(New images from the rejuvenated Hubble, including a butterfly nebula, multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densel-packed star cluster, and a "pillar of creation". Click on image to enlarge and examine more closely.)
Every Thursday, I post a very large photograph of some corner of space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and available online from the picture album at HubbleSite.
With the recent extremely successful in-space repair of the 19-year-old Hubble telescope, some of the Early Release Observations are blowing folks away. NASA's press release states "Topping the list of exciting new views are colorful multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie 'pillar of creation,' and a 'butterfly' nebula.'"
FOR THE RECORD
The clouds and the stars didn't wage this war
the brooks gave no information
if the mountains spewed stones of fire into the river
it was not taking sides
the raindrop faintly swaying under the leaf
had no political opinions
and if there were a house
filled with backed-up raw sewage
or poisoned those who lived there
with slow fumes, over years
the houses were not at war
nor did the tinned up buildings
intend to refuse shelter
to homeless old women and roaming children
they had no policy to keep from roaming
or dying, no, cities were not the problem
the bridges were non-partisan
the freeways burned, but not with hatred
Even miles of barbed-wire
stretched around crouching temporary huts
designed to keep the unwanted
at a safe distance, out of sight
even the boards, that had to absorb
year upon year, so many human sounds
so many depths of vomit, tears slow-soaking blood
had not offered themselves for this
The trees didn't volunteer to be cut into boards
nor the thorns for tearing flesh
Look around at all of it
and ask whose signature
is stamped on the orders, traced
in the corner of the building plans
Ask where the illiterate, big-bellied
women were, the drunks and the crazies,
the ones you fear most of all: ask where you were.
~~Adrienne Rich
Thursday, October 8, 2009
HUBBLE THURSDAY
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
GINNY BATES: AN ADDENDUM
For the first time in months, I woke up today with Ginny Bates' voice in my head again. Hence, here's a very special treat, a conflation of two different novels: A scene I meant to put in Ginny Bates but never got around to, concerning Myra's writing Skene. This is all there'll be on this topic at this point in time. Still, it was delicious to step back into the house on Roy Street for an afternoon.
For those of you new to this blog, I'm referring to my Great American Lesbian Novel, Ginny Bates. If you are new to reading GB, go to the section in the right-hand column labeled Ginny Bates to read background and find out how to catch up. You can do the same to read Skene.
Late December, 1994
(Margie is 6, Gillam will be 4 in another week)
David arrived two days before New Year's, planning to stay through Gillam's birthday. That Saturday, when Pat and Patty offered to take the children to a local street fair and David said he was going to the Temple for Havdallah, Myra asked Ginny to stay home with her.
"I've finished a fleshed-out first draft of Skene, complete with revisions. Before I start on draft two -- well, I need you to read it" said Myra. "It's over 300 pages now, a time commitment to get through." She looked anxious.
"I'll be honored" said Ginny. "What are you going to do? I need you not to hover."
"Cook, I guess. Get a head start on special dishes for New Year's Day" said Myra.
"Then I'll go upstairs and read on the deck with the heaters on" said Ginny, "because if I'm anywhere near the kitchen I'll feel your eyes on me."
Once the children were bundled into coats and caps, and David had shufled out the door in his tallis, Ginny took the manuscript held together by an industrial-looking binder clip, kissed Myra's cheek and said "I'll be back from your imaginary world whenever the power of phonics lets me finish."
Myra made a brine mixture in two different containers, one for goose and one for pork short ribs, and set tomorrow's meats soaking in the storeroom refrigerator. She picked crab meat, an activity she didn't much like, and carried the shells afterward to the platform bird feeder for the carnivores to squabble over. She made cornbread to eat and for stuffing, stopping to have a snack of one wedge crumbled into a glass with buttermilk poured over it. She then began trying to once again create a perfect barbecue sauce for the ribs, a puzzle which she never quite accomplished to her satisfaction.
Ginny came downstairs at one point too early to have finished, refilling her teapot and taking some of the cornbread back with her, a finger held up to her lips to stall any questions from Myra. Once the barbecue sauce was simmered and cooled, Myra gave up on cooking and went instead to her study, reorganizing her map drawers. She was on the floor, surrounded by a confusion of charts, using her giant magnifying glass to hunt for ice movements which might tell her where the tent with frozen bodies of Scott's expedition might have drifted to, when she heard footsteps in the kitchen. Juju was under her daybed and scrambled out with anticipation at Ginny's approach.
Myra caught only a glimpse of Ginny, however, before there was a heavy thud against the side of her rolltop desk, followed by a shower of pages as her hurled manuscript fell out of the binder and snowed everywhere. Juju scrambled back under the daybed with a scrabble of nails on wood. Myra gaped as Ginny shouted "You fucking moron! Infidelity on paper is not excused by creative license!"
She was clearly enraged, her fists doubled and held stiffly at her sides, her face flushed. Myra thought she could see Ginny's lips trembling. Feeling unsure of her own muscles, she got to her feet and sat in her desk chair, stepping carefully around her manuscript.
"I thought you'd be upset" she said in a tone she tried to keep from being wimpy.
"Oh did you now!" said Ginny. "What fun you've been having, writing all those sex scenes that are clearly about you and Allie fucking your brains out -- in a future world, where there's no consequence for it because hey, the character based on me is right there joining in the sticky action. You are NOT going to publish a book full of your fantasies about Allie, I won't have it. Not that Allie will stand for it either, but I'll leave you before I let you humiliate me this way."
Myra felt ice in her chest. "It's not me and Allie having sex. You're reading the characters wrong."
"Oh give me a fucking break, Myra. You're clearly the main character who writes verse, and I'm clearly the zaftig muralist who had to chase her down, and then there's the tall black hero whose name is almost identical to Allie's, tell me how I've read that wrong?" Ginny kicked a path through the pages nearest her to fling herself onto the daybed with an alarming creak of wood. Juju scooted out the foot and headed for the other end of the house.
"Well, yes, the first two are right. And there are some -- okay, a lot of elements in the third partner of their relationship that are based on Allie. But I always think of her as another aspect of me. She's -- well, it's that heroic thing, I can't make my character a hero, at least not so overtly. I mean, I'm already stretching it by making her writing so crucial to everyone else's existence, I'm sure some critics will snicker at that. But I'm also an activist, Ginny, and I long to save the world, feed the world, take bold action that everyone admires without question. So I put those parts of me into the third character. And they're all non-white, Ginny, you can't use skin color to tell who's what, this is a culture post-race and post-gender." The last sentence was in a didactic tone that Myra instantly regretted, sure it would set Ginny off further.
She was right. Ginny pounded on the wall, screaming "Don't you dare act like I'm the middle-class dummy who can't get what's really going on with regard to race! Not right now, not when the issue is about you writing porn involving you and our best friend!"
"You need to stop going off the deep end, Ginny. I set it up so we'd have private time to talk. Why don't you call your healer or whatever you call her?" said Myra. She was stinging from the description of her hard-to-write sex scenes as pornography.
"Has Allie read this?" demanded Ginny.
"No. You're the only person who's read this draft in its current form" said Myra.
"But Chris has read something more recent than the last version I saw, right? Did she read any of these fuck fantasies?"
Myra hesitated. "One or two, yes."
"Oh boy, I bet she ate that up with a fucking spoon!" said Ginny, back to scream level.
Myra stood, closing her throat against the nausea in her gut, and began slowly picking up sheets of paper. Ginny watched her incredulously for half a minute, then stomped through the kitchen to their bedroom and slammed the door. A short while later, Myra saw the red light on her desk phone light up, meaning someone was making a call out. She kept stacking pages on her desk, stopping to go empty her bowels at one point, washing her face with cold water, then returning to rescue her manuscript.
She decided to put away her maps before trying to reassemble the pages in correct order. She had just finished this chore when the front door opened and she heard Margie shouting "We're home! I made a poodle from balloons, where are you?" The two children skidded into view seconds later, followed by Truitt and Carly. Gillam was wearing a crown made of slender blue and red balloons. Myra looked over their creations and said hello to Patty, thanking her for the afternoon off in a voice that sounded hollow to her own ears.
"Where's Ginny?" asked Patty.
"In the bedroom on the phone -- no, Margie, don't interrupt, she'll come out when she's done. Patty, I'd offer you tea or something, but I'm in the middle of something here..."
