Bobbin Kesh
Jellia certainly understood how Ska-drek-a had felt. She felt like she was blown up like a balloon. A very heavy balloon. She waddled around the kitchen getting breakfast ready and she heard a laugh from behind her and whirled, ready to yell at anyone who thought this was funny…
Except Bobbin, of course. He laughed about everything and it might not even have been the sight of her that made him laugh.
“Good morning, Bobbin kesh,” she said, kissing him and putting him on the counter. “Come to watch Sister make breakfast?”
He nodded. She had no idea if he understood her but he was a very compliant child. If it were not for the fact that he was also a very active child he would be easy to manage. While he fully understood and obeyed the word ‘come’; he could not be said to have grasped the word ‘stay’.
She had almost gotten breakfast ready when Mother appeared looking harassed. “There he is!” she said. “I searched the entire upstairs. I woke your husband looking for him and expected at least a lecture but he rolled over and said that code and custom excused all things to a ska-drek-a searching for a toddler.”
“Well, he’s been very good with me,” Jellia said.
“Well, I wish you would take him with you to school,” Mother said. “I would get more work done, and I’m sure that he would enjoy it more.”
Jellia doubted that Bobbin would enjoy her school more than he enjoyed playing around the house. Certainly several kesh brought their kesh-u, as she would after her’s was born. She giggled. She guessed she was bringing him now.
“Did you find him?” Ska-drek asked, coming in.
“Yes. Jellia had him the whole time.”
“I thought you had sent him down,” Jellia admitted.
“I want her to bring him to school,” Mother said. “I have work to do.”
“Well, we will have to discuss it,” Ska-drek said, and Jellia quailed. What would Gregory say? He was always getting on her to do well in school… how would she do with a diminutive kesh always distracting her?
Which was, of course, Mother’s point. Her work was much more important or, at least, much more renumerative. If Jellia keeping Bobbin would make it easier so she would make more… code and custom would indicate that Jellia should take him.
Gregory came in and they all took their food. Jellia waited for someone else to bring it up but, when they all just ate quietly (except for Bobbin, who did almost nothing quietly) she decided to bring it up herself. “Gregory, Mother is suggesting that I take Bobbin to school with me, to ease her time at work. She says he can be quite a distraction.”
Gregory looked a bit panicked. He must be thinking like she did… that it would make her schooling more difficult; but code and custom taught that she should benefit Ska-drek-a, not herself…
“I don’t think that is the best idea,” Ska-drek said, into the silence.
“But… but he really is distracting,” Ska-drek-a said. “I love him dearly (even though I would never have had him on my own, went unsaid) but…”
“Yes, I think I have a better idea,” Ben’nin said. “What if she takes him to Garden Party?”
“But… would they allow it…?” Gregory asked.
“Oh, of course. All of the workers bring their kesh-u. Although not their siblings I don’t think. Well, no, actually there is a kesh that works morning shift and he brings his sibling. She is so cute.”
“Well, but… how would she watch him? It is all very well to bring your sibling, I suppose, but her job involves running all over the park and she is pregnant. Carrying Bobbin too would seem to be too much. I wouldn’t want her passing out or something.”
“I don’t propose she carry him,” Ben’nin said. “Didn’t you tell me that your park offers lessons?”
“Well, oh, yes!” Jellia said. “And they are perfectly wonderful with kesh-u! Even the smallest. Oh, that might work.”
“But she goes there right after school,” Gregory protested.
“Indeed En-drek-a must deliver him. You must meet her at the door of Garden Party a good time before her scheduled work period, Dear. Then she will get there when she can, undress him, and deliver him to the instructor.”
“Oh, that is wonderful,” Ska-drek-a said. “I might even find a quiet spot in Garden Party to do some of my work.”
“There is the Oasis, Mother. I often see business people working there.”
“Well, that is wonderful. Oh, thank you Jellia!”
It seemed to Jellia that Ska-drek-a should be thanking Ska-drek, but that would involve thanking Ska-drek, something Ska-drek-a never seemed to want to do.
“Oh, curses, look at the time,” Jellia said, and hurried upstairs to dress.
She totally forgot about what they had decided at school, but a snip from Mother reminded her and, true to her word, Ska-drek-a was there at the gate when Jellia got there. Jellia didn’t have much time so she grabbed Bobbin, kissed Ska-drek-a, and ran in to change.
After she had her skirt on, and Bobbin had his clothes off, she ran out to the equipment stand. “I need a swim diaper and teaching floaty,” she said, holding Bobbin up so they would have an idea how big he was.
“Who is that?” Crystal asked, handing over the diaper.
“My brother,” Jellia said. “Haven’t you met him?”
“Oh, well, I suppose I have, but they grow so quickly. Try this one on, Darling,” she said, handing over a teaching floating and blowing a kiss to Bobbin. “I didn’t know you brought him to work.”
“First day,” Jellia said. “A little bigger, please.”
The next floaty fit and Jellia raced off. She thought Michael was the best with the smaller Kesh-u, and he had a pool that wasn’t too cold. Bobbin always complained when his bath was too cold.
“Oh, Michael,” she said, as she hurried up. “Good, you don’t have anyone right now?”
“No, not yet. I guess everyone is too lazy to want lessons, today.”
