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December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Conall: 968 words
Read the first part of this story (LJ link).
“That's what I hate. Being Uisdro doesn't mean I have to be anything, but everyone else thinks I should be something I'm not because of their expectations. The men fish while the women fix nets and cook meals. Some men trade while their women cook meals. Women become healers, but men don't. It's irritating.”
“Can you cook?”
“I doubt I could, but I've never tried. Mother thinks that the kitchen is a dangerous place for me because I can't see anything, so she doesn't let me in there, even though I've tried to explain to her that I'll be fine as long as she doesn't move anything.” She sighed. “I can walk through the rest of the house safely.”
“She just doesn't know what it's like to be blind.”
“I know, and I understand why she's worried, but it's going to affect my life in the future because I won't be able to do the things I need to do.”
Conall smiled. “You should marry a Dorma male. I hear they can cook well.”
“Do you think I could get away with that, simply by saying I didn't know what race they were because I couldn't see them and they didn't tell me?”
“I doubt it, but it would be an interesting experiment. Some day it might not even matter.”
“To be honest I'm not sure that anyone would marry me, unless it was just because they felt sorry for the blind girl.”
“Don't put yourself down like that, Sophia. You're a wonderful person.”
“Who can't do anything useful.” She shook her head. “The only thing I can do is the laundry, as long as I have someone there to help me.”
“For someone that won't matter. They will see you and realise that you are blind, but that you are also loving, understanding, kind, and someone who gives good advice even when the person is being a moron.”
“I don't know.”
“Sophia, I promise that you will get married.”
“I'm not marrying you.”
“I wasn't offering.”
“Good.”
“All I mean is that you will find the right person and...” Conall smiled. “I think you'll be a good mother.”
Sophia looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I can't imagine having children.”
“Maybe you can't, but I think it will happen.”
“Have you been talking to Aisling?”
“No, I haven't. I don't need to talk to her, because I know you, and if you can't see past all the negatives then I'll just have to help you. Being blind isn't going to stop you from doing everything that you want to do. Opportunities will come you way.”
“Are you sure?”
Conall laughed. “I'm sure.”
“It's just she keeps telling me exactly the same things.”
“Maybe that's simply because you need to be told these things.” Conall looked up at the moon, thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to say. “You have this ability to look after people that I have never seen before, and it's one of the things I appreciate about you, so you seem to spend almost all your time focused on other people. When it comes to you, and how you appear to other people, I think you only see what you want to see, rather than what we see. Being blind is a disadvantage, but I have this feeling you let it be more of a problem than it really is because everyone else sees it as a huge problem. Even your mother.” He sighed. “I'm not saying that you do it on purpose. It's more that you don't see the abilities you have because you have difficulty believing you have them, due to how other people treat you.” He looked at Sophia. “I also think it's harder to see what you can do because you've never met anyone else who's blind, so you don't see what they can do.”
“I don't see what I can do. I can't read or write, I can't cook, I can't clean safely, Mother won't let me into the kitchen because there are knives and a stove, and I feel useless.”
“You're not though.” Conall smiled. “It's just a case of finding something you're good at and can do, but it might take some time.”
Sophia shook her head. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“Give me day or two and I'll think of something.”
“Conall, I know it might not sound like it, but I don't mind being blind. It's not as though I have ever been able to see anything, so I have no idea what it's like to be able to see. I don't know what the moon looks like, or the sun, or you, and I'm used to it, even though I do sometimes wish that I had just been given one chance to see what you see.”
Conall reached out and gently squeezed Sophia's hand. “I wish I could give you my eyes, so you could have that one chance.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “It is interesting to compare the way you and Zander talk about things. You both have very different ways of seeing things. When Zander described the last winter solstice for me he noticed much less of the detail than you seem to. I never knew that the priest of Poseidon had a symbol on his robes until you told me.”
“Who do you prefer?”
“I don't know. Some days it's nice to have Zander describe things because I like hearing his voice, but I know that it's better that he now has more time to spend with his friends. I always felt guilty for taking up so much of his time. You have a nice voice and I like knowing about all the little details I never got told about before.”
“I like being able to help you.”
© K A Jones 2011
comments.
“That's what I hate. Being Uisdro doesn't mean I have to be anything, but everyone else thinks I should be something I'm not because of their expectations. The men fish while the women fix nets and cook meals. Some men trade while their women cook meals. Women become healers, but men don't. It's irritating.”
“Can you cook?”
