aim
before.’
‘Before?’
said his mom, ‘before the last time you
missed, you mean?’
Erin looked
down at his sandals. He kicked at the dirt which
seemed to be laughing at him, or maybe just
giving him directions he thought bitterly.
‘It was
an accident,’ he pleaded, ‘could have
happened to anyone.’
‘Maybe,’
said his mother, ‘but it happened to you,
and look at the result? Consider the consequences
of your actions once in a while could you,
Er…’ she paused, she’d agreed to
use the new name even if her new daughter in law
only wanted it to spite her. Still she pronounced
it with difficulty and the word didn’t feel
right, ‘consider the consequences, Erin?’
‘It
wasn’t so bad,’ he said shifting the
weight of the quiver, ‘it all worked out in
the end.’
‘All
worked out!’ said his mother incredulously,
‘the woman killed both her sisters, your
aunty is besides herself with the violation of
her property, your uncle’s mad at you for
making him get involved, and you know what a
thunderous temper he has,’ she paused,
‘you nearly started a war, Erin, and lets
not say it all worked out for the best because
you ended up marrying her!’
‘Most of
that was because of you, mom,’ said Erin a
spark of defiance in his eyes.
‘That,’
she said, ‘brings us back to your aim,
doesn’t it?’ his mother walked back a
few steps and turned sharply, ‘now point
that thing at the other thing, and hit it!’
While Erin
went about his target practice he tried to block
out his mother grumbling but it was hard, she had
the tendency to be heard when she wanted to be.
‘Send you
to do a simple job…’ he could hear her
saying, ‘tripped and fell on his own arrow,
for Zeus sake…’
The target was
more than two miles away, and Erin found it over
and over again even with his mother grumbling in
his ear. When he had worn the target out and it
could no longer stand up under its own power he
rounded on her in triumph.
‘Happy
now?’ he said.
‘Happy?
No, Erin I’m not happy, I’m not happy
about a great many things, but it looks like
we’ll have to live with them doesn’t it?’
‘Come on
mom,’ he said slinging the bow back around
his shoulders, ‘at least you got some
grandkids out of it.’
‘Yes, and
look what happens to them!’
‘What
does happen to them?’
‘You’ll
have to wait and see won’t you,’ she
said with a flourish, ‘and the next time you
decide to bribe me with the death of all living
things on earth,’ she said meaningfully,
‘be sure your new wife isn’t within
reach or I don’t care what Zeus says,
we’ll find out just how divine our new
goddess really is,’ she shook her head,
‘the goddess Psyche and Erin, honestly!’
With that his
mother vanished. Erin remained still. The trouble
with being the son of the Goddess of Love was
that she was all passion and often didn’t
think things through. That and the fact she could
become invisible.’
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