Patty looked closely at her face and said "Well, we should be heading home. Do you need help with anything?"
"Nope. Got it under control." Myra waited for a lightning bolt to strike her, but Patty simply rounded up her overexcited children and left. Less than a minute later, Margie lunged her poodle at Juju under the dining table. Juju lunged back and the balloon popped. Margie began shrieking and tried to kick Juju, who strategically kept chair legs between her and Margie.
"You don't get to hurt the dog!" yelled Myra over Margie's racket, pulling her to the stairs for a time-out, then sitting down beside her because she didn't know what else to do. Gillam stood in the hall, looking at them with wide eyes, pulling at his lip with his fingers.
Margie had wound herself down to only sniffling when David came in the front door and she realized afresh that she had nothing to show her grandfather. She flew at Gillam, Myra suspected not to steal his crown but to pop it as well, and Myra had to pull her back by one arm at Margie's outrage ratcheted back to explosion. David picked her up and sat with her in the easy chair. Myra started to tell Gillam to go put his crown in a safe place, before feeling a surge of anger herself at having to tiptoe around the messy emotional indulgences of others.
She went into the kitchen, Gillam at her heels, and asked him "What did you have to eat at the street fair?"
"Cotton candy" he said instantly. "A hot dog, and a soda."
Myra saw Juju from the corner of her eye, swallowing the last fragments of Margie's shattered balloon. She turned her mind away from a late-night rush to the vet for an obstructed canine colon, and instead asked Gillam "Are you hungry now?"
"Is that cornbread? Could I have some with honey butter?" Gillam asked, climbing onto a breakfast stool.
"No honey, but lots of butter. And a glass of milk. I don't know yet what we're having for dinner" said Myra, looking at the clock.
"I want to go get some more balloons!" she heard Margie sob from the living room, then a click from the bedroom door. Ginny said to David "What happened, is she hurt?"
Margie launched herself into Ginny's arms as David tried to explain what he didn't really understand. Myra came out from the kitchen to give a clearer account, adding "Juju ate the balloon pieces", which sent Margie into new umbrage. Over Margie's shouts at Juju, Myra said "They've had sugar and junk food, but I haven't started anything for dinner."
Ginny looked at her coldly, then turned back to David and said "Daddy, we're in the middle of a major fight. Would you be willing to take the kids out to eat, somewhere with vegetables and no more sugar today?"
The phrase "major fight" penetrated through Margie's tantrum. "Who's fighting?" she demanded.
"Me and Mama" said Ginny with a tight jaw. Margie leaned over to look at Myra with interest. "No hitting" she said with a near sneer.
"Of course no hitting" replied Myra. "I'm not a narcissistic toddler, I use my words."
"You certainly do use words" said Ginny in a venomous tone. David stood and said "Let's go, children. I think the cafeteria would be fun, and we can beat the crowds if we hurry."
"I don't want just vegetables" said Gillam, starting for the door. Myra pulled the crown from his head and said "I'll keep this for you on my desk. Put on your wool cap, it's getting cold out there."
As soon as the front door closed, Myra said "I'm not changing my book, Ginny. Read those scenes again, you won't find a single thing that isn't based on how we make love. That's all I have to go on inside me, that's all I ever imagine. If you don't believe me, say so now."
"I'm ready to talk" said Ginny, heading for Myra's study. Myra paused long enough to pour herself a glass of orange juice and put a wedge of cheese on a plate, next to a square of cornbread. She turned off the ringer on the house phone and followed Ginny to the study.
© 2009 Maggie Jochild.
LOLCATS WEEKLY ROUND-UP, 6 SEPTEMBER 2009
Here's the weekly best of what I've gleaned from I Can Has Cheezburger efforts. There are some really creative folks out there. As usual, those from little gator lead the pack.
A flash from the past: One of my favorite LOLCats of all time:
Thursday, October 1, 2009
PYA: CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
To begin reading this sci-fi novel or for background information, go to my Chapter One post here. To read about the background of the first novel, read my post here, which will also direct you to appendices.
For more detailed information, posted elsewhere on this blog are:
Pya Dictionary from Skenish to English (complete up to present chapter), with some cultural notes included
Pya Cast of Characters (complete up to present chapter)
Map of Pya with Description of Each Island
Map of Skene (but not Pya)
Map of Saya Island and Environs When Pyosz First Arrived
Skene Character Lineage at Start of Pya Novel
Skene, Chapter One (With Cultural Notes in Links)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Pyosz woke before dawn, but it was not pitch dark around her because a nearby street light leaked through her clerestory window enough to show her this was her old room. She was snugged up against Prl's back, very warm and clean all over. She didn't linger, however. She got out of bed without disturbing Prl's soft snores, grabbed a beloved shati and nice linen dubikun from her clothes cupboard, and dressed in the kitchen with a mug of quick tea from the aga.
She went to the privy, escorted by numerous curious katts who made her wonder how Curds and Ember were coping with the invasion of their cabin by Pank and Tu. This in turn made her worry about how her goats were doing. She found the absence of dawn chorus disturbing. She opened the chicken house and turned on the light to cranky hens, feeding them and cleaning the water dishes to a squabble of protest at the early hour. She carried warm eggs in her shati, stopped to pull green onions and chervil, and returned to an empty quiet kitchen. A glance out the window showed Qala and Lawa's kitchen was also still dark.
She made spoonbread from Arta Island corn, beat eggs in a bowl with herbs and grated Pya djoste added, and couldn't think of what to do next. From force of habit, she started a couple of sponges, adding some of her parsley oil and sunflower seeds to one batch, dried cherries and filbert meal to the other. She had just brewed a second pot of tea and punched down her sponges the first time when Prl shuffled from her bedroom, rumpled cheeks below half-closed eyes.
"Have a seat, I'll scramble you some eggs" said Pyosz cheerily. She turned on the overhead light and began humming to herself. Prl went silently past her to the back door, returning from the privy with Lawa and Qala behind her.
"I've been up for hours" said Pyosz, hugging them gladly.
"Is that sausage I smell?" said Qala, pouring herself tea.
"Made by Pank from acorn-fed Mti pigs" said Pyosz. She served Prl's eggs and began scrambling a new pan for Lawa and Qala. She sat down to eat with them all once the food was ready, opening a jar of her blackberry jam to slather on the spoonbread. She didn't realize how heartily she was shoveling in her meal until Prl said "You eat like this every morning?"
"Not all at once" said Pyosz. "I have a starter breakfast, to keep me going through milking and hauling hundreds of pounds to Koldok, then usually come back to have a second plate before doing all the rest of Saya's chores." The kitchen timer went off, and she stood to punch down her sponges a second time.
Qala said "Why is it that we're not seeing any of your goat or kid meat coming our way here? I'm not complaining, just curious."
Pyosz explained about the slaughter schedule, adding her own reluctance to eat animals whose faces and names she knew. "I've done my best not to name the bucklings who will have to die in a couple of months" she added, "but their personalities come through and inside my head they are familiar to me."
"It's good you'll be able to turn their slaughter over to someone else" said Lawa. Pyosz looked away, silent. Lawa continued "Is that your ejida book? May I look through it?"
"Yes" said Pyosz with sudden excitement. Qala scooted close to Lawa to view with her, and Prl came to stand behind them. Pyosz leaned over the table, rattling on about each page's data, as Lawa leafed slowly through, opening the double-folded pages of charts and maps with her glasses precariously on the end of her nose.
When the timer went off again, they all jumped. Pyosz began deftly dividing her sponge into loaves. Lawa said "I want to go visit Moasi, but you'll come there for lunch, right?"
"And dinner later, if we're all gathering" said Pyosz. Qala opted to accompany Lawa, saying she wanted to see how Halling was doing. Prl got dressed as the apprentice got up very late, accepting Pyosz's offer of more eggs and sausage. She took her plate to her office, where she was assuming Prl's duties for the day. After doing the dishes, Pyosz said to Prl "Come with me in my room while I look through my clothes. I want to take another set of silks or so back to Pya, for the frequent dances where dressing up is appreciated."
She went through her wardrobe, discovering every item fit her to better advantage. "I've not lost weight" she said, looking at herself in the mirror, "but things seem to have rearranged themselves."
