December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Conall: 969 words
“You don't have to sit alone,” Sophia said, sitting next to Conall.
“I know,” he replied, “but it's nice to have some time alone to watch people. At home I used to spend all my festivals people watching.”
“What can you see?”
Conall looked at Sophia. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be blind, and before he had moved to live with his uncle's family he hadn't even known that blind people existed. It was easy enough to understand why. Most people didn't want a child with any disabilities, whether that was being mixed heritage, being born on the wrong day, or having something wrong with them. Something like that would lower the family's standing in the village and make everything more difficult. Her family had been doubly unlucky as first she had been born and then her younger sister Aisling had been born on the day of Persephone. Both of those things had lowered the family's standing, so everything was more difficult for them, but they never stopped being grateful for that they had.
Shaking his head, Conall looked towards the square. “It's dark,” he started, “so the colours are much more muted than they would be during the day and everyone looks darker than they are. The only reason I can see much at all is the moon, the candles, and the fire in the centre of the square.”
“What's the moon like?”
“It's a slim cresent.” Conall drew the shape on the back of Sophia's hand. “It doesn't give off a lot of light, not as much as a full moon would, but it's pretty and I think I like the moon best when it's this shape.” He smiled. “The candles are probably the reason I can see as much as I can, because they're everywhere. It's a strange sort of light. The flame moves, especially when there's a breeze, so the light and shadows change regularly.”
“Who can you see?”
Slowly Conall looked around the square. “Zander is stood on the other side of the square, with a couple of his friends. He looked over here a moment ago and smiled. I think he's happy that you have another person to talk to.”
“It's never bothered me that people see me was bad luck.” She shrugged. “I have friends who accept me for who I am and that's all I need.”
“Sophia...”
“Don't lecture me, Conall. If I want to be friends with people from the Tein-Igni village then I will, and no one is going to stop me. They don't care that I'm blind.”
“I wasn't going to lecture you,” Conall lied. “Neither Zander or I care that you're blind.”
“You're family, so it doesn't count.” Conall opened his mouth but before he could say anything Sophia continued, “Don't start with that rubbish about not truly being family because you're only related by handfasting. No matter what you are family. It doesn't matter about how or why.”
“If you say so.”
“I know it's hard for you. I'm not stupid, and I know your father wasn't...” She sighed. “Well, he was Uisdro, I suppose, and leading the life of someone who believes that he is right, even though he's obviously wrong. That makes people narrow minded. You are a good person and I'm glad you came here. Life would have been very different if you hadn't.”
“Did Aisling tell you that?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Does it ever bother you that she knows so much about everything?”
“I'm used to it, I suppose. We've always written to each other, and from an early age she confided in me, because she didn't have anyone else. Thankfully people like her did turn up, so she did have friends at the training temple, but until that happened she only had me. And Zander because he read the letters to me.”
“I don't know if I'll ever be able to get used to someone knowing that I'm going to do something before I do it.”
“Aisling only sees possibilities, Conall, not definites. I knew you might turn up, not that you definitely would. I hoped you would. You would have been a very different person of you'd chosen to stay at home, and I don't think I would have liked that person, but you came here, so it doesn't really matter.”
Conall looked at Sophia. “I'm glad I came here. Things aren't perfect, but they're better, and I have people here who accept me for who I am.”
“That's why I have friends in the Tein-Igni village.”
“It's not safe.”
“I...” She shook her head. “This is going to sound really selfish, but I don't care. They've never acted like there's something more wrong with me than just my eyes, and I want to be around people who don't think that I'm stupid because I can't see.” She sighed. “I have had to deal with that my whole life, because they can't understand what's wrong with me, and everyone knows. When I first met those Tein-Igni they had no idea that I was blind and I loved being normal for just a few hours. It didn't matter that I couldn't see anything. For a few days I was sure they were going to change when they found out that I was blind, but they didn't. Even when they knew it didn't matter and at that point I only had that total acceptance from two people, who were both family.”
“I do understand, Sophia. If I had friends like that I think I would feel the same way you do, but until I came here I never really had anyone I could call a proper friend. I was too different from a typical Uisdro male and they didn't want to be affected by my differences.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/44657.html. It currently has
comments.
