“My son, your Mother tells me that you wished to ask me a question.”
For a moment I stopped, startled. This was not according to form. It meant that Mother, instead of stating that I had disagreed with a decision of hers, had instead passed the decision to a higher level.
My Father waited while I digested this, and then I understood. My Mother had actually recommended to Father that I be allowed to swim! Perhaps not in words, but this could mean nothing else. She had not been able to bring herself to give permission. It was far too big a decision for one thing, and the other women would have been very, very angry with her. But she had wanted me to be able to do it!
I stood up straight, and looked my Father in the eye.
“Yes my Father, I would like to go swimming tomorrow.” In spite of the unusual form, I decided to go ahead with my planned defense. In rebutting my Mother’s two points I would win a technical victory, even if my Father’s response meant that he could, if he wished, bring up new objections.
“My Mother raises an excellent point, in that I do not know how to swim. The Fisherboys, however, are very amiable and I propose to find one of them to help me learn. Together with a gang of his friends (it was no insult to call a group of Fisherboys a ‘gang’; it was the usual term, and a very accurate description of their inability to act alone) I am sure they can keep me from drowning.”
“As for her second point, I am afraid that she is mistaken. Having never been on deck during swimming, she probably does not know the variety of men and boys that all together, get naked to go swimming. I am sure that you will agree with me, that one naked Dwarf boy would be no great spectacle. Indeed, except for its rarity, it would go unnoticed.”
The last point I knew I had won. If my Mother had appealed to the feelings of the other Dwarves, particularly the women, she might have had a case. But no one could have been on deck and thought that I would be out of place naked.
I couldn’t see how he was going to object to my second point. Even if he did, I was prepared to make my affirmative case (which I hadn’t yet done). I didn’t need to.
“My son, I believe that you make an excellent case. Indeed, I am afraid that the spectacle is now the other side. It is we Dwarves who are making a spectacle of ourselves now.
“As for your first point, I will be interested in seeing how it turns out. We will all, men and boys anyway, watch your progress tomorrow.”
I was so thrilled that I missed some of the implications of this until later.
Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.
If I don’t write you back it is almost certain that I didn’t see it, so please feel free to comment and link to your post. Or if you just think I would be interested in your post!
If you get lost, check out my ‘Table of Contents’ which I try to keep up to date.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
Links
Island People is a young adult fantasy book centring on a young prince. The book starts with his kidnapping and follows his adventures as he not only escapes from his kidnapper but gains critical allies and friends.
The entire book is scheduled on Substack, and there are several sequels. This is a book I wrote years ago, so it is in a bit of a rough form. Critiques and comments are more than welcome, they are requested.