Jewel smiles and returns to the house. "Milk is good, with or without pie."
She sits down and relaxes, looking around. She can do the dishes later, but for now feels like relaxing. "I wonder where our folks are. ??"
|
For all his ranting against farming, Tarjun is quite good at milking cows. He quickly found out that whistling a happy tune helps calming them down - and the more they listen to him, the less they kick.
He returns with some fresh milk in a bucket. "Yeah, it's been a while!! Should we look for them?"
"Are you seriously worried something might have happened to them?" Clara inquires. "Because if you're only curious where they are, then don't."
"Or they are playing Sir Lance-A-Lot poking the holy grail." Clara replies. "And to quote my mom - Clara, you really don't want to know what that means."
"In hindsight I have to agree with her." She downs her cup of milk in one go, but she would have needed something stronger than milk to erase that image from her mind.
"So, life lesson: if you don't know where your parents are or what they are doing, be very loud and obvious about your intentions when looking for them."
Jewel hears Clara words, and she shrugs. Where would their parents go for....
"Tarjun!?! Are you kidding? You've seen the rooster get at the hens! Nobody grows up on a farm and doesn't understand about that!?!"
"Careful what you ask or Clara might give you a lesson!"
Then she can't help herself and she is doubled over with laughter! "Good point Clara. Maybe we should go looking for them. So now that we've had the pie, and I've planted what I wanted, what else can we do.... to avoid finding our parents?"
n't
"I'd say cow tipping." Clara suggests.
"But buttercup is so nice it would be mean to tip her over. Can we find a bear to poke?"
Surprisingly Jewel does seem to be considering finding a bear to poke, but then starts giggling. "Jack's too stupid. That would just piss off Dwayne."
"Going for Dwayne is stupid. That will get us only trouble. But Jack sounds like a fun thing to do. Like find some nuts and a squirrel and make it look like the squirrel is throwing nuts at him." Clara suggests.
"He's stupid enough to trick him and it would be fun."
Jewel thinks about it for a little bit, then starts laughing. "We won't have to trick him. And we could pull the prank on all of them. Squirrels are usually agreeable, if we have something to offer them. So we offer to help them gather nuts, and carry the nuts to wherever they want to store them. All they have to do is throw some nuts, or little rocks, at the guys and make noise so the guys know where the missiles are coming from...."
"What do you think?"
"Raising a squirrel army is definitely a job for Jewel. But we would need to get some nuts first. Where do we find them? It not like it's nut season."
"Sure, who wouldn't like cake. But they shouldn't throw cake at Jack.That would be suspicious.
Jewel thinks about Clara's words. "Maybe they should just throw little rocks. But you're right Clara. It's the wrong season for nuts. Squirrels eat lots of other stuff, seeds, vegetables, even some fruits. But it isn't like there's lots available for us to take for a prank. Besides, fruit and sweets, or the last of that pie, aren't good for squirrels, even though they really like that."
"Hypocrite." Clara accuses Jewel.
With a shocked look on her face Jewel considers Clara's accusation. What had she been thinking? A prank? And using her powers to get animals involved? They could get hurt! "You're right. Yes, you are right. And.... And I should go and pray for forgiveness from Erastil. I'm sorry. I got caught up in the moment."
She glances around for something to do. "Maybe I should go check on the saplings and see what trees are marked for Dwayne's men to cut." She takes a moment to gather her thoughts and heads off to the edge of the forest.
"That's not what I meant." Clara throws her hand in the air.
"Mom says I shouldn't eat too much cake it's not good for me. But who cares I eat it anyway! And you too."
"Put those poor squirrels won't get any, because it's not good for them. There you are a hypocrite."
Watching Jewel leave Clara adds "That's why everyone else thinks Erastil is lame. No fun to be had there."
The last statement causes Jewel to spin around. She pauses after her shriek, visibly struggling to recover her calm.
"Worshipers of Erastil can have fun. But that fun shouldn't cause harm against innocent victims. It's OK to play. It's OK to enjoy treats. But it's not OK to prank against people just to laugh at them, or to get others to do it."
"As for the squirrels getting cake? They are very small. A few crumbs of cake would be a lot to them and it has way too much sugar. One bite for us would be like one of us eating a whole cake! That is bad for you." She stops speaking, glaring at Clara.
"Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary." Clara quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson to Jewel.
One could wonder where she got that though, as no one would believe she read a book where that is written herself.
|
|
Tarjun stares at Clara in disbelief. "What?!?! Is that suppose to mean something ?!"
"Look, Jewie, I know you're pretty big on Erastil stuff, but do you think he would he really mind that much about harmless pranks? And hey, he cares about preserving nature, ain't that right, so a brunch of squirrels throwing pebbles at lumberjacks is kinda up his alley, if you thinkv about it," he argues, precociously using the self-contradictory injonctions present in any religious text to find an interpretation that matches his goals. Perhaps he had a future as a politician.
Jewel stares at Clara for several seconds, thinking about her words. "She said that actions speak louder than words, which is true."
"No, Erastil doesn't play pranks, and squirrels don't throw rocks at people unless someone convinces them to do it."
|
|
"Then what does he do, besides telling people they can't have fun?!" Tarjun grumbles. "You'd think he'd have more important business than worrying about people talking to squirrels and playing pranks for fun!"
He strikes a comically serious pose that mimics a preacher's. "Thou shalt not teach rodents to throw pebbles at thy neighbor - even if it's kinda funny - for the sake of thy immortal souuuul..."
"So Tarjun, what are we going to do now, while Jewel does adulting?"
Jewel listens to the exchange between Tarjun and Clara for just a few seconds. She wants to scream at them but can't. She turns and runs toward the trees. She really did want to get the work done there. But why couldn't she stop crying?
When she gets close to the area with her saplings she avoids approaching anyone. She needs to wipe the tears from her face. She examines the saplings to be sure they are healthy and growing well. If any need water she casts the orison to create water and spreads it where needed. Next she moves to where the lumberjacks are cutting. Her focus was to avoid clear cutting, but also to make it easy to cut the biggest trees and make room for the smaller ones. She also studies how they will fall so they will be easy to strip and remove for processing. She does her best to make it easy for the men while netter for the forest.
Being in the trees Jewel feels more at ease. Was she closer to Erastil here? No. That wasn't it. She feels that the uncut forest was just more like Erastil's realm might be. "Forgive me for my errors in judgement Erastil. Sometimes I.... Sometimes I speak without thinking. I know I should never abuse innocent animals, especially to make them do wrong things to humans. I'll try to do better in the future." She sits down with her back against a tree and rests, clearing her mind to meditate.
|
|
Tarjun meets Clara's gaze, and sighs. "Or maybe we just cheer her up now."
"Seriously. She always ends up feeling bad about herself, with all this Erastil stuff. It's not even her I was making fun of - it's all those grown-ups acting like we're damning ourselves every time we behave like kids." He grabs his crutch. "You ever talk about religion much at home, Clara?"
"Nah. Everyone points at swallowtails if they see one, but other than that it seldom comes up. Our most regular religious practice is sleeping. That counts as prayer." Clara replies.
|
|
"Sounds a lot better, actually. Now, if I know anything 'bout my sis, I bet she moved on straight to another task - and we haven't marked the trees today..."
It's a short walk to the clearing, but it feels quite long considering that Tarjun slows down his pace considerably. He knows better than to rush and show up without having left Jewel enough time to process her feelings.
He approaches her while she's meditating. "Heya, Jewie. How are ya feeling?"
Jewel hears someone approaching and focuses on the sounds. She recognizes Tarjun's walk and smiles. The prayer and meditation had cleared her emotions again and she smiles at his words. She stretches as she stands and smiles at Clara as well.
"Better. Had a short talk with Erastil and then some time to think. Sometimes I need to remember that I'm not an adult yet. And sometimes I have to remember that I'm not just a little kid either. There is a balance to all things."
"I checked on the saplings and the trees to cut for the next few days. All good here. So what do we want to do next that doesn't involve getting animals in trouble?"
|
|
"Look, Jewie," Tarjun clears his throat. "I'm sorry you took what I said badly, okay? I didn't wanna make you sad."