“Well, this is your lucky day,” she said, giving him a quick sister-to-brother kiss. “This is Bobbin, my brother, and he’s going to be one of your regulars. You have him for my whole shift. It will cost me through the nose but Mother has this important job and is finding him a distraction. Take him wherever you want, teach him to swim and use all of the equip. Whatever, only give me a good report for Ska-drek. He’s kind of intense. Gotta go…”
She launched Bobbin at Michael and hurried off. She heard Bobbin squeal but it was a fun ‘sister threw me’ kind of squeal, not a ‘who is this strange kesh holding me’ kind of squeal.
She went off to beach front first. Not only did she get good business there… people tended to tip better if you had to go further to bring them their food or whatever, but she wasn’t completely sure that she was starting her shift exactly on time and, well, if she brought an order up from beach front then it would look like it had just taken her a minute to walk there.
She glanced at the time on her wrist. Oh, no. She wasn’t late. Mother had been there on time and, well, good.
But Beach Front turned out to be good. There was some kind of family reunion or something, a bunch of rurals, with simply dozens of kesh-u all charging back and forth into the water, and a harassed looking ska-drek-a waved her over and put in an order for two dozen fish bits and two bottles of their cheapest hard. Obviously the first to keep the kesh-u happy, and the second to keep the en-drek-u’s happy… which would make the ska-drek-a happy.
She raced off to get that… they didn’t discourage the staff running which at first she had found odd but, watching others do it, made them look hard working or whatever. Eager to get the job done right.
The order was ready when she got to the snack bar, and she detoured just the slightest bit on the way back to where she could see Michael. Yes, they were doing well. He was tossing him in the air the way he did… letting him splash just a bit deeper each time. She picked up her pace and ran back to the ska-drek-a. Well, walked quickly… you didn’t run when carrying a snack-carry box. It held the stuff fine, but you still didn’t run.
She left the box with the ska-drek-a, she would pick it up later, and went off down the beach watching for orders. Three time she got one and raced back to the snack bar until, finally, she got far enough to glance at the Oasis… which was at the very far end of their land where it was quieter… and saw Ska-drek-a, ensconced in a corner table, with a bottle and snacks in front of her, three screens open, and talking busily to someone. Oh, good. This was working.
“Well, did you have a good time?” she asked Bobbin after she picked him up from Michael and was carrying him back to the changing room.
He nodded vigrously, and made motions with his hands which she took for ’swimming’. He was almost asleep on her shoulder when she made it to the tip buckets and tipped all of her money into Michael’s bucket. She would have to arrange a better system than that, but that would do for today. He hadn’t had any clients when they got there, and he would have been able to teach a couple or even four at a time, so that should work for today. She would give Ska-drek-a his tip snip so she could tip him directly.
She changed and gently peeled the teaching floaty off Bobbin. The swim diapers were not reusable, so she would just take him home in that. Putting him on her shoulder, he was fast asleep now, she carried him to the equipment shed, turned in the floaty, and walked out the front gate.
“Oh, is he asleep?” Mother said, coming over.
“Just now,” Jellia said, passing him over. “I think Michael tired him out. Did your day go well?”
“Well, once you took him, yes,” Mother said. “It went… zoomy… I believe you say?”
Jellia laughed. “Well, I used to. The kesh here say ‘peaches’, but I haven’t gotten used to that.”
—
Contract Marriage
Contract marriage is an adult dystopia examining the issues of marriage. Like 1984 and Brave New World, Contract Marriage treats the relations between the sexes as a fundamental aspect of how a society is formed and, thus, how a society can go wrong.
Unlike those dystopias, Contract Marriage isn’t all horrible all of the time. The characters for the most part have a good time and get along in their society. But the issues of sexuality, of marriage or not, monogamy or not, faithfulness or not, and gender roles… keep coming up and causing tension and conflict and joy and pain.
My desire is that my readers would be thinking along with my characters about these issues and perhaps even arrive at the same place (minus the flying cars).
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.
Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books are published by Wise Path Books and include the children’s/YA books:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid: A Christian historical fiction chapter book about four orphans who go to live with their aunt on a dairy farm.
The Bobtails and the Cousins: The sequel to Preacher’s Kid. The aunt has married, and the cousins come to visit. Meaning town kids dealing with chores and manure and…
The Bobtails go to France: The sequel to cousins. The Bobtails, and Preacher’s Kid, get to take a trip to New York, London, Paris, and a small town in France. To get some cheese.
and
No Ordinary School: A brilliant but socially clueless boy gets recruited for a special school. Where he makes a lot of money, gets a girl, and solves a mystery.
As well as GK Chesterton’s wonderful book, “What’s Wrong with the World”, for which ‘Arthur’ wrote most of the annotations.
Arthur also has a substack, and a website. On the substack you can listen to some of his published books. Free.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von
Other Stories
Island People’s is not my only story on Substack. I have two light dystopias, or cultural sci-fi, or one of them is military sci-fi with aliens… Science Fiction can be difficult to categorise :)
Article 17: Intro
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8 JANUARY 2024
She was pretty, popular, snobby, and a planetary governor’s daughter. He was the son of shopkeepers, a social misfit, and a decorated hero. She thought she was there to dance. He had other ideas.
And a fantasy-esque series of morality tales:
The Oracle at Toko-Ri
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1 MAY 2023
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Prologue IP0
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11 AUGUST 2023
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.