Hoping For A Surprise

Writers: Eimi, Noola
Date Posted: 21st March 2010

Characters: Sallita, Paitus
Description: Sallita listens to a stranger's tale of woe.
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 8, day 6 of Turn 5

Paitus' eyes never left the flames in the hearth as he reached for his
mug. He had been staring off into them for quite some time, meditating
on private thoughts, so lost in them that when he brought the vessel to
his lips and found it empty. This brought him back into the present
moment long enough to catch Sallita's eye.

"Another, please," he called over to her before staring off into the
blaze again.

Sallita already had another mug ready, which she carried over. She'd
noticed the man's empty glass and thought he'd be wanting a fresh one.
"You've got the look of someone with somethin weighing on your mind,
if you don't mind me sayin so, sir. Want to talk about it? Might
help."

"Oh," he said with a forced smile. Despite his best effort, the results
were rather pathetic. "It's just... family."

Settling down in one of the empty chairs nearby, Sallita nodded. "It
often is, isn't it?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes for a startled moment,
not having intended to have a companion for his misery, but at last he
sighed. "I'd avoided family trouble for many turns now. I'm not as
accustomed to it as I once was."

"How did you manage to avoid it?" Sallita hoped to draw the man out.
It was obvious he needed to talk, and there was nothing she enjoyed
more than listening. The Tavern was slow this evening, allowing her
the time to do so without worry that someone else would need her.

"By moving half a continent away," he answered, finally turning to look
at more in her direction if not directly at her. "It's hard to fight
with someone when they're half a continent away."

Sallita nodded, that would do it. "But now you've got issues, so your
family must be here?"

"Yeah, here. Certainly not where I left them." He thought he should
clarify. "They're Hall folk, and I was born at the Hall at Amethyst
Cliff. They moved with the Hall after the quake."

"Ah, a lot of people came to Amber Hills after that quake." Sallita,
herself, had been at Amber Hills since her late husband had moved
their family there. She remembered the relatively recent influx of
displaced people though.

"I hadn't been back since long before that happened. The Hold and Hall
were still standing then." He shuddered to think what it would have
been like to see his childhood home in such ruins.

Sallita made a sympathetic noise. "Coming back to find them gone would
be enough of a shock right there."

"It's not so big a shock. I haven't seen what they look like now. In
my mind, they're just like I left them." His eyes turned back to stare
deeply into the flames. "What I didn't expect was to find my mother's
mind is crumbling faster than Amethyst Cliff's walls."

"Oh, dear."

"You know, it was so typical of him to give me no warning at all,"
Paitus muttered. Now that the dam had broken, words were ready to spill
out of him for the attentive listener. "All his letter said was 'You
need to see your mother, you have to come see your mother...'. I
figured he just meant to visit her, and he just wouldn't accept no for
an answer. And I know my parents aren't getting younger, so I figured
maybe it was time. He didn't tell me I had to see her so I could see
just how far her mind had slipped, and how completely useless he is in
caring for her."

"Maybe he didn't want to admit how bad it was. Might make it more real
for him to write it all out, you know?" She paused, thoughtfully and
added, "And, maybe he was afraid you wouldn't come.That he'd have to
keep on with it all by himself."

She obviously didn't know his father. "It's his pride. He didn't
actually want to _admit_ that there is something that he can't handle.
Even now, he's trying to say everything is under control. But he can't
do a sharding thing for himself, let alone for anyone else.

"My mother was a meticulous housekeeper. She has her pride too. She
cared about how home looked. She cared about how we _all_ looked,
making sure all our clothes were washed, ironed, never a hole however
small. My father wouldn't know how to wash a dish or even cut a tuber
to save his life. He probably doesn't even know what end of the broom
to hold. I walked in and found dishes piled up, dust piled up along the
sideboards, a pile of used tea leaves on the counter. It was filthy.
Absolutely filthy. And he still insists that he has everything under
control."

Sallita winced at that. She worked all day and had four small children
to take care of in the evenings, but she still kept her home neat. Her
mother helped, of course, but still. The idea of her home being
allowed to fall apart while she was oblivious was horrible. "What do
you plan to do about it?"

Paitus sighed wearily. It was the question that he had been meditating
on all day. "What is there _to_ do. They must come home and live with
me, no matter how my father objects. I don't know how I'm going to
break that bit of news to my wife. She'll have to bear the greatest
responsibility, I'm afraid."

Sallita nodded, it was a difficult situation, but the man was right.
What else could any decent person do. "It's to your credit that you're
willing to do that. There's some who'd say it wasn't their problem.
Your wife'll understand, I bet."

"Oh, she'll do it." His wife had always been a better person than his
father had given her credit for. "But it's a lot to ask of her. My
father never approved of her. And has never tried to hide his
disapproval. Having him under our roof even for a few days is taxing on
her. For the rest of his life..." He was a terrible person to hope
that it would be a short one!

"Maybe something good will come of it and the two of them can work out
their differences?" Sallita offered. She felt badly for the situation
this man was in and wanted to help him feel better about it someway.

"You obviously don't know my father," he said with a slight chuckle.
"His one joy in life is disapproving of things. And he's only half of
it. My mother will only get worse, I'm afraid. Right now she only
remembers _me_ about half the time. She won't know what is happening to
her, poor heart."

"Are you on good terms with your hold's healer? Maybe he can recommend
someone who can help your wife a bit with the extra work, help take
care of your mother a little." She felt like she was grasping at
straws a bit with that suggestion, but she wanted to give some sort of
help to the poor man. He did truly have a hard road ahead, it seemed.

"Perhaps, but it's a family matter. I can't pass my troubles off on
other people, or else I could just leave them here." And that was
obviously out of the question. But he understood that she was just
trying to help. "Thank you for listening, but there's no way you can
paint this situation in a better light. I would rather go into it
expecting the worst and being surprised if things turn out to be not as
bad. It's much better than going in hopeful and being unprepared for
the realities of the situation."

Sallita nodded, knowing the man was right. Sometimes, no matter how
much you wanted to help, there was nothing to do. "I was happy to
listen." She was about to say more when she heard her name called from
the other side of the Tavern. "Looks like I best be back to work
though. Can I bring you anything else?" She asked as she stood from
her seat, nodding her head toward the other customer who needed her.

"No, you've done enough for me. Thank you," he said with a sincere
smile. "I'll just sit here for a while longer, if that's all right."

"Of course," Sallita smiled. "Give me a wave if you need anything."
She hoped that things would work out for the best for the man. That he
would wind up being surprised.

Last updated on the April 20th 2010

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Hoping For A Surprise