thirteenth dance | video;

[quackery]

[When the video switches on, Ahiru is sitting on her bed flipping hurriedly through a book - Grimm's Fairy Tales. She'd had a few days of free time on her hands at the beginning of the week, and she's taken the opportunity to make a trip to the library. Once she had read the other books and started on this one, she had grown more and more dismayed

Comments

voice;

[what_scruples]

[ He laughs, softly. ] Fairy tales aren't always meant to entertain.

video;

[quackery]

Isn't that why people write them in the first place?

[what_scruples]

Perhaps in some worlds, they are.

In others, they're used as lessons.

[quackery]

Lessons for what?

[what_scruples]

Life, presumably.

[quackery]

I mean... What kinds of lessons?

[what_scruples]

That one shouldn't be cruel, or judge others by appearances. Or that a little ingenious thinking is all one needs to enjoy success in life.

[quackery]

Those are both really good lessons! I think hard work is important for the second thing, though.

[what_scruples]

Of course.

The ingenuity comes in making others do it for you.

[quackery]

You shouldn't make other people do things for you if they don't want to!

[what_scruples]

Ah, but what if I could persuade them to want to?

[quackery]

If they were getting enough benefit from the work, then that's okay.