"You also have dreadfully rusty elbows and knees" said Prl, clucking her tongue. She took a bottle of lotion from Pyosz's cupboard and made her sit on the bed while Prl rubbing moisturizer into her child's patches of dry or sun-baked skin. Pyosz gave herself up to this attention, momentarily enjoying the delicious idleness. They talked nonstop. Eventually Pyosz said "I really could use some new underwear, and another warm schmatta."
"Let's go shopping downtown" suggested Prl.
"I can get my photographs developed as well" agreed Pyosz. "And buy more books." As she changed her pantuflas for her otos, Prl remarked "Those seem to fit you like a second skin now."
"I live in my otos and red cap" agreed Pyosz. They headed down the lane which led past the school.
For generations, Skene had followed a school schedule linked to agricultural need. Children were released to a three-week holiday right as the eel migration arrived, freeing them to serve as their Manage's daily eel trap monitors. They returned to school after this holiday for another six weeks, and were let out again in time for Mchele Fair. This time the break was for two months, which coincided with the bulk of harvest, slaughter, and food preservation chores. They returned to studies as rain and cold began in earnest. Students in third and fourth grades cynically understood their "vacation" was liable to see them rousted out of bed for labor earlier than the school bed generally rung.
This schedule, however, was not the case on Pya, which at first might seem counterintuitive, given that Pya's economy was more heavily reliant on agriculture than Skene. A few reasons explained this difference. One is that Dodd, who early on became head leraar at Pya School, firmly believed that children needed a sustained break from scholarship to be good students. In particular, the higher temperatures and greater exposure to sunlight on Pya were meant, she said, for children to be swimming, exploring woods, and engaging in other forms of unstructured, unlimited play.
Since Dodd was diligent about ensuring the level of academics covered during the school term was equal or superior to that provided in Skene, her practice was widely supported. Bolstering this support was the fact that youth didn't require as much adult supervision on Pya to remain safe, engaged, and out of the way of adult activity.
Another factor contributing to the different approach was Pya's geography, where more land was devoted to ejida use but it was concentrated on a single island which was flat and had wide roads reaching every corner. This meant that the great fields of crops could be managed by machinery rather than hand labor, and thus adult workers were more efficient. Once harvested, products could go to centralized factories or processing areas, still on Dvareka, where again equipment made quick work with only a few operators necessary.
Thus, while Mchele Fair on Skene was not the several-day event it was on Pya, it still loomed large in the lives of children Thleen's age as the demarcator of relative freedom. When Pyosz and Prl approached mid-morning, the schoolground was flooded with children at a recess that barely took a dint off their agitation for the impending holiday. Thleen spotted them and ran to the fence, shrieking "Pyosz! Pyosz! Only three more days of school! Where are you going right now, could I go with you, I could go ask my leraar -- "
"We're doing grown-up shopping" interrupted Pyosz. "But after that we'll head for my abbas' Manage, where we'll see you for lunch, remember?"
"I wish you still lived at the Genist Manage and you could walk by here every day and see me" said Thleen. Another child had joined her, and Thleen said "This is my best friend, Ziri. This is Pyosz, who writes me letters!"
The bell rang and they zoomed off, not out of eagerness to go back inside but because there was some sort of hierarchy involved in lining up and they appeared to be power players in that activity. Prl and Pyosz stopped in at the abbas' Manage briefly to ask if they needed anything from downtown before proceeding on. Yoj had made corn pancakes which Halling and Moasi had eaten with rare maple syrup.
Pyosz went into the new apparel section of the clothes store first, rejecting the idea of buying used knickers. In short order she carried a stack of sokken, knickers, two schmattas, and several maillot to the counter, including one maillot cut in the style Maar preferred. She said to Prl "I'm just going to glance over the used shatis, all right?" Prl nodded and headed into the silks section.
After half an hour, Pyosz had draped over her arm three adorable shati in modern fabrics and designs that she really didn't want to pass by, three scarves that would give Killer conniptions, two new-looking gilets that would go with most of what she owned, plus several pair of broeks, ku, and kaidang ku that were quite reasonable to replace her already worn work garments. When she took these to the counter, she found Prl with a stack of silk hanshans, celanas, nadraj, and skarpetki, plus one luxurious uwagi in black velvet and a new kabat of oatmeal linen.
"I'm buying these for you" said Prl challengingly. "I mean, whichever of them you like and fit you well."
Pyosz wanted that uwagi. She consented to try on all of Prl's selections and wound up saying yes to most of them: She and Prl did not dress alike, but Prl thoroughly understood her child's preferences. The store clerk, heady from all the sales, suggested a new hat for Pyosz and Pyosz clasped her hand over her head, saying melodramatically "My very reputation resides in my red cap!"
The cartagen said it would take her an hour to print out Pyosz's photos, though there were no other customers in the place. I miss Naki -- and I have no barter here thought Pyosz with a tinge of homesickness. They walked to the booksellers, where Pyosz filled a crate with volumes to be delivered to the Lofthall for her flight back to Pya. They went on to the fish docks, selecting items for lunch and dinner, before returning to pick up Pyosz's photos and heading for the abbas' Manage, laden with bags.
Halling was sitting on the stoop. "Waiting for Thleen" she said. "I'll sit with you" offered Pyosz. She went inside briefly to give fish and bread to Yoj in the kitchen before rejoining Halling.
"How did you sleep?" she asked her abba.
"Poorly" said Halling. "But that's common these days. It would take me a minute or two to figure out what was wrong when I'd wake up. I didn't feel like I could go in the kitchen, because it would bother Speranz and Tlunu overhead. Like the old days here" she said reminiscently. "Just between you and me, I'd like to offer Moasi to move in with us. Motu Fling is stretched to its limits, with Mwiva's youngest living at home with her partner and a toddler, another baby on the way. The toddler is sleeping with Mwiva over their kitchen, the young couple is over the living room, and Moasi is on the couch, having to use a chamberpot because the privy is up a small hill. Just as limiting as when my emma Ng was there and Yoj insisted we give her a room here. But with Speranz and Tlunu inheriting, and Xunu living in the room out back, asking to have Moasi join us would mean permanently displacing Speranz and Tlunu to a public loft. I don't think it would be right for me to request it. If I was them, I'd offer, but..." Her voice trailed off.
"When we were downtown, it felt strange to see so many people around everywhere" said Pyosz. "And that's with all the children here in school. Like there was no privacy to be found. I remember when my cousins would come for the summer, how much they complained about lack of space. I understand it now. We cope with it on Skene, but it's a real limit." She heard her name being called, and looked automatically up the lane before she realized it was not a child's voice. Instead, it was Vants walking up from downtown.
Pyosz stood and rushed to hug her cousin, saying "I'm so happy I get to see you! How are your goats?"
"I persuaded someone to take over for tonight and tomorrow morning" said Vants. She turned to Halling and bent to kiss her sibemma's hand, saying "I wanted to make the funeral or at least the wake, but could not find a replacement until now. I am so very sorry about Szebel's death."
Halling motioned for Vants to sit beside her. "Your abba is inside, visiting us. She'll be as thrilled to see you as I am. Will you stay with us, then? We have a spare loft."
"Thanks for the offer" said Vants. She pulled two packages from her carryall, handing them to Halling. "A half-gallon of Yagi yogurt, and a carton of oregano-flavored soft djoste." She grinned at Pyosz. "Nothing to compare with your herd, perhaps, but still good eating."
Pyosz slapped playfully at her cousin's shoulder and said "No competition between herds, now."
When Thleen spotted Pyosz, she changed her skipping to a headlong race down the lane, Pyosz catching her before she fell onto the cobbles. "I'm so hungry!" said Thleen in a near shout.
"Me, too" said Pyosz, following the others into the Manage. Moasi was crowing over Vants' appearance, and Prl was setting the table while Bux finished a salad dressing and Yoj served a buffet of leftovers. Pyosz immediately began talking goats with Vants across the table. Thleen was given a chair between Halling and Pyosz, and cleaned her plate before asking "Are there any of those funeral desserts still here?"
Before Yoj could answer, Tlunu walked in the front door. "I was beginning to wonder where you were" said Bux.
However, behind Tlunu was Maar. Thleen yelled "Siba! Come eat with me, okay? But get your own piece of pie."
"Let me wash first" said Maar. Pyosz filled a plate with Maar's favorites while Bux did the same for Tlunu. Smelling of ocean and soap, Maar slid in next to Pyosz, settling Thleen on her lap.
"How was sinning today?" asked Halling.