“I know,” he replied, “but it's nice to have some time alone to watch people. At home I used to spend all my festivals people watching.”
“What can you see?”
Conall looked at Sophia. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be blind, and before he had moved to live with his uncle's family he hadn't even known that blind people existed. It was easy enough to understand why. Most people didn't want a child with any disabilities, whether that was being mixed heritage, being born on the wrong day, or having something wrong with them. Something like that would lower the family's standing in the village and make everything more difficult. Her family had been doubly unlucky as first she had been born and then her younger sister Aisling had been born on the day of Persephone. Both of those things had lowered the family's standing, so everything was more difficult for them, but they never stopped being grateful for that they had.
Shaking his head, Conall looked towards the square. “It's dark,” he started, “so the colours are much more muted than they would be during the day and everyone looks darker than they are. The only reason I can see much at all is the moon, the candles, and the fire in the centre of the square.”
“What's the moon like?”
“It's a slim cresent.” Conall drew the shape on the back of Sophia's hand. “It doesn't give off a lot of light, not as much as a full moon would, but it's pretty and I think I like the moon best when it's this shape.” He smiled. “The candles are probably the reason I can see as much as I can, because they're everywhere. It's a strange sort of light. The flame moves, especially when there's a breeze, so the light and shadows change regularly.”
“Who can you see?”
Slowly Conall looked around the square. “Zander is stood on the other side of the square, with a couple of his friends. He looked over here a moment ago and smiled. I think he's happy that you have another person to talk to.”
“It's never bothered me that people see me was bad luck.” She shrugged. “I have friends who accept me for who I am and that's all I need.”
“Sophia...”
“Don't lecture me, Conall. If I want to be friends with people from the Tein-Igni village then I will, and no one is going to stop me. They don't care that I'm blind.”
“I wasn't going to lecture you,” Conall lied. “Neither Zander or I care that you're blind.”
“You're family, so it doesn't count.” Conall opened his mouth but before he could say anything Sophia continued, “Don't start with that rubbish about not truly being family because you're only related by handfasting. No matter what you are family. It doesn't matter about how or why.”
“If you say so.”
“I know it's hard for you. I'm not stupid, and I know your father wasn't...” She sighed. “Well, he was Uisdro, I suppose, and leading the life of someone who believes that he is right, even though he's obviously wrong. That makes people narrow minded. You are a good person and I'm glad you came here. Life would have been very different if you hadn't.”
“Did Aisling tell you that?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Does it ever bother you that she knows so much about everything?”
“I'm used to it, I suppose. We've always written to each other, and from an early age she confided in me, because she didn't have anyone else. Thankfully people like her did turn up, so she did have friends at the training temple, but until that happened she only had me. And Zander because he read the letters to me.”
“I don't know if I'll ever be able to get used to someone knowing that I'm going to do something before I do it.”
“Aisling only sees possibilities, Conall, not definites. I knew you might turn up, not that you definitely would. I hoped you would. You would have been a very different person of you'd chosen to stay at home, and I don't think I would have liked that person, but you came here, so it doesn't really matter.”
Conall looked at Sophia. “I'm glad I came here. Things aren't perfect, but they're better, and I have people here who accept me for who I am.”
“That's why I have friends in the Tein-Igni village.”
“It's not safe.”
“I...” She shook her head. “This is going to sound really selfish, but I don't care. They've never acted like there's something more wrong with me than just my eyes, and I want to be around people who don't think that I'm stupid because I can't see.” She sighed. “I have had to deal with that my whole life, because they can't understand what's wrong with me, and everyone knows. When I first met those Tein-Igni they had no idea that I was blind and I loved being normal for just a few hours. It didn't matter that I couldn't see anything. For a few days I was sure they were going to change when they found out that I was blind, but they didn't. Even when they knew it didn't matter and at that point I only had that total acceptance from two people, who were both family.”
“I do understand, Sophia. If I had friends like that I think I would feel the same way you do, but until I came here I never really had anyone I could call a proper friend. I was too different from a typical Uisdro male and they didn't want to be affected by my differences.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/44657.html. It currently has
comments.