Season content notes: (internalized) ableism

Kyatchais waited nervously outside the compound. Beside em was eir wise-parent, the leader of eir parents’ generation of the SilentSpinners. They had arrived early — rudely early, to much of the city. But they weren’t waiting for city-folk. They were waiting for farwalker Lefeng, who would be on eir morning run. The youngest of Kyatchais’ siblings needed help, and ey could only hope Lefeng could provide it.

After a few minutes wait — long enough Kyatchais got twitchy but not so long ey had to pull out eir spindle — Lefeng came around the corner.

Eir legs moved in a family way. It reminded of Kyatchais of eir own fingers when a bundle of fiber ran out unexpectedly — not wanting to stop, trying to continue the familiar and comfortable motion. If they had not been waiting, would Lefeng have stopped? Or, Kyatchais wondered fancifully, would ey have kept walking all the way back to eir lost mountains.

But if the guarding-one’s legs wished to continue, eir face and voice smiled as ey called out to them. “Ho! I didn’t think city folks were about this early.”

“Greetings, tall-one,” Kyawtchais said “I would introduce my parent, the Wise-Parent of the SilentSpinners.”

Lefeng bobbed eir head and hand-spoke a welcome. “Greeting Spinner. Would you like to enter and speak with my family?”

“Actually,” Kyawtchais said, “my parent wishes to speak with you.”

“With me?”

The senior spinner hand-spoke, “My youngest child needs far-walker aid. If you would grant some time.”

Lefeng chewed eir lip. “I am… no longer a far-walker. And I don’t know what help I can be. But if you will come in and share a drink, I can listen.”

Something in the way ey said ‘share a drink’ was strange to Kyatchais. As is, as non-Spinners often did, ey meant more than the words said. But the wise-parent agreed and Lefeng led them into the compound and waved them to the banked cook fire.

They squat down by the glowing coals, while Lefeng ducked into the season shelter. Ey emerged again carrying a small wineskin and joined them. Lefeng took a long drink and passed the skin to Kyawtchais, gesturing for eir to drink and pass it to the wise-parent. “The wine goes around the circle. While there is wine to drink, you talk. When the wine is gone, it will be my turn to speak.”

The senior began hand-speaking immediately, and Kyawtchais spoke to translate. As they spoke, the wine continued to pass around.

“My child has always been interested in animals. Hated spinning, any chance ey got, ey was off watching animals.

“Well, at some point ey learned that you could learn about where an animal had been by tracks, and nothing would do but ey spent more hours studying their tracks. And hooking up pretty quick with the younglings from a far-walker family in town, learning more from them over the summer and practicing it as much as he could while they were gone.”

At first, Kyatchais was afraid Lefeng would drink so much at each pass the wine would be gone before the story could be told. But soon Lefeng took only small sips, listening intently.

Kyawtchais’ sibling seemed to connect well with the far-walker family, but as a youngling needed to be home each day. However, the spinning family has had hopes of a possible marriage, and recently the far-walking family has been open to the idea.

Last week, Kyawtchais’ sibling, now a near-adult, had been permitted to accompany the far-walker near-adults on a hunt. Ey did very well for the first part of the hunt, helping with tracking and learning how to travel the trail. But when they cornered the animals, ey had gotten overwhelmed, insisting ey could feel every wound the animals had taken.

This wasn’t the first Kyawtchais’ family had noticed the near-adult’s sensitivity. In fact, ey has always been very uncomfortable around anyone or anything in pain. But this might doom any chance of the marriage. The other near-adults had to practically carry em back to the city.

The far-walker family was now saying that any chance of a marriage is off, that a parent who cannot hunt cannot contribute. Lefeng was a far-walker who learned of Kyawtchais’ peculiarities and was able to adapt to them.

Can ey help forge a compromise with this family?

The bag was still a quarter full, and Lefeng took a larger drink but didn’t drain it. “Is it only the pain and the dying, or is it also the dead?”

Ey passed the bag to Kyawtchais, who looked to eir parent, unsure.

The parent hand-spoke ‘drink,’ then continued to Lefeng, “As a child, ey would bring dead animals back to the compound to study them. As a youngling, ey helped the far-walkers with skinning and butchering.”

When the bag returned to em, Lefeng finished the last of the wine and set it aside.

After