"Electrifying" said Tlunu. Maar added quickly "And we hope to talk it over with you once Thleen goes back to school." There was a knowing silence, broken only by Thleen's smacking lips.
"So, sibu, what happened at school today?" asked Maar.
"Ziri got in trouble because she ate a bugger from her nose in front of everybody" said Thleen. Maar set down her fork abruptly. Halling, chuckling, gave herself another helping of rice and opened the jar of Pyosz's shamsjooz sauce to put a tablespoon on top.
"Uh, Sheng Zhang" said Maar worriedly.
"Not any more" said Halling.
"I mean, Nan Halling, if you haven't tried Pyosz's recipe for that yet, I'd recommend a small taste before you dig in" said Maar apologetically.
Halling blinked at her, then tried a few drops of the dark amber sauce on her tongue. "Lev!" she swore loudly, stuffing a large bite of plain bread into her mouth.
Thleen whispered loudly to Maar "The Sheng Zhang said a bad word."
"If there's anybody ever in the history of Skene who is permitted to refer to leviathans as an obscenity, it's this hero beside us" said Maar in a tone that made Pyosz look at her. Tlunu frowned. As Halling began pushing most of the shamsjooz to the side of her plate, Thleen continued "But the only reason Ziri ate her bugger is because a second grader said she'd give Ziri two pieces of barley candy if she did it. But the second grader lied, she only gave Ziri one piece, even after Ziri got yelled at by the leraar, so she didn't have an extra piece to share with me." Thleen was aggrieved.
Halling said "And everybody knows, it takes more than one piece of candy to clean the taste of buggers from your mouth." Everyone else laughed, but Thleen solemnly thought this over.
"They're kind of salty" she agreed. She was looking at her own extended forefinger consideringly. Maar whispered to her with quiet force "Don't even think about it."
Raising her voice, Maar added "Speaking of taste, this bread is as good as Pyosz's -- no insult intended, Pyosz." Everyone laughed again. "I made it this morning" said Pyosz.
"No goats at dawn?" commiserated Maar. Vants laughed with Pyosz. After finishing her plate, Maar made Thleen help clear the table, setting pans and plates to soak in soapy water. Thleen asked Pyosz to walk with her and Maar back to school, and Pyosz told Prl "Don't let them wash those dishes while I'm gone, that's my chore."
Saying goodbye to Thleen was very hard, since Pyosz didn't expect to see her again this visit. "I'll send you something from Mchele Fair" promised Pyosz, "and any time I'm in Skene, I'll be visiting you."
On the way down the lane, Pyosz slid her arm through Maar's and said "You look much better. Good sleep?"
"Yeah, even with getting up early to go sin" said Maar. "You?"
Pyosz giggled. "My emma cuddled me all night, and I'm not embarrassed to admit I woke up feeling nurtured."
"She's not as scary as I thought she'd be" said Maar. "Overwhelmingly powerful, but kind, you can tell. And extremely interesting."
Back in the Manage, everyone was still at the table, sampling morsels of cookies and pie. As Maar sat down, Tlunu said to Halling "A leviathan leaped at Maar's sinner today. Came within two meters of hitting her."
Pyosz all but fell into the chair next to Maar, her legs weak, as everyone reacted. Halling was extremely grave. "Tell me every detail."
Tlunu and Maar talked over each other. There had been unusually light leviathan presence, and on afterthought, they'd seen no babies or juveniles, only a cluster of mature adults.
"The lev who made the try was what I think of as middle-aged" said Tlunu, "one stage below the massive ancients."
"I was at 40 meters" added Maar. "So it was able to exceed the safety zone we think is their limit. I didn't know what was happening until racket broke out over the radio." Pyosz pushed her foot against Maar's under the table.
"What did you do?" Halling asked Tlunu. Pyosz realized as head sinner, Tlunu was responsible for ordering use of the mezi laser against leviathan attack.
"Nothing I could do" said Tlunu. "As soon as it hit the water again, it sank deep. So had every other lev in sight. They knew in advance, Halling, it was a planned leap, a coordinated attack." She swallowed and said "I'm afraid to tell my emmas about it."
Tlunu's aggie had been sib to Xaya, killed and eaten by leviathans when Xaya and Halling were young lovers and working as a lighter team, back when lighters were all the protection sinners had, before Pax Piscata.
There was a long, tense silence. Pyosz noticed everyone was looking at Halling, as if she had the answer. Maar said "That's not all of it."
Tlunu sighed. "About a month ago, a lev got in our nets during a sin. A big one, coming up from the bottom of the load. I noticed an irregularity on radar before we completely sealed the net and began lift. I abort the sin, we released grapples, and when it swam off, I was able to confirm it had in fact been a leviathan. We had to relocate, but we did a full sinning that day."
"That one was also an adult" said Maar. "A large one."
"Why didn't I hear about this?" asked Halling.
Tlunu said "I told the Sheng Zhang." Pyosz saw Yoj and Bux react with the same offense she felt at this remark. Retirement doesn't mean an end to expertise, or the expectation of respect in the form of continued communication she thought. Tlunu said "Danaan agrees with me that it was a meaningless incident. Certainly not connected to today's attack -- it wasn't the same lev, not the same size."
Maar's foot was returning Pyosz's pressure as she said in a measured tone "I don't agree. I called my Sheng Zhang, and neither does she. We've put all our pilots on full alert." Nice touch, referring to Mill as her Sheng Zhang -- but no one is going to forget she's Halling's eldest thought Pyosz.
Tlunu's irritation broke through. "What your Sheng Zhang thinks is irrelevant, since this is happening in Skene, not Pya." To me Maar's expresson said. Tlunu's voice rose. "I mean, there's no reason for a mature leviathan to deliberately let itself get caught in a net, where it could easily be crushed by the load if we don't discover it, or where it would die when we lifted clear of the surface. The whole premise of Pax Piscata is that they're not suicidal."
"Not the whole premise, no" argued Maar. "Equally important is the assumption that levs can problem-solve, can anticipate into the future, and can communicate with each other over time and distance. The last of which absolutely makes this a Pyan problem, too."
Halling regarded Maar with an expressionless face. "What connection do you make between these two incidents?"
"Both while sinning -- for fish, not kelp. Both by experienced adults, who are usually the ones we most count on to enforce the Pax Piscata from the leviathan perspective." Maar was ticking items off on her fingers. "Both required advance planning and furtive action. Both moves kept them out of range of retaliation." Maar was leaning so far forward now, her thighs were all that touched her seat. "But in particular, if you had tried to lift that lev in your net, the load would likely have been dangerously unbalanced, and certainly would have slowed your ascent to the point where all four of the sinners grappled together would have been an easy target, easy for a single lev to leap and bring down. With all the rest joining in the feast once you sank to a depth where the mezi ray couldn't reach. Five minutes, in my estimation."
Tlunu stood up. "You're concocting scenarios out of thin air!"
"What happened today was 2 meters of thin air between me and death, that's what you mean" retorted Maar.
"You're just rattled" said Tlunu. "Maybe you need to not offer yourself for sinning shifts here in Skene." She stalked to the bath room and shut the door. They heard the tub begin filling.
"I guess I should go" said Maar, looking at Pyosz.
"Please don't" said Bux. "This is our Manage still." She was gazing down the table at Halling. "What do you think, honey?"
Halling said slowly "I think leviathans are problem-solvers who anticipate the future and communicate across time and distance." Pyosz felt a shiver down her spine. "I think this can't possibly be a coincidence." She turned to Maar. "What else is gong on that I don't know about?"
""Well, I only just noticed this and told Mill today" said Maar, her cheeks flushed. "On my approach to Skene yesterday, the Morrie Strati in every direction were a deeper red. They've been that way around Pya, too, for a couple of months, but only in regions adjacent to fill migration corridors."
"What does that mean?" asked Moasi. Vants had scooted her chair closer to her aggie and was now holding Moasi's hand.
"I have no idea" said Halling. "Nor I" added Maar.
"Maybe it's a seasonal variation?" suggested Lawa.
"No" said Halling and Maar in the same breath.
Qala asked Maar "Did Mill have any ideas?"
"She asked me to come tell Nan Halling everything. She's going to call you later. But whatever she knows, I know" said Maar. "I'm her eyes and ears around Pya."
"I need to ponder this" said Halling. "Please call me directly with any news or ideas, will you, Maar?"