“I doubt I could, but I've never tried. Mother thinks that the kitchen is a dangerous place for me because I can't see anything, so she doesn't let me in there, even though I've tried to explain to her that I'll be fine as long as she doesn't move anything.” She sighed. “I can walk through the rest of the house safely.”
“She just doesn't know what it's like to be blind.”
“I know, and I understand why she's worried, but it's going to affect my life in the future because I won't be able to do the things I need to do.”
Conall smiled. “You should marry a Dorma male. I hear they can cook well.”
“Do you think I could get away with that, simply by saying I didn't know what race they were because I couldn't see them and they didn't tell me?”
“I doubt it, but it would be an interesting experiment. Some day it might not even matter.”
“To be honest I'm not sure that anyone would marry me, unless it was just because they felt sorry for the blind girl.”
“Don't put yourself down like that, Sophia. You're a wonderful person.”
“Who can't do anything useful.” She shook her head. “The only thing I can do is the laundry, as long as I have someone there to help me.”
“For someone that won't matter. They will see you and realise that you are blind, but that you are also loving, understanding, kind, and someone who gives good advice even when the person is being a moron.”
“I don't know.”
“Sophia, I promise that you will get married.”
“I'm not marrying you.”
“I wasn't offering.”
“Good.”
“All I mean is that you will find the right person and...” Conall smiled. “I think you'll be a good mother.”
Sophia looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I can't imagine having children.”
“Maybe you can't, but I think it will happen.”
“Have you been talking to Aisling?”
“No, I haven't. I don't need to talk to her, because I know you, and if you can't see past all the negatives then I'll just have to help you. Being blind isn't going to stop you from doing everything that you want to do. Opportunities will come you way.”
“Are you sure?”
Conall laughed. “I'm sure.”
“It's just she keeps telling me exactly the same things.”
“Maybe that's simply because you need to be told these things.” Conall looked up at the moon, thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to say. “You have this ability to look after people that I have never seen before, and it's one of the things I appreciate about you, so you seem to spend almost all your time focused on other people. When it comes to you, and how you appear to other people, I think you only see what you want to see, rather than what we see. Being blind is a disadvantage, but I have this feeling you let it be more of a problem than it really is because everyone else sees it as a huge problem. Even your mother.” He sighed. “I'm not saying that you do it on purpose. It's more that you don't see the abilities you have because you have difficulty believing you have them, due to how other people treat you.” He looked at Sophia. “I also think it's harder to see what you can do because you've never met anyone else who's blind, so you don't see what they can do.”
“I don't see what I can do. I can't read or write, I can't cook, I can't clean safely, Mother won't let me into the kitchen because there are knives and a stove, and I feel useless.”
“You're not though.” Conall smiled. “It's just a case of finding something you're good at and can do, but it might take some time.”
Sophia shook her head. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“Give me day or two and I'll think of something.”
“Conall, I know it might not sound like it, but I don't mind being blind. It's not as though I have ever been able to see anything, so I have no idea what it's like to be able to see. I don't know what the moon looks like, or the sun, or you, and I'm used to it, even though I do sometimes wish that I had just been given one chance to see what you see.”
Conall reached out and gently squeezed Sophia's hand. “I wish I could give you my eyes, so you could have that one chance.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “It is interesting to compare the way you and Zander talk about things. You both have very different ways of seeing things. When Zander described the last winter solstice for me he noticed much less of the detail than you seem to. I never knew that the priest of Poseidon had a symbol on his robes until you told me.”
“Who do you prefer?”
“I don't know. Some days it's nice to have Zander describe things because I like hearing his voice, but I know that it's better that he now has more time to spend with his friends. I always felt guilty for taking up so much of his time. You have a nice voice and I like knowing about all the little details I never got told about before.”
“I like being able to help you.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Feedback
Okay, now I want to see Sophia learn to cook. She's right that blind people can do that; they just need to be careful and have a kitchen that is meticulously organized. I even know some of the tricks, like putting a fingertip over the edge of a glass or measuring cup while pouring to tell when it's almost full.
I looked up some stuff while working with my blind character, Rai, although he's not much of a cook. I couldn't resist running a quick search and found these:
http://www.perkins.org/resources/scout/cooking-and-kitchen-safety/
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2008/10/how_the_blind_cook.php
http://lowvisionchef.com/
If you're willing to explore this, let me know and we can make it an official prompt covered by credits. But I don't know what you have in mind for this character so I wanted to check first.
No typos spotted.