ATHENA'S DINNER PLATE

ATHENA’S DINNER PLATE

“Athena, don’t stack your doll dishes that way. You could break one! Especially that big one with the nice pattern. That was a gift from Grandmother Foster. I don’t understand why a young girl would want a Greek platter, but she must have had her reasons. She said something about Aunt Elsie that eluded me.”

“This one is my favorite. This big one. Aunt Elsie is not my favorite.”

“Athena, that’s a terrible thing to say. Aunt Elsie is very generous. “Remember, she gave you that beautiful doll with the Hawaiian grass skirt last year when you won that spelling bee. How many little girls beside you, Athena, would know how to spell ‘Aphrodite’?”

“That doll in the grass skirt died. D-I_E_D.! Aunt Elsie put a curse on it.”

“Honey, dolls don’t die. They can’t. They aren’t alive.”

“Yes, they are. She tried to smother me with her skirt when it caught fire. She died. I buried her in the backyard next to the carrots. “

“Don’t be silly. Aunt Elsie would have to be a witch to put a curse on a doll. She is certainly not a witch.”

“What about that slime green necklace with the zombie bead eyes that she gave me at Christmas time. It whispered zombie words at me when I put it on. “

“A talking necklace? Don’t be silly, Athena? “

“It told me it was going to turn into a snake at night and squeeze me to death. I hung it out in the apple tree in the backyard where the birds could peck it to death. It isn’t talking anymore.”

“Athena, your imagination is running away from you. I suppose you are going to tell me that that sweet stuffed bear she gave you on your last birthday was not a bear… but an evil spirit.”

“It wasn’t a stuffed bear.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“It was a small furry man with bad breath who said curse words and broke my toys in the middle of the night. Didn’t you hear him?”

“You must be talking about the thunderstorm. It did sound like it was breaking things, didn’t it?

“It wasn’t thunder. Blackie was an evil bear man with claws who broke my toys.”

“I suppose you are going to tell me you buried him or hung him out on a tree branch, too?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Good. Like I said, toys can’t talk and they can’t hurt you.”

“I took his arms and legs off when he was sleeping and put them into the trash bin and buried him in eggshells and old vegetables so he can’t smother me in my sleep. I’ll give the rest of him to Aunt Elsie. That’s where his black heart is. “

“Aunt Elsie will be hurt, Athena. She will be hurt that you destroyed your birthday gift.”

“It wasn’t a gift. It was a curse. Next time, she will give me something worse. “

“Now, now. Enough of that talk. Next time is now. Aunt Elsie is coming over today. I want you to be polite. After all, she’s my sister. She would never want to hurt you, Athena.”

“She won’t try to hurt me anymore because I have this!”

“That? Don’t be silly, that’s just a harmless old dinner plate. “

Is it just a dinner plate? Is it harmless? Look closely, mom.”

“What else would it be? Remember, it came from your grandmother’s belongings in that old trunk. Your grandmother was named Athena, too. “

“Grandmother knew what it was. It is the shield of Zeus and Athena. Look at the snakes and the snaky hair and the sword! Remember, you named me after the Greek goddess Athena. That makes me inviolable.”

“You mean invincible? “

“Yes, it means I am protected from evil spirits like Aunt Elsie. I can spread terror and fear; I am like the real Athena. I have the protection of the gods with this shield. Even if I run into a gorgon, g –o-r-g-o-n! Maybe Aunt Elsie is a gorgon. Maybe her hair is made of snakes. Maybe that is why she always wears a hat. “

“Athena, Aunt Elsie is no gorgon, and you are only 9 years old.”

“But I have the eternal invincible shield, the shield of Athena. Of Athena and Zeus!”

“You are holding an old china dinner plate, honey.”

“It’s the shield of Athena. It will protect me from Aunt Elsie and her… gifts.”

“Oh, now, please no more nonsense, here she comes now. Be nice.”

“Elsie, dear, you came just in time, Athena just got home from school, and I know she is so eager to see you.”

“Why is the child holding that dinner plate as though it’s some kind of shield? “

“Never mind that, Elsie. You know Athena. She is just having one of her imaginative flings. What is that you have there?”

“A bouquet of fresh flowers for you, dear sister, and look what I have for Athena….a rag doll I found at a curio shop outside of town. Just for you, Athena. Isn’t she sweet?

“Is it a voodoo doll? I don’t want it.”

“Athena, don’t talk nonsense. Give me that plate, and you can take the doll from Aunt Elsie. And give her a big hug. “

“Put it on the floor. Don’t open the box. What’s her name?”

“Maddie, I think the tag said Maddie.”

“I don’t think so. I think her name is Medusa. Leave her in the box!”

“Don’t you want to look at her? A brand-new doll. She has lovely blonde curls.”

“No, her hair is made of snakes. If I look at her, I will turn to stone.”

“Athena, what are you doing? No, no, don’t throw the doll out the window!

“Is she having another tantrum, Edith? No matter. I’ll go out and bring the doll back, and I’ll sit on the swing where you both can see me. I’ll open the box. It is perfectly safe. Here I go to fetch Maddie.”

“Her name is Medusa…not Maddie “

“Wait for me. And put down that silly plate, Athena. Look, there’s your aunt down there asking you nicely.”

“See me down here, Athena? Sitting on the swing, and I’m opening the box and taking out Ma…..”

“Look out the window, mother. What do you see?

“It’s Aunt Elsie…she has turned to stone staring at the doll in her lap. Her hat is gone, and her hair is a tangle of snakes just like the doll! “

“That’s just the gorgon pretending to be Aunt Elsie. Our real Aunt Elsie will be released from her spell after the gorgon crumbles and self-buries. But we can look at them both all we want because……”

“Because you have the shield of Athena and Zeus…..”

“Like I said…not harmless….and … Not just a dinner plate.”

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