"Yes, Shen-- Nan Halling" said Maair.
"And be careful. I have to talk with Danaan as well" said Halling, rising stiffly. "But first I need a nap. How about you, Moasi, you want to lie down with me?"
Moasi patted Halling's hand. "No, I sleep too much on Motu. Lawa and I are going to putter in the tillage, I miss having my hands in soil."
"I'll lie down with you" said Bux. She and Bux exchanged a look Pyosz couldn't interpret before Bux followed Halling to the bedroom. Lawa helped Moasi out the back door as Prl refilled the teapot.
"What do you think?" Maar asked Pyosz, leaning toward her. Pyosz took a moment to choose her words.
"My experience with other sentient beings is that they cooperate with humans only to the extent that it benefits them or they have affection for us. I'm guessing we can rule out leviathan affection." She and Maar laughed together, bumping shoulders. "So, I think something is afoot. And I'm scared to death for you."
Vants said "When my goats plot against me, it's because I'm keeping them from something they want, something they think they have a right to."
"Which in this instance would be having me for dinner, I guess" said Maar.
"If that were the case, they'd go after kelp sinners. Or find a way past Morrie Vaseo"said Prl.
Maar stared at her. "You're completely right, of course" she said. "I guess I am rattled, to have not figured that out already. I didn't say this to anyone here, but I wondered if the lev today singled me out because it knew I wasn't a regular part of this sinner crew."
There was another long silence. Vants said "Can they see that well, especially upward through air?"
"It might not be visual" said Qala. "They hear all the radio transmissions, we know that." Vants looked startled.
Yoj added "And they were able to learn songs the lighters used -- it took them only a week to memorize which flight patterns went with a particular song. Which I'd call fairly advanced auditory intelligence."
"So you think maybe they knew Maar's voice didn't belong here in Skene?" said Pyosz, feeling a little sick to her stomach.
"Or there's enough crossover between leviathan populations that they know I'm from Pya most of the time" said Maar. "I don't think it ever pays to underestimate their capacity."
Yoj looked at her bedroom door. "Something Halling said over and over. I bet she's really missing Szebel right now."
"I wish Qen and Veida were here" said Qala quietly.
"And Yerush" added Yoj, with a tone Pyosz wished she understood. Yoj leaned toward Maar. "Take photographs of the Morrie Strati, here and on Pya, will you? Send us copies." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "And don't let Tlunu get to you. She's head sinner but her leadership and understanding don't go beyond that. She's not your equivalent at Skene."
Maar's face flushed again. Prl said "You must be exhausted, don't you need a nap, too?"
Maar looked at her watch. "It's an hour until I go pick up my sibs after school, there's no point now." She said to Pyosz "We're going shopping, I'm getting them several sets of new clothes, not just the silks you suggested. Thleen is in dire need of new kiatu. Then we'll grab dinner to eat on the ferry, because the island championship kickball game is tonight on Chloddia."
"Did you bring enough money for all that? I can loan you some coin until we get back to Saya" said Pyosz.
Maar grinned. "I have extra because I was planning to buy my next service bracelet this trip, my four year anniversary is next week. It has to be Chloddia silver, you know."
"Let me see" asked Pyosz. Maar leaned back and lifted her left leg into Pyosz's lap, pulled up the cuff to show the three silver chains around her ankle. "No two are the same design" commented Pyosz.
"Yeah, well, every year is different" said Maar. Yoj was leaned forward, examining the chains with interest. Pyosz said to her "Wouldn't abba have an amazing jangle if she were wearing a chain for every year she's been at the Lofthall? Her walk would be more musical than Mill's."
"Mill wears these?" asked Qala.
"All Pya pilots do" said Maar.
"How many chains would you require?" Pyosz asked Qala, as Maar lowered her foot to the floor again.
"I'll have to count" said Qala, grinning at Yoj. "You too, Dichter is service to the Lofthall. Maybe we should scandalize Skene and all begin wearing these -- what do you call them, service bracelets?"
Maar said to Pyosz "So while we're shopping, I thought I'd pick up more Seda wine for Tu and Pank. Any other suggestions for gifts back home?"
"Another bag or two of baicang" said Pyosz. "I'm getting smoked salmon, so don't you duplicate that. Ummm -- smoked eel for all of us, mulberry syrup for Nk, some of that new golden rice for Mill and Oby."
"Oh, and Dodd is always going on about Faar lamb, can I find that this time of year?" wondered Maar.
"We have some in our freezer, let me be the giver of that" said Yoj. "I have more sheet music for her anyhow."
Vants said to Pyosz "We have a new cheese on Yagi, I don't have it with me but it's in the stores."
"I'll take a round of it to Kolm, my djostiker, she'll be able to back-engineer the recipe, I bet" said Pyosz. She pulled out her notebook to make a list, and retrieved her logbook as well, passing it over to Vants. Within two minutes, they were deep into the charts, discussing milk yield and pasture requirements.
Prl didn't want to relinquish Pyosz to goat frenzy, as she thought of it. She asked pointedly "So, how are things going with Uli?"
Pyosz held up a finger signaling for Prl to wait a minute, as Qala frowned at Prl. Maar said "You mean since she kissed Pyosz?"
Pyosz whirled toward Maar and everyone distinctly heard the impact of her oto against Maar's ankle. "Ow!" said Maar, but she grinned at Prl, who suddenly grinned back, illuminating her face in a look very reminiscent of Pyosz.
"Uh, it was a brief lapse on her part and we're clear it's not going to be repeated" Pyosz said defensively. "Besides, she and Qoj seem to be maybe getting interested in each other."
"That is, if Dodd decides not to intervene" said Maar. This time Pyosz dug her elbow in Maar's ribs. Yoj laughed out loud and said "Maar, I think you should be coming for lunch with Thleen and filling us in on the family tidbits Pyosz isn't passing on."
"Which reminds me" said Maar. "I'm not sure I'm going to make it to visit Ngall and Ehuy this trip, we're leaving at noon tomorrow and I'm going to sleep in if I can. Will you take my 2 ek piece and baby gift to her?"
"Yikes, I almost forgot!" said Pyosz. She stood to look at the ferry schedule by the sideboard. "If I run, I can just make it." She took the packets Maar and Vants handed her, gave quick kisses all round, and said "I'll be back for dinner." To Maar she said "Don't pass on your hooliganism to your sibus tonight. I'll see you tomorrow" before she dashed out the door.
"Have another piece of pie, Maar" said Yoj in her wake. "What are Dodd's objections to Uli, exactly?"
© 2009 Maggie Jochild.
HUBBLE THURSDAY
(R136: A Cluster of Massive Stars in Nebula 30 Doradus. Click on image to enlarge.)
Every Thursday, I post a very large photograph of some corner of space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and available online from the picture album at HubbleSite.
Musée des Beaux Arts
About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
~ by Wystan Hugh Auden
(Bruegel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus", painted ca. 1558, hanging in the Musée des Beaux Arts)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
PYA: CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
(Lavafall entering ocean at southern tip of Yanja)
To begin reading this sci-fi novel or for background information, go to my Chapter One post here. To read about the background of the first novel, read my post here, which will also direct you to appendices.
For more detailed information, posted elsewhere on this blog are:
Pya Dictionary from Skenish to English (complete up to present chapter), with some cultural notes included
Pya Cast of Characters (complete up to present chapter)
Map of Pya with Description of Each Island
Map of Skene (but not Pya)
Map of Saya Island and Environs When Pyosz First Arrived
Skene Character Lineage at Start of Pya Novel
Skene, Chapter One (With Cultural Notes in Links)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Pyosz woke up in chilly darkness, hearing a steady roar and feeling something fumbling around her feet. She thought it was one of the katts trying to wake her during a rainstorm, and she kicked out. She heard Abbo say "Ow!" and opened her eyes to utter disorientation for a few seconds.
"I was trying to reach the thermos with tea in it" said Abbo in an aggrieved tone, "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"I thought you were Curds" said Pyosz dopily. "Here, I'll pour you a cup." She poured herself one as well, and Abbo said "You got food for me in that hamper you brought aboard?"
"Yeah." She'd made sandwiches with grilled samaki and chopped vegetables in Qen's egg dressing, plus spinach onion fritters and lemon tarts. Abbo began talking immediately, which woke up Maar, and they all ate together. Pyosz had filled her large thermos with corn soup, and they drank that down as well. Maar said "Old pilot trick, using calories to replace sleep. Works for a while."
