Free Flight of the Golden Harpy by Susan Klaus

obviously hasn’t found a mate and is seducing me to leave. In real life, maybe he is dangerous. She thought about the brown harpy on the road. If Charlie hadn’t come, would the brown have taken her?
    Doubts cluttered her mind as she thought about her mother’s kidnapping and death. Have I been wrong all these years? Have I lived with a false childhood illusion about harpies, and everything I believed is a lie?” she questioned. “Can all Dorians be wrong about these creatures?
    Her stomach was in knots, feeling like a loved one had died. Her fondness for the harpies had been replaced with suspicion. In the foyer, she sat down on one of the stair steps.
    “Are you okay, Miss Kari?” Maria asked, polishing the dining room table.
    Kari looked up. “Maria, did you know my mother?”
    “No. I wish I could help you, but your father hired me after her death. I never met her, but I’ve seen pictures. She was very lovely,” Maria said with melancholy.
    “Yes, she was.” Wanting to take her mind off the agonizing doubts, she changed the subject. “Did you see my new vehicle?”
    “The whole town saw it.” Maria smiled. “It was unloaded from a harbor barge a month ago. It’s very lavish and such a rich red color. Are you going to take it for a drive?”
    “Yes. When I get dressed, I’m going to Westend. See if the place has changed.”
    Maria laughed. “It’s the same, a few more stores and houses, but it still a quiet little town that will bore you to tears.”
    “I’m ready for some boredom.” Kari walked upstairs and dressed. She came back down to the awaiting terrain vehicle. With the push of the starter button, the shiny vehicle rose a foot off the ground and began to hover. Her schooling on Earth had taught her to operate all types of transportation equipment as well as learn intricate technology. She was taught about everything from weapons to communicators and was capable of using or fixing any of them. It had seemed like a waste of time and education because she intended to spend her life on Dora, a planet with limited technology.
    She maneuvered the vehicle down the drive and stared at the vast green meadows dotted with a bright array of flowers. The grass seeds of the meadows had been imported from Earth because Dora had no grasses before man inhabited it. Along with the grass came the cattle and other domestic animals from Earth. Even the Irish wolfhounds resting on the large front porch were originally imported. She reflected on that first dog. She was very young, but still remembered the long trip to Terrance to get her new puppy. She smiled now, recalling the disappointment of a frozen fetus in a bag. “In a few months, you’ll have your puppy,” her father had explained. “If they sent a puppy on the spaceship, it would arrive as a big dog.”
    Glancing at the meadow, she thought about the devoted dog, and a tear coursed down her cheek. He had died the same year she was sent to Earth. In the night a male red dragon had jumped the high electric fence and was attacking the cattle. The wolfhound sounded the alarm and fearlessly charged the elephant-size reptile. Her beloved pet was killed defending the herd. Her father broke down and wept as he carried the dog’s large body from the pasture. It was the only time she saw her father cry.
    While she traveled through the estate, her mind was flooded with childhood memories. The meadows ended, as did the last view of the house. She turned onto the dirt highway surrounded by the jungle trees and drove east. After ten miles, she came to the weathered sign and road to Westend. Small wooden homes appeared before she arrived on Main Street. A modest grocery store and other meager shops stood in the heart of town. Maria was right. The little town hadn’t changed much over the years. She came to a yellow cottage and stopped. Moss-filled trees lined the front yard, and at their base were beds of flowers. A decrepit sign reading DR. WHITE hung between the