Nelu draft
“Well, there were my great-great grandparents, my great grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, and then your mother and me. So Nelu, you can trace your existence here in Shtele five generations back. Beyond that, we have no books or any records whatsoever of our family’s history or the town’s either for that matter.”
Nelu brushed a dusty blond strand of hair from his eyes and looked down at his father’s thick, used leather traveling boots. He had been lecturing Nelu the past two weeks about their family’s past, the importance of continuing the family’s “rich enterprise” of the trade-craft and merchant know-how, and Nelu had finally realized why. His birthday was coming up; he would be 16, the age when the Shtele Swiztan trained all their villagers to fight and follow in their family’s footsteps. Nelu was very unenthused about that fact; he never saw any good come from bloodshed, especially in a village as defenseless as Shtele. What was worse however, was that Nelu had absolutely no interest in “unleashing his inner merchant” and spending his life like his parents: riding in caravans from town to town their entire lives, just making enough money to feed Nelu and his little sister, and then die. There has to be more, he pondered, out there in the world. Outside the Cluster where no one from his village had yet explored, not while staying alive, anyway.
His father snapped him out of his consternation, “Nelu! Are you even listening?” He sighed, but followed with a throaty chuckle. “I know what you’re thinking about.”
“You do?” Nelu responded quizzically.
“Well of course! When I was your age, just about to turn 16, I remember thinking about how eager I was to become like my father. To follow his path, but swath a string of accomplishments that even he couldn’t achieve, to become to best damn merchant in the Cluster!” His father looked up proudly at the sky, as if recalling a time long past, a small tear of joy forming in his eye.
Nelu looked up at him incredulously. “Right, pops. It’s like you can read minds.” He knew how important all of this was to his father, and he didn’t want to disappoint him.
A small-framed farmer walked up to the fire pit where Nelu and his father were sitting. “Hey there, Dr. Blante. Just saw little Khet running into town with Sarah, looks like they’re back from Micres.”
Dr. Blante stood up and brushed some dirt off his rear. “Thanks Kent. By the way, how is Hamie’s shoulder?”
“Just fine, doctor. She’s doin just fine, thanks for askin.” Kent gave Nelu and the doctor a friendly wave, then spun on his heel and returned to his hut.
Khet marched up to her big brother triumphantly, her bright blond hair swinging madly about her head. “Guess what Nelu. WE got to eat Ketzel eggs today at Micres.” She folded her arms, waiting for Nelu to lower on one knee and beg her for leftovers.
Nelu walked past her towards his mother, shaking his head slightly. “Hey mom, have a good run today?”
His mother wiped some sweat off her brow, looking out across the dry plains at the setting sun. “Yeah, it wasn’t bad. Made it back before sunset this time.”
Dr. Blante took his wife’s arm and said, “C’mon honey, I got a surprise for you back at the house.”
As their parents, walked off, Nelu and Khet duteously began making a fire in the pit at their feet. It was the Blante family’s week to be firestarters, and their parents had left their kids in charge.
Nelu brushed a dusty blond strand of hair from his eyes and looked down at his father’s thick, used leather traveling boots. He had been lecturing Nelu the past two weeks about their family’s past, the importance of continuing the family’s “rich enterprise” of the trade-craft and merchant know-how, and Nelu had finally realized why. His birthday was coming up; he would be 16, the age when the Shtele Swiztan trained all their villagers to fight and follow in their family’s footsteps. Nelu was very unenthused about that fact; he never saw any good come from bloodshed, especially in a village as defenseless as Shtele. What was worse however, was that Nelu had absolutely no interest in “unleashing his inner merchant” and spending his life like his parents: riding in caravans from town to town their entire lives, just making enough money to feed Nelu and his little sister, and then die. There has to be more, he pondered, out there in the world. Outside the Cluster where no one from his village had yet explored, not while staying alive, anyway.
His father snapped him out of his consternation, “Nelu! Are you even listening?” He sighed, but followed with a throaty chuckle. “I know what you’re thinking about.”
“You do?” Nelu responded quizzically.
“Well of course! When I was your age, just about to turn 16, I remember thinking about how eager I was to become like my father. To follow his path, but swath a string of accomplishments that even he couldn’t achieve, to become to best damn merchant in the Cluster!” His father looked up proudly at the sky, as if recalling a time long past, a small tear of joy forming in his eye.
Nelu looked up at him incredulously. “Right, pops. It’s like you can read minds.” He knew how important all of this was to his father, and he didn’t want to disappoint him.
A small-framed farmer walked up to the fire pit where Nelu and his father were sitting. “Hey there, Dr. Blante. Just saw little Khet running into town with Sarah, looks like they’re back from Micres.”
Dr. Blante stood up and brushed some dirt off his rear. “Thanks Kent. By the way, how is Hamie’s shoulder?”
“Just fine, doctor. She’s doin just fine, thanks for askin.” Kent gave Nelu and the doctor a friendly wave, then spun on his heel and returned to his hut.
Khet marched up to her big brother triumphantly, her bright blond hair swinging madly about her head. “Guess what Nelu. WE got to eat Ketzel eggs today at Micres.” She folded her arms, waiting for Nelu to lower on one knee and beg her for leftovers.
Nelu walked past her towards his mother, shaking his head slightly. “Hey mom, have a good run today?”
His mother wiped some sweat off her brow, looking out across the dry plains at the setting sun. “Yeah, it wasn’t bad. Made it back before sunset this time.”
Dr. Blante took his wife’s arm and said, “C’mon honey, I got a surprise for you back at the house.”
As their parents, walked off, Nelu and Khet duteously began making a fire in the pit at their feet. It was the Blante family’s week to be firestarters, and their parents had left their kids in charge.
posted by Spudler at 12:19 PM
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