"We might as well switch" said Abbo, though technically she had another half hour of her leg to go.
"Fine" sighed Maar. "Privy first." Once Abbo was bunked down in the back seat, using Pyosz's silk pillow again, Pyosz poured herself and Maar more tea from the Lofthall thermos and said "I can't see a thing, stars or ocean."
"Yeah, no visibility. I'm flying by instruments, and if they're correct, we're OFF COURSE BY HALF AN HOUR." She raised her voice, aiming it toward the back seat, but Abbo didn't stir. "Every levvin' time" Maar muttered to herself. "If I don't take the first leg, we always pull in late because she just won't course correct in the early stages. Says it'll work out, which it does because I MAKE IT WORK OUT."
Pyosz was silent, and Maar said "Sorry. It's just, we're trying to hit a very small target in a world of ocean, and without stars to run down, it's all about faith in the instruments."
"I have faith in the pilot" said Pyosz softly.
"Listen, once the adrenaline chocks back down and all that food hits my bloodstream, I'm going to get a little sleepy again. We'll hit dawn soon, would you mind staying up and talking to me until I have light to keep me alert?" asked Maar.
"Of course" said Pyosz.
"Tell me about Szebel. How did she and the Sheng Zhang come to be lovers?" said Maar.
"I'm not sure. It was some time when emma was little, because she remembers the ruckus about it. Szebel was part of a multiple partnership herself, six or seven others, I can't remember. They're all dead now except for her and one other -- well, now just that other. How hard that must be." Pyosz considered the cruelty of such loss at the time in your life when you need the memory of others most.
"How many children did they have, with all those partners?" asked Maar.
"None. Didn't want any. They have a huge manage on the western ridge of Yanja. Szebel was closest to two of the bunch, one of whom died before I was born, and the other -- you remember that terrible yanjanging accident when we were around four or five, blew up an entire chamber, killed a lot of workers?" asked Pyosz.
"Not really."
"Well, you remember playing glow on the flow in the schoolyard? And how for a while we weren't allow to play it?" persisted Pyosz.
"Yeah, vaguely."
"That's when it happened. My emma and her sibs made up that game, by the way, after watching Szebel's partner yanjanging" said Pyosz.
"No kidding." Maar was impressed.
"Anyhow, her partner whose name I can't remember was killed in that explosion" said Pyosz. "After that death and another one, they let one of the partners' sibiyas move into the Manage with her family, children, and Szebel didn't much like it but who else were they going to hand on the Manage to? Abba Bux sometimes made snide comments about Szebel's disdain for kids and family life, what on earth did Halling see in her, that kind of thing. But it was pretty clear what Halling saw in her, power and sex. At least, that's what emma said."
"So, Szebel wasn't like a sort of extra abba to you, I gather" said Maar.
"No. Although she did show an interest in me once I began demonstrating an aptitude for maths" said Pyosz. "I'm going back for abba's sake. Well, and I'm missing them all pretty fierce, it'll be really good to see them all, despite the circumstances."
"I was planning to attend the funeral with you and Abbo, if you think that's all right" said Maar.
"Of course, Maar." Why wouldn't it be? Why is she asking my consent?
They talked on until dawn overtook them and raced ahead of them. When Maar began sounding distracted, Pyosz looked at the dashboard clock and realized they were 20 minutes from landing. She went silent to give Maar room to focus. She reached back and roused Abbo, giving everyone a final cup of tea. Maar radioed to Skene, reminding them she and Abbo would not be able to unload this huolon because they had a funeral to attend.
"Got that" came the reply. "We have a large sinner on standby to carry your funeral party back to Riesig."
"We'll have one large crate to transfer to that" said Maar. Pyosz felt her heart fluttering in her chest, seeing Yanja in the distance and knowing her abbas and emma were already there, waiting for the sound of their engines. Or probably Halling has heard them already she thought.
They were a cluster in white silks at the edge of the jichang. She waved vigorously through the streaked side window and saw her emma wave back. She turned to Abbo and said "Abba Halling will require a motorized cart to get to the lavafall, I don't see one nearby. Can you go round that up once we've said hello? Don't let her argue with you."
"Okay" said Abbo. Pyosz explained "I have to go change into my funeral silks."
"I do too" said Maar, surprising her. Abbo looked a little sullen. Pyosz couldn't think when she'd seen Abbo outside of uniform. Buying ordinaries costs coin, but the Lofthall provided uniforms for free she thought.
She was out of her harness and through the hatch door before the huolon was chocked, leaving her personal belongings behind to run across the tarmac and into Halling's arms. "Oh abba, I'm so so sorry" she whispered. She could feel Halling fighting back tears. She was dismayed at how much Halling seemed to have aged in only two months. Bux and Yoj were hugging her from either side. When Maar and Abbo walked up, Pyosz pulled free to go be encircled by Prl, Lawa and Qala. Prl had a garment bag over one arm but that didn't impede Pyosz's urgent embrace.
"My word, look at you!" said Qala. She said to Lawa "You're right, she does resemble a Jiang Giant." Prl kept cupping Pyosz's face in her palm, saying "You seem so much older, and you've darkened beautifully."
Pyosz turned to introduce a very pale Maar to her emma and other two abbas. Maar was very formal and attentive. Prl's gaze was dissecting. Pyosz said "I should go change. Abbo's getting a vehicle for Halling and whoever else needs to ride." Prl handed her the garment bag, saying "I had them cleaned for you."
Pyosz returned to the huolon to retrieve her crate, hamper, carryall and pillows. Maar went with her, piling her own belongings on top of the crate and insisting on taking one handle to help carry it into the jichang office. They were pointed to a store room as a changing space. They each went to the privy first, washed their face and hands, before meeting in the store room. Pyosz felt unexpectedly shy, and turned away from Maar to change her clothes.
Pyosz had had her funeral silks made two years before, a rush job after the death of Yoj's friend Z'bef. They were of cream-colored silk in a subtle herringbone pattern with flecks of crimson silk here and there. Her hanshan had a rolled collar with crimson piping, and her gilet had crimson ties and accents. Over it was a matching uwagi with flared lapels and exaggerated shoulders. Her zaoxue of black patent leather had been polished by someone, she noticed. She wasn't sure how the garments would fit on her current body, but the drapes hung beautifully and the cut was more comfortable than she remembered it being previously. She adjusted her dreads, and turned to face Maar.
Maar's hanshan and celanas were of stark white brocade with a faint ripple pattern. Her long hanshan had dropped boxy sleeves which narrowed to a wide cuff fastened by a row of waterdrop-shaped buttons in lapis lazuli. Lazuli was also used for the row of breaking waves encircling her high stiff collar.
There was no gilet. Instead, a vast damask cummerbund covered her middle, bedecked with dangling strands of lazuli and silver beads. The celana's balloon legs had kick pleats from knee to ankle inset with lapis-colored silk. Her zaoxue were of silver leather. For the moment, at least, Maar's parted hair lay flat against her head in a coppery burnish.
"Waves and ripples" marveled Pyosz. Maar's cheeks went pink, which only added to her glamour. When they rejoined Pyosz's family, Halling, Yoj, Bux, and Qala now sitting in an electric cart, Pyosz saw Prl appraise Maar's attire in a swift glance. It shouldn't matter, but it will to emma thought Pyosz with a mixture of pride and irritation.
Pyosz claimed the walking spot next to Halling in the cart, with Prl on her other side, linking her arm through Pyosz's. Speranz and Tlunu were both there, though not their children. Neither was Moasi, Halling's other sib, too disabled on Motu Fling to make this trip. Prl said in a caustic murmur that Ndege claimed she couldn't get away from Sigrist duties for the funeral, though she would come to the wake later on. Other members of the funeral party were Szebel's surviving partner, in her own electric cart with a few friends from the vetriste guild, and a couple of younger great-sibiyas from Szebel's family. Still, it was an impressive turn-out when you considered the titles of those in Pyosz's family.
They began the slow cavalcade to the lavafall. Szebel's body would already be there, wrapped in a white shroud and watched over by the coroner. Prl whispered that she had gone with her emmas to help prepare Szebel's body, and Halling had almost passed out during the washing; they'd had to put her in a chair and bring her tea.
