Post by The Mouth on Jul 19, 2014 16:41:10 GMT -8
10 December, 2013
Limerick, Ireland
I’m in the kitchen cooking with Rabbit. Hannah is in the back yard practicing some of the forms I’d taught her last week. Jory is watching telly while texting; I think she found a local lad to be sweet on and is immersing herself in the relationship - It took some time but I finally convinced her that she was not only capable of love but worthy of receiving too.
Rabbit is mixing up a salad. She is a committed vegetarian, claiming the meat still talks to her when she eats. She doesn’t begrudge her fellow mortals their carnivore tendencies, which has certainly helped. When the girls get into high spirits she is the one who is the peace maker, who helps them all get along.
I can’t hide that Jory is my favorite, since our trip in the woods. Even Hannah feels closer to me in kinship; we are warriors and soldiers, in our own ways. Rabbit is something else entirely…
“Rabbit?” I am gentle; she doesn’t like direct confrontation.
“Yes, Grandfather?”
“The three of you… Your mothers sent you with me for a reason, didn’t they.”
Rabbit stops. Then she puts a kettle on. “Hold Grandfather, this is a tea chat.”
I wait until the electric kettle whistles and settle in for a ritual that goes back centuries. Ten minutes later she has a hot cuppa and I am seated at the table with my hands in front of me.
“Alright then. So, yes. The Mothers gave you their daughters, but they didn’t give you their heirs, their favorites, or their most skilled.”
I nod. “They sent me the girl who wanted the wrong boy and was too stubborn to walk away, the girl who had a horror done to her and when she repaid that horror in kind they were unable to face their own culpability in not getting her help. Finally, they sent the rebel who tried to help her cousins and was too loud about the Mother’s own little hypocrisies.”
Rabbit sniffles as a tear rolls down her cheek. “I’m sorry, honey I didn’t mean to-” I get the platitude about half way before she waves it off.
“We’re baby factories. The Werewolves are ecstatic, because their numbers have declined so much and that so many of the Mother’s children go through the Change, and so young too. The fae are facing a similar problem, that the Mother’s bring them back to being children, a conduit of rebirth that is special to them. My father is just kind of a jerk; he loves us, sure. But there are so many children that we kind of blur together and he uses us like ritual components.” A tear drops into her mug, I doubt she notices.
“Each generation is like that. Did I mention that Jory got pregnant when she was raped? They made her keep the child then removed the memory from her. I helped them do that. She has all that rage and self loathing because the mages working on her mind-” she chokes. “They thought she had deserved it for making a friend outside, or she seduced the man and got scared too late, or that… It was awful what was in their heads. But I saw what was done to her, felt it… And the Mothers knew what was happening but thought it was their duty to ensure the child was brought safely into the world. Thank god it was a normal kid; an adoption group came for the baby just after it was born.”
I can see my daughters are more like me than I thought.
“So, not an idyllic little clan. More like a very large and messy family, then?”
She sniffles again. “Yeah. And it’s nice to imagine that you are different.” Her eyes snap to mine, rage and hate and terror and sadness boiling out of her face. I’m finally seeing her, her, and not the facade she puts up of a happy-go-lucky plucky girl.
I lean back. “Hannah. She actually slept with the boy.”
Rabbit nods. “An outside foster, but still too closely related. Her father’s nephew or some such. I helped take a night of fumbling joy and turn it into something tawdry and cheap; but only for him. He said the things he said to her afterwords because I put them there; things to hurt her and to make her feel cheap and less than a person and of a… Thing. Their crime was sleeping together, the greater crime was they used protection.”
Rules and rules. Know the rules, Francis.
I shrug. “Children are their reason to exist, I suppose.”
“But at the expense of their children’s well being? They didn’t kick me out for making a stink, they kicked me out because I was invested in two failed branches, that I refused to stop taking care of them and making them feel valued so they didn’t runaway on their own. That’s what happens; you don’t follow the rules and eventually you just leave. But we supported each other; so we all had to go at once.” She’s being fierce and quiet.
