Jellia was washing the dishes and Carl and Bobbin were playing relatively
quietly in the corner of the kitchen. Mother was in the hobby room on a business
call, and En-drek and ska-drek were sitting in the great room, at the dining table.
“I was rather surprised by your decision about nursing,” Gregory said. “I
realize it is your decision to make but… but it seemed extreme. Are you trying to
prolong the contract?”
“Of course,” Ben’nin replied. “I’m well within my rights. Think of it. I could
hardly do better than the situation I have here.”
“Well, the house is very nice.”
“Don’t be naive, Son. The house is beyond nice, and since it is free, our
household budget is exorbitant. My en-drek-a is a bit hesitant, with her exo
background, but never for more than a few seconds. She is extremely careful, and
I never have to discipline her at all.”
“She is pretty enough and keeps herself very fit. She has raised her first
daughter very well… as you know yourself.”
“Certainly, I have nothing to complain about. Either in the housing or my en
drek-a. Or any of the kesh. Mine doesn’t hesitate in the slightest, indeed quite the
opposite.”
“And they are both brilliant, so one can hope the kesh will do well. How can
we do better? Wouldn’t I be a fool to allow her to quit nursing and get pregnant
immediately?”
“Besides, she is being foolish. You know she doesn’t wish to have more kesh-u… and the longer she nurses, the longer she might be able to put off the next
one. She has to put up with me, but she can’t guarantee that the next enrek will
be better than me!”
“Well, that’s true.”
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!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
Good look behind the curtain.