Yoj was driving the cart, and Halling kept barking instructions at her, which Yoj accepted patiently. As they approached, the busy industrial district would clear for ten yards ahead, people standing respectfully to one side as they passed. The yanjanging building was still visibly new, and Halling stared at it silently as they went by. But when the glow of the lavafall came into view, with a small white-wrapped figure on a table before it, Halling gave out a cry of anguish. Pyosz pressed close and Yoj drove on.
Bux delivered a beautiful eulogy that Yoj had clearly helped write, which made Pyosz impressed with both of them. Halling and Szebel's partner each said a few choked phrases, and the head of the vetriste guild talked about how much Szebel had contributed to the development of Skene. Then her organic remains were returned to Skene, tipped into the lavafall, and with the brief flare, Halling gave up control entirely, shrieking onto Yoj's shoulder with Bux holding her from behind.
They went to the coroner's office for tea and a rest. Szebel's Manage was having its own wake, but Halling made her apologies, saying they needed to return to Riesig. She looked ashen, and they used the cart again to get to the jichang. Maar came with Pyosz to load her crate, and Abbo flew them to the Lofthall, where Danaan and Rark came out to meet them.
Prl insisted that Halling allow others to carry her through downtown and up the cobbled lane to her Manage. Pyosz and Maar instantly volunteered for this job, and Abbo, with a touch of sullenness, agreed to help carry Pyosz's belongings with Tlunu. At the Manage, Halling was put into a chair before the hearth and more tea was brought to her. Prl said to Pyosz "At least the rain held off" as they began cutting pies and cakes already delivered to the Manage by neighbors. The parade of visitors began arriving to offer condolences and casseroles. Yoj and Bux sat on the couch facing Halling. Ndege came early, without Gerra or any of their grown children. Pyosz gave Halling the cards and letters from family on Pya, and she began slowly reading through them, her battered gold glasses having to be wiped clean of tears periodically.
Abbo left after half an hour, citing exhaustion, to sleep at the Lofthall. Maar refused to go with her, despite Abbo pushing at her. Instead, Maar sat in a chair in the corner of the living room after all her offers at help were turned down. She listened to the various conversations going on and smiled at Pyosz whenever Pyosz looked her way. Pyosz couldn't resist whispering to Lawa "Maar did a lot more of the work getting us here than Abbo did". Lawa said "Doesn't surprise me", and when Pyosz turned around, she had the distinct impression Prl had been eavesdropping.
After an hour, Halling consented to eat a small plate of food, her first meal of the day. Her color improved with this. When Pyosz went to gather her plate and fork, she noticed Maar had leaned her head against the wall and was fast asleep, upright in her chair. Yoj followed Pyosz's gaze and stopped her, whispering "We can give her our bed for a nap. I know how pilots need recharge time."
"What if abba needs to lie down?" asked Pyosz.
"She won't. She deal with grief by surrounding herself with talk and people" said Yoj.
Pyosz went to Maar and knelt in front of her, shaking her arm gently. Maar awoke with a jerk, then went bright red with embarrassment. "Yoj says you can lie down for a while in their room" said Pyosz. "You need it, buddy. Don't you have to go meet your sibus in an hour? I'll wake you up for that, it's all right." She more or less pushed Maar down onto her abba's large old bed, pulled off her zaoxue, handed her a quilt and said "Get rest, you're needed later." She knew how to talk to driven people.
As she clicked the door softly shut, she saw Prl watching her from the dining table. She walked directly to Prl, sat down and put her arms on her forehead. "My body is on Pya time, too" she said tiredly. "It will be so good to sleep in my own bed tonight. Even more glorious will be a tub bath, I haven't had one since I left." Prl put her arm over Pyosz's shoulders and said "I've cleared my schedule for tomorrow."
"Good" said Pyosz. "Except I need to go visit Ngall, I have gifts from Pya for her."
"I'll stay here with my emmas while you do that" said Prl. After a silence, she said in a careful voice "Where will Maar be sleeping tonight?"
"I don't know, probably either the Lofthall or maybe a couch at the Chloddia jichang office" said Maar. "You should ask Abbo, not me."
"She doesn't stay with her family, then?"
"Either there isn't room for her in that Manage or -- her emmas don't much respect Maar. Because she became a pilot and left Chloddia, apparently" said Pyosz, her eyes closed.
"But they allow her to look after her sibs." Prl was probing.
"They seem to be happy to leave some work to her, yes. And Thleen would never shut up if she was denied access to Maar" said Pyosz.
"Is she supporting her family?"
Pyosz opened her eyes. "I haven't asked her directly, emma, you can be that intrusive if you like. But I assume so, Maar can't stop herself from being helpful in every way imaginable. She brings me food all the time, flushes my privy on Saya, cares for the katts and chickens, flies me around, she even did my laundry for this trip. I'd have really suffered without her friendship."
Their conversation was interrupted by a neighbor looking for a spot to set down her bowl of soup. Pyosz went to the corner where her crate had been placed and unpacked the items she'd brought for her abbas. Bux joined her and exclaimed over them all, then stashed them at the back of the larder, saying "We don't want to share this right now, we want it for ourselves later." She and Pyosz stood side by side at the sink to wash all the dishes used so far, while Bux told her about Szebel's decline and Halling's vigil with her at the hospital.
After an hour, Pyosz went into her abba's bedroom and gently shook Maar awake. Maar didn't actually look any more rested. "Part of it is simply traveling across all those time zones" she said blearily. "Did you bring dried cherries in your crate?"
"Yeah" said Pyosz. "How come?"
"Eating a handful helps. I need to go drink down a lot of water, eat some cherries, drink some orange juice. Then walking up the lane in sunlight will help my body adjust, too. You should try all those tricks as well" said Maar. Pyosz went with her in the kitchen and complied. Maar made her rounds of farewells. When she got to Halling, Halling said "You're bringing your sibus back to the wake, aren't you?"
Maar looked uncertain. "I hadn't thought I would, no, I mean -- "
"I'd like to see them" said Halling. Maar glanced at Yoj, who nodded briefly. "All right" said Maar. After she left, Pyosz felt such anticipation at spending time with Thleen that she went back into the kitchen and began cleaning the counter, to distract herself.
She went to the dining area when she heard the front door open. Thleen stood on the steps, scanning the room until she found Halling. She crossed directly to Halling, throwing her arms around her and saying "Nan Halling, siba says someone you loved died and you had her funeral today."
"That's right" said Halling, leaning into Thleen's hug.
"I don't really understand about dying. Siba said when someone dies, we never get to see them or talk with them again. I think that's so sad." Thleen began crying. Halling pulled the child into her lap and began weeping as well.
"It is terribly sad" said Halling. "I miss her so much, and I can never make it better."
"I don't know what to do" cried Thleen. Adon and Su were in the living room now, and Maar was going to Thleen. Pyosz could see a resemblance between Maar and her next two sibus in terms of facial bone structure and body mass, but not in coloring. Thleen, however, despite the darker red of her hair and the deep brown of her skin, reminded Pyosz so much of a young Maar that she couldn't tear her eyes away. Maar put her hand on the back of Thleen's head and whispered to Halling "I can take her, if you want."
Halling held onto Thleen tightly. "No, this is just what I need" she said.
Pyosz waved at Adon and Su, offering them seats at the table. They threaded their way through the crowd and shook Pyosz's hand awkwardly when she introduced herself. Adon, in a not quite adult voice, said "I, uh, my condolences for your loss."
"Thank you" said Pyosz. "It's very good to meet you, Maar talks about her sibus all the time. Can I get you some tea or juice? Let's make you a plate of food, shall we?"
Su seemed to be too shy to meet her eyes, although she did talk with Bux more easily. They ate with the rapid gracelessness of teenagers, and answered Pyosz's attempts at conversation with monosyllables. Maar came to stand nearby and accepted another glass of orange juice from Pyosz.
Thleen and Halling reached a point of calm, Thleen wiping her face on her sleeve. She began looking around the room again, noticing people holding plates with cake or pie on it. She said "Nan Yoj, why are they all these desserts?"
"People bring food of all kinds to a Manage that is grieving" explained Yoj. "Would you like a snack?"
"I'll get it for her" said Pyosz from the doorway. Thleen slid off Halling's lap and started toward her, then did a double-take and flung herself into Pyos'z arms, shouting "You're Pyosz! You came from Pya?"