“And you couldn’t tell anyone, because they wouldn’t listen. And these two girls, you made them your friends so you could protect them. And then I came along and the Mothers saw a chance for peace… You’d all get out and if you acted abnormal then it was because of the influence of their wicked father.” I look at her sip her tea, and try to remember what tea was like.
“If they let us back, which is unlikely. We’ll get picked off by Yuria’s people like they did with some of the others…”
“The others?” I ask, almost vibrating.
“See, you care about the intel more than us…”
“Oh, honey. That’s not true. The intel is just… So much of a mortal life is devoted to our passions; food, sex, hobbies. My passions are but two: Food and do unto others as you would have done unto you, but do it unto them first. I get a little lost in that. I care about you girls; I want you to succeed and to thrive. And I have no idea how to do it. I sort of failed at fatherhood long before I met any of you.” I do feel guilty. I got a little overwhelmed to find out who the inside man was; pretty sure I already know. I was just hoping for a why.
A smile, carrying more sadness than a teenage girl ever should, moves across her face. She wipes the tears from eyes and tries to assume her mein again. “Well, I should get dinner…”
“No, you should sit here are and tell me what the ideal world for Rabbit would be. You won’t live with me forever, but I am a man of means. I see no reason why you can’t do what you want in life.” K. Got this.
I get a blank look, then she giggles, then snorts. Finally peals of laughter ring out of her. My look of confusion just sends her deeper into laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The Hannah and Jory pop in. “What the hell is so funny?” Hannah demands. Rabbit points at me.
“He’s a man of means! Of means!”
I think it is my look of mystification that sends all three girls into hysterics.
Certainly not dignified. Clearly not. Never ever…
Jory stops first, just staring at me. Hannah and Rabbit quickly follow, and they just stare.
“Do I have something on my forhead?” I ask them.
“You’re crying,” Jory whispers.
I touch my cheeks, my fingers come away red.
“Oh. Sorry. That happens when I’m happy. Not entirely sure why.”
Suddenly I’m getting hugged by three gels and I’m a little wobbly in my chair.
Rabbit whispers in my ear, “It’s okay Reggie, we’re family now. I can protect you too.”
They hold me as I clutch them and sob.
Interlude: Rabbit
By Ben Vaughan
Limerick, Ireland
I’m in the kitchen cooking with Rabbit. Hannah is in the back yard practicing some of the forms I’d taught her last week. Jory is watching telly while texting; I think she found a local lad to be sweet on and is immersing herself in the relationship - It took some time but I finally convinced her that she was not only capable of love but worthy of receiving too.
Rabbit is mixing up a salad. She is a committed vegetarian, claiming the meat still talks to her when she eats. She doesn’t begrudge her fellow mortals their carnivore tendencies, which has certainly helped. When the girls get into high spirits she is the one who is the peace maker, who helps them all get along.
I can’t hide that Jory is my favorite, since our trip in the woods. Even Hannah feels closer to me in kinship; we are warriors and soldiers, in our own ways. Rabbit is something else entirely…
“Rabbit?” I am gentle; she doesn’t like direct confrontation.
“Yes, Grandfather?”
“The three of you… Your mothers sent you with me for a reason, didn’t they.”
Rabbit stops. Then she puts a kettle on. “Hold Grandfather, this is a tea chat.”
I wait until the electric kettle whistles and settle in for a ritual that goes back centuries. Ten minutes later she has a hot cuppa and I am seated at the table with my hands in front of me.
“Alright then. So, yes. The Mothers gave you their daughters, but they didn’t give you their heirs, their favorites, or their most skilled.”
I nod. “They sent me the girl who wanted the wrong boy and was too stubborn to walk away, the girl who had a horror done to her and when she repaid that horror in kind they were unable to face their own culpability in not getting her help. Finally, they sent the rebel who tried to help her cousins and was too loud about the Mother’s own little hypocrisies.”
Rabbit sniffles as a tear rolls down her cheek. “I’m sorry, honey I didn’t mean to-” I get the platitude about half way before she waves it off.
“We’re baby factories. The Werewolves are ecstatic, because their numbers have declined so much and that so many of the Mother’s children go through the Change, and so young too. The fae are facing a similar problem, that the Mother’s bring them back to being children, a conduit of rebirth that is special to them. My father is just kind of a jerk; he loves us, sure. But there are so many children that we kind of blur together and he uses us like ritual components.” A tear drops into her mug, I doubt she notices.
