Thirty Days of Prosperity

Part 1: Proserpina, Chapter 1

"Proserpina!" The teacher suddenly said, interrupting her thoughts, "Are you paying attention?"

Proserpina looked at the teacher, "Yes, ma'am." she muttered softly.

"Well, then perhaps you would like to explain this problem." The teacher, Mrs. Hill, said, looking sharply at her. She pointed to the board. The equation (19+14) x 987 was written on it.

Proserpina broke into a sweat. Of course she was only average at math, and of course Diana would find out, and of course Mrs. Hill would send her parents a message saying she wasn't paying attention.

With no other choice, Proserpina went up to the board and tried her best.

She had never learned Order of Operations, she was only ten, and in fifth grade.

"Proserpina..." A voice in her head whispered, "You know the answer..."

"Huh?" Proserpina thought. Did she know the answer? And who was it that had whispered to her? Not one of her classmates, that was for sure. They were all staring at her. So maybe she had imagined it.

But then she did know the answer. Just like that. The answer to the math problem was 32,571. As if on cue, Proserpina began writing. She wrote the steps, the results, her calculations. Was it right? Proserpina was sure.

The teacher walked up to her.
"Very good. Return to your seat now, please." was all she said.

Proserpina walked back to her seat quietly. All she could think about was the voice. It was vivid, but not ghostly. Was it real, or not?

~

Proserpina continued to think about the voice the rest of the day. By the time school was over, she had decided she hadn't imagined it, but it was real. She was sure she never learned Order of Operations, and she really hadn't been listening to the teacher. Little did she know how much trouble this would cause her.

She walked home alone. She lived across the street from the school, and the neighborhood was quite safe, in her opinion. She knew Diana wouldn't join her. In fact, she would have prefered to walk alone anyways, so she was just fine.

When she got there, Ivan and Irene came up to the door to greet her. They had returned from preschool and had been watching a baby cartoon on their TV.

Proserpina walked in and scooted them in with her, so she could close the door. She glanced at the TV, a natural instinct of hers. It was a commercial break.

"Hey Ivan, hey Irene." Proserpina said, "Are you having a good time watching the baby cartoon - I mean, show?"

"It's not a baby cartoon." Ivan scolded.
"And we do not like it." Irene put in, "There's too many infocameramercially thingys."

Proserpina laughed. "It's infomercials, Irene. Well anyways, you guys stay down here. I'm going to my room to do homework."

She left the twins downstairs, and went to the second floor of the house. She didn't bother going to the kitchen, where her mom was. Her mom didn't have time for her anymore.

But when she reached her room, she didn't do her homework. She wanted to, of course, but the voice came back.

"Proserpina..." It whispered again, "You know you are special in some way. Come with me. Touch the painting and I will show you."

Confused, Proserpina listened to the voice. "Is this a good idea?" she thought. But she touched the painting anyways. It was a painting she did way back when she was 7. It wasn't good, but it was the best one, so she had hung it on the wall of her room.

She put both hands on the painting. She listened to the voice.