"I did" said Pyosz, feeling an electric shock throughout her body at contact with the small child. She picked up Thleen easily and carried her into the kitchen, Thleen fingering her dreads and asking "What about your goats? And the katts, who will keep them safe from the owl tonight?"
Pyosz explained as Thleen selected a piece of cake and two slivers of pie for herself. She sat down with Thleen in her lap and whispered to remind Thleen to wipe her hands. Thleen drank a glass of milk and looked back toward the counter, asking "Can I have some more pie, some other kind?"
Before Maar could say "No" and Yoj could say "Yes", Pyosz said "First you should eat something that isn't dessert. There's more yummy things here than in a restaurant, how about if I tell you what's in every dish?"
They made the rounds and Thleen came back to the table with a full plate. Pyosz cut up her chicken and buttered her roll for her. Prl appeared with another glass of milk and sat down beside them. Thleen stared at her, back at Pyosz, and said "You've got the same color eyes! Like Nan Bux."
"Nan Bux is my emma" said Prl, "and I am Pyosz's emma." Thleen slid from Pyosz's lap into Prl's, cupping Prl's cheek with not quite clean hands to say softly "They are so pretty. I never seen prettier eyes."
Prl's face lit up. She speared green beans with a fork and began feeding Thleen, who was still sideways on her lap. Thleen took the bite, chewing noisily, and moved her hand down to lightly touch the dark green velvet collar and medallion of office around Prl's neck. "This is like Nan Bux and Nan Yoj, but it's a different color, what's yours for?" she asked Prl.
"I am the Genist of All Skene" said Prl. Su choked slightly on what she was swallowing.
"I don't know what that is" said Thleen. Pyosz glanced at Maar, whose face was paper white. Prl fed Thleen another bite and said "I help emmas have babies."
"Oh, I know all about that" said Thleen. There was a tiny strangled sound from Maar. "What's this a picture of, then, Nan Prl?" Her fingers were now on the gold double helix over the hollow of Prl's throat.
Prl began explaining, then asked Pyosz to bring her paper and a pencil. Within five minutes, she had explained genetics and DNA in a way that a seven-year-old could comprehend, lightly and lucidly. Adon and Su were listening intently. Thleen took the pencil from Prl and drew a picture of a face with light-colored eyes, asking "Will Pyosz's babies have blue eyes, too?"
"Possibly" said Prl, grinning at Pyosz. "I can't control the science, only guess at probabilities."
"I like science in school" said Thleen. "I like history too. I don't like maths much." She gave a guilty glance toward Maar. "But my favorite part of school is when we play kickball."
"I loved running and jumping games in school" said Prl, something Pyosz hadn't ever heard. They chatted on, and Pyosz remembered how vast her emma's attention had always been for her as a child. In a different world, Prl should have had a Manage full of children thought Pyosz.
The radio buzzed on the sideboard and Speranz squeezed around them to answer it. She carried it to Halling, saying "It's your siba, Moasi." Prl said quietly to Pyosz "It's killing both of them that Moasi's not here."
"Does she need someone to go pick her up?" said Maar. "I could borrow a lighter, I'm sure." Pyosz went to relay this offer to Halling, who talked it over with Moasi, then said "She'll need to be carried from her Manage down to the jichang, it's steep, and again from the Lofthall to here. But if that could happen, we can put her up for the night. Or a few days."
"I'll help carry her" said Lawa. Qala put her hand on Lawa's shoulder and said "Let's allow the youngsters to do that chore. Moasi will need you in other ways."
Speranz said "We'll give her our bedroom, we can go into the loft over the kitchen." Halling's face picked up animation as plans were made. Tlunu said she would accompany Maar. Maar turned to look at her sibs and Adon said urgently "I want to go with you, too, I can help carry. I'm very strong for my age." Indeed, her shoulders were almost the match of Maar's, but the panic on her face showed her real motivation was not be left behind at a wake of mostly strangers. "Me too" said Su, pleading, "I want to go, too."
"I need someone to look after Thleen" Maar said to them quietly.
"I'll do that" interjected Pyosz. She and Maar looked at each other levelly, and Maar said "All right. She needs periodic reminding that this is a wake, not a party."
The four went out the front door, as Halling jubilantly told Moasi an escort was on the way. Pyosz went into Speranz's bedroom with her to change sheets and put a chamberpot under the bed. Thleen remained in Prl's lap, having a third sliver of pie, until Halling clicked off the radio and called for Thleen to come visit with her some more. Pyosz came with a damp washcloth to wash Thleen's hands and face. Thleen submitted to it impatiently, then ran her hands over the ivory silk of Halling's embroidered hanshan. She confided "I would have come to the funeral, too, but I don't have any silks, not of any color. Emma says silks are for grown-ups only."
"Well, you're here now, that's the good thing" said Halling.
"Did you know Szebel since you was in school with her?" asked Thleen. Halling began telling the story of how she and Szebel had joined their lives together. Pyosz moved close to listen. She noticed Bux was becoming agitated, until Yoj pulled her to sit close and whispered something to her. Ndege took her leave, and Prl joined the cluster by the hearth.
Almost an hour after they'd left, Maar and Tlunu's group returned, Maar and Adon carrying a frail-looking elder between them. Halling got to her feet and wept as she settled on the couch with Moasi next to her, Lawa on the other side. Pyosz's camera memory was all full, but she borrowed Yoj's camera and began taking quiet photographs.
Maar's face was shiny with sweat, and she rested a few minutes at the table, drinking more cold water. Prl put her hand on Maar's arm and said "Thank you. For all your service to our loved ones." Maar turned red and said "It doesn't feel like service."
Tlunu said "There's a lighter held at the Lofthall for you, Danaan said, so you can run your sibs home to Chloddia when you're ready. Also a bunk at the Lofthall."
Maar looked at the clock and said "I need an early night. Thleen, pry yourself off Pyosz's lap, it's time for us to go."
"But I don't want to go to a restaurant, I like eating here better!" protested Thleen.
"You'll be having lunch with us tomorrow" said Halling. "I'm looking forward to it, and my siba Moasi will still be here."
Pyosz walked them to the front door, kissing Thleen on both cheeks and whispering "You are every bit as wonderful as I thought you would be." After a moment, she also kissed Adon and Su on their cheeks, thanking them for their help. She pulled Maar aside and told her what Thleen had said about funeral silks. "I'd like to buy her a set of silks, if you think your emmas wouldn't be upset" she whispered.
Maar looked thoughtful and replied "Let me do it. I'll get them all silks, I know what each of them will like."
"And you've certainly got the fashion sense" said Pyosz. She kissed Maar lightly on one cheek, looked her deep in the eyes to say "Thank you so much for being my buddy", then kissed her other cheek.
"See you soon" said Maar, and they left. Visitors had stopped dropping by, and soon there was only family left in the Manage. They gathered in the living room, listening to Halling and her sibs tell stories, eating off one another's plates, until Pyosz felt her eyes drifting shut. Prl noticed and stood, saying "I need to take my child home to bed."
"Your child is almost twice your size" laughed Moasi. "But we'll see you tomorrow for lunch, yes?"
Pyosz and Prl nodded. Lawa and Qala decided to stay a while longer. Pyosz allowed Prl to carry her small bag but lifted the crate herself, saying "It's not as much as milk cans, emma."
At the Genist's Manage, she went from room to room, noticing small changes, feeling a shift in the size of the place, reveling in the heat and space.
"I'll start you a bath" said Prl. Pyosz put her carryall in her room and found an old schmatta in her cupboard to wear. She fell asleep in the bath, and when Prl roused her, she dried in utter exhaustion. "Do you want tea before bed?" asked Prl.
"Mm, no. Emma, I very much want to be in my own bed, but would you come crawl in with me? Like when I was little?"
Prl's face glowed. "Go get settled, I'll be there soon." By the time she joined Pyosz, Pyosz was sound asleep. Prl rubbed her head gently for a few minutes, thinking over the expression on Maar's face every time she looked at Pyosz -- and the expression Pyosz gave in return. But I don't want my grandchildren growing up on Pya she thought as she, too, went to sleep.
© 2009 Maggie Jochild.
LOLCATS WEEKLY ROUND-UP, 29 SEPTEMBER 2009
Here's the weekly best of what I've gleaned from I Can Has Cheezburger efforts. There are some really creative folks out there. As usual, those from little gator lead the pack.
Subwoofer Kitteh
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