A Clover and a Bee

Polaris studies her oldest granddaughter. Lydia looks unbearably like Quentin, but her voice reminds her so much of Luna when she was a child: surprisingly deep for a girl, with an intelligent sounding timber. “I don’t know if mom told you, but I’m on student council,” Lydia brags, “I beat out Anatol Svard for president., and his parents paid for actual printed campaign posters.” “Wow,” Polaris replies, “that’s impressive.” “And I have the highest grades in class.” “Is that so?” Lydia deflates a little. “Well, I’m tied with Luke. But my extracurriculars should count for more! He’s just in the stupid chess club, but I’m president of student council.” “I see. Are you always this competitive?” Lydia blinks, “Life is a competition, and I’m going to win.” Polaris smirks, “that’s the spirit.”

The last time Polaris Bee had seen her daughter, Luna had been in tears. She had just informed her mother that she was moving across the globe with her boyfriend, a man who--while she liked well enough--Polaris hardly knew. Like any mother, Polaris’ first instinct was to protect her daughter. She asked all the questions that Luna should have asked and answered herself before she decided on this move: “Are you sure he’s the one? Do you think you should consider options closer to home in case it doesn’t work out with him? Will Aurora Skies be accepting to someone who looks like you (or Quentin for that matter)?”  Luna responded with a single sentence that has stuck with Polaris for all these years: “How could you possibly even think you know what’s right for me when all you’ve done is endanger me?” She followed up by letting loose years of grievances on her mother, accusing Polaris of a number of misdeeds: jeopardizing  the lives of her children with her indecisions and ...