The Facts of Life

Fenestra opened a rather bleary eye and saw her daughter, at the bottom of the stairs, staring at her and Alex, where they lay entwined on the couch. Staring with that disapproving frown that she always seemed to have recently whenever Mother brought a date over or the subject of the conversation was men or sons.

She frowned back and waved her hand toward the kitchen, and Jellia, with a final roll of her eyes went off. Fenestra disentangled herself and padded off to the kitchen to have a talk with her daughter.

“I know, I know,” Jellia said, as soon as she came in, “good business contact and all that.”

“And incredible stress relief, Darling,” Fenestra said, starting a brew. “You will have to grow up and learn the facts of life. Or, at least understand them in others. I realise that you are starting to prepare yourself for Libertas, which is very good. But Libertas is not the galaxy.”

“I have heard this lecture before,” Jellia said. “It is just now sinking in, I suppose. How we women have to be willing to date men for all sorts of reasons, how it lubricates social contacts, how the man will be more willing to take your snip, how the entire society will fall apart if we don’t… don’t date often enough…”

“And how you will get known as a tease or a cold fish if you aren’t doing your job of signalling and following through. Yes. We are made that way. It isn’t easy to be a woman, by any means…”

“Nor is it easy to be a man,” they heard, and saw Alex coming in. “Easier, no doubt, but there are rules that we have to learn, and we are easily frustrated.”

So saying he came over and kissed Fenestra, which she returned very willingly. He was an intense teacher and an intense lover. Very little positive emotion… no, that wasn’t right. Very little soft and gentle positive emotion. But he seemed to have a deep well of emotion in everything he did. It was as if he was prepared to lay down his life to make sure that she learned the proper way of filing an order on Libertas. Which was a dream, it was so easy!

“Well, I haven’t heard much about how it is for sons,” Jellia admitted. “Care to share?”

“Certainly,” Alex said, picking Fenestra up, sitting down, and putting her back on his lap. “In some ways, we need to be more careful. I’m sure you know that it is our job to initiate, but how quickly and how directly makes a big difference. Suppose a son you hardly knew, who watched you do some school play, came up immediately afterwards and just straight out asked you for a date? Or, for you, a light groping session?”

Fenestra saw Jellia flush and grinned. “That would be… I mean… I would be pleased and all but it would seem kind of abrupt.”

“Now, suppose you had seen him in the audience, and he was watching you and grinning, and you grinned back a couple of times during the play and when you were taking your bow… and he came up and just asked you.”

“Well, it would still seem to be a bit abrupt to just ask straight out, but, if Mother allowed it, I would certainly accept his hold. I mean, if I was grinning at him and all that.”

“And if he did all that during the play and then, afterwards, he just talked about his screeny collection or something and didn’t get around to asking you for a date?”

“Well! I would probably tell all of my girlfriends that he seemed a bit of a wet noodle…” she blushed as that was not, technically, a phrase she was supposed to use, but Alex laughed.

“Exactly! So this poor son, who would like nothing better than to go on a heavy date with you, gets known as a wet noodle just because he didn’t manage to get up the courage to ask!”

“And then, if you did date, or grope, or whatever, afterward, he would know he had to always be on the lookout for you asking for a favour. And on the watchout for your hints…”

“Well, of course, because he would want more dates!”

“Well, maybe. Perhaps even usually. But a son, if he doesn’t wish to gain the epithet ‘wet noodle’, cannot suffer headaches, or wish to play a game, or even… not that this is frequent… not wish to date that particular daughter. She might… well, I won’t go into the errors that a daughter can commit on a date…”

Fenestra almost laughed at the look on her daughter’s face. She was probably desperate to know what kind of errors this older man thought she might commit on a date.

“But, anyway, the point is that the son might, might, have something else he wants to do that afternoon… but ignoring a daughter’s hint would be very, very dangerous.”

“Oh,” Jellia said.

“But, as your mother says, you will not have to worry about most of that on Libertas. A kesh can oogle you all he wants on the beach and you won’t have to worry at all about doing any hinting. Indeed, you will have to worry about not hinting. Instead you will just go home to your en-drek …”

Here he pulled Fenestra in for a kiss and, as they kissed, Fenestra watched a whole range of emotions pass over her daughter’s face. Ah, well, sufficient to the day.

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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

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Links

Introduction

In which I lay out the themes that I intend to explore in this light Dystopia, and ask others to participate.

Trade Master: First Chapter

In which Fenestra, our heroine’s mother, puts in her application for the job of 'Trade Master’ on the planet Libertas, and finds out that it isn’t that easy.

En-Drek Contract

In which Fenestra finds out that, on Libertas, everyone must be in an ‘En-drek’ contract… a long-term, live-in, heavy date between a man and a woman for the purpose of producing one child after the other with one date after the other.

Disappointment and Meditation

In which Jellia, the daughter and our heroine, finds out about her mother’s job opportunity, including its difficulties, and commits herself to meditating on the situation. (And internally commits herself to encouraging her mother to take the job.)

Decision Reached

Jellia tells her mother that she thinks she should take the job, and so her mother puts in her application… and gets the job!

First School

Jellia goes to school and gets to tell everyone about her new adventure.

First Work

Fenestra goes to work, and tells her coworker about her new opportunity.

Writing Class

Jellia writes a poem (a limerick) and tells her classmates more about her new adventure.

Trader Galloway

In which a man comes over for a ‘date’ (Ie to sleep over with her mother) and to tell them all about his time as Trade Master for their company on Libertas. And as how he was almost executed for asking a woman out on a date.

Shopping

In which Jellia and her mother go shopping for the last time, and we explore some of the nature of the planet she is leaving.

Language

In which Jellia starts using some new words at school, and everyone gathers round to find out what they mean.

Kesh-i Cooking Class

In which Jellia discovers that girls (daughters, Kesh-u-i) are expected to cook on Libertas!

Trade Master Training

In which Fenestra goes to get trained for her new post and finds out is that annoying man, Alex, who will be doing the training.

Appendix

A glossary of many of the terms used in this book, along with a discussion of the calender and cultural issues. It is a work in progress, and I’m hoping for comments and discussion there.