"All I wanted to say is, I don't think a god that makes little girls like you feel like they're not good enough is worth worshipping." A beat. "No, wait, that sounded bad again. It ain't about the fact that you believe in Erastil or stuff, or even that you get powers from it or something."
"But you've got this idea in your head that he's gonna judge you on everything, and you get so anxious about doing everything right, you forget that you're literally eleven, and I don't think any god that is supposed to be about family and kids is gonna strike a child with lightning just for being a child, right? 'Cause that'd be insane."
"And anyway, people lie, and cheat, and are mean all the time. It's gonna happen to you too, and the less you beat yourself up over it, the better. You want to be perfect so bad - but you've got about eighty years ahead of you to mess up in ways you wouldn't even think of. So don't be too harsh on yourself if you ain't perfect at eleven, you know what I mean? It ain't worth it. You're just gonna feed that anxiety feeling of yours until you can't manage it anymore."
"What he said." Clara approves. "I never understood why a god would be extra hard on those who try to follow their rules while at the same time leaving those who flip them the bird alone. Makes no sense to me."
"Shouldn't they cheer you on where you're doing good instead?"
Jewel has a peaceful smile on her face while she listens to Tarjun and Clara. "Tarjun, You do plenty that is useful or good, without hardly trying. That's just because of how we've been raised by our parents. You have rules for how you act practically written on your soul. You fight those rules, and occasionally win. But you are good. Erastil doesn't strike anyone down with lightning or any other type of attack. Doing so would break the rules that the Gods have to follow. They count on their followers to work on their behalf."
"Erastil isn't making me feel bad. I'm making myself feel bad when I don't do as well as I feel that I should. Perhaps it's a higher standard than I should do since I'm only twelve years old. But remember the example that we got when we first met the two ghosts. Remember Mr. Dawnbreeze and Breathnacht? Breathnacht had been a cleric of Erastil but he did things wrong because he was totally focused on being more powerful. He didn't follow Erastil's guidance and eventually lost the grace that Erastil had given him. If we hadn't been able to do that atonement ritual for him he would have been cursed forever. Any time I do wrong I remember him. Maybe the wrongs that I do are minor. But if I don't focus on doing right? Maybe I'll do worse, and worse.... I don't want to be like Breathnacht!"
|
|
Tarjun sighs. "You're not gonna end up like Breathnacht, Jewie. Because Breathnacht is - was - a complete jerk. You're not. You just sometimes forget that it's okay to feel like you're doing enough. You always worry about being more this and that - kinder, or more responsible, or less emotive, or whatnot. You're never satisfied - with yourself."
"But tell you what, you're plenty cool already. It's Erastil who should worry about not being damn enough for you. And don't you damn stress about missing something!"
"It's alright Tarjun. Things will work out. But now, what do we want to do today, that doesn't involve having squirrels prank people?"
"I guess we have to throw the nuts at Jack ourself then." Clara sighs.
Jewel glares at both again. "Oh get over yourselves! Why do you both want to throw nuts at Jack? He's a jerk, but he hasn't done anything 'wrong' to any of us. At least nothing worse than what we've done to him. Besides, he's harmless compared to any of us."
"Well, we could throw nuts at your mum too if we could find her."
"If we take that into consideration we should throw acorns. They are much easier to find than hazelnuts."
"Why would we throw nuts at our Mom? Would you throw nuts at your mother? That might make her mad and she'd shoot you with her bow!"
"Speaking of a bow, I need to work on my bow. Maybe if we go get branches for you two we could all make longbows. Once we know how to make them we'll have proper bows for ourselves, and can make money selling them!"
"My mom would never shoot me with a bow. What kind of mom do you have?" Clara inquires aghast.
"If the prank would be funny, she'd laugh with me. If it hurt her, she'd probably give me noogie or something. Or if I get her really good she might prank me back."
"If the prank is stupid and hurts, then I might be in for real trouble."
Clara ponders some more. "You know what? Each of us throws acorns at their own parents for a prank and we see who has the coolest parents."
|
|
"I like money," Tarjun concedes. "But more work?" he grimaces. "And sell them to who anyway? There's like, twelve people in this entire village, and I've only seen Mrs Johnson use one."
"We don't have to use acorns," he compromises magnanimously. "We can pick something softer. Like berries. Or flowers."