“Each generation is like that. Did I mention that Jory got pregnant when she was raped? They made her keep the child then removed the memory from her. I helped them do that. She has all that rage and self loathing because the mages working on her mind-” she chokes. “They thought she had deserved it for making a friend outside, or she seduced the man and got scared too late, or that… It was awful what was in their heads. But I saw what was done to her, felt it… And the Mothers knew what was happening but thought it was their duty to ensure the child was brought safely into the world. Thank god it was a normal kid; an adoption group came for the baby just after it was born.”
I can see my daughters are more like me than I thought.
“So, not an idyllic little clan. More like a very large and messy family, then?”
She sniffles again. “Yeah. And it’s nice to imagine that you are different.” Her eyes snap to mine, rage and hate and terror and sadness boiling out of her face. I’m finally seeing her, her, and not the facade she puts up of a happy-go-lucky plucky girl.
I lean back. “Hannah. She actually slept with the boy.”
Rabbit nods. “An outside foster, but still too closely related. Her father’s nephew or some such. I helped take a night of fumbling joy and turn it into something tawdry and cheap; but only for him. He said the things he said to her afterwords because I put them there; things to hurt her and to make her feel cheap and less than a person and of a… Thing. Their crime was sleeping together, the greater crime was they used protection.”
Rules and rules. Know the rules, Francis.
I shrug. “Children are their reason to exist, I suppose.”
“But at the expense of their children’s well being? They didn’t kick me out for making a stink, they kicked me out because I was invested in two failed branches, that I refused to stop taking care of them and making them feel valued so they didn’t runaway on their own. That’s what happens; you don’t follow the rules and eventually you just leave. But we supported each other; so we all had to go at once.” She’s being fierce and quiet.
“And you couldn’t tell anyone, because they wouldn’t listen. And these two girls, you made them your friends so you could protect them. And then I came along and the Mothers saw a chance for peace… You’d all get out and if you acted abnormal then it was because of the influence of their wicked father.” I look at her sip her tea, and try to remember what tea was like.
“If they let us back, which is unlikely. We’ll get picked off by Yuria’s people like they did with some of the others…”
“The others?” I ask, almost vibrating.
“See, you care about the intel more than us…”
“Oh, honey. That’s not true. The intel is just… So much of a mortal life is devoted to our passions; food, sex, hobbies. My passions are but two: Food and do unto others as you would have done unto you, but do it unto them first. I get a little lost in that. I care about you girls; I want you to succeed and to thrive. And I have no idea how to do it. I sort of failed at fatherhood long before I met any of you.” I do feel guilty. I got a little overwhelmed to find out who the inside man was; pretty sure I already know. I was just hoping for a why.
A smile, carrying more sadness than a teenage girl ever should, moves across her face. She wipes the tears from eyes and tries to assume her mein again. “Well, I should get dinner…”
“No, you should sit here are and tell me what the ideal world for Rabbit would be. You won’t live with me forever, but I am a man of means. I see no reason why you can’t do what you want in life.” K. Got this.
I get a blank look, then she giggles, then snorts. Finally peals of laughter ring out of her. My look of confusion just sends her deeper into laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The Hannah and Jory pop in. “What the hell is so funny?” Hannah demands. Rabbit points at me.
“He’s a man of means! Of means!”
I think it is my look of mystification that sends all three girls into hysterics.
Certainly not dignified. Clearly not. Never ever…
Jory stops first, just staring at me. Hannah and Rabbit quickly follow, and they just stare.
“Do I have something on my forhead?” I ask them.
“You’re crying,” Jory whispers.
I touch my cheeks, my fingers come away red.
“Oh. Sorry. That happens when I’m happy. Not entirely sure why.”
Suddenly I’m getting hugged by three gels and I’m a little wobbly in my chair.
Rabbit whispers in my ear, “It’s okay Reggie, we’re family now. I can protect you too.”
They hold me as I clutch them and sob.
Interlude: Rabbit
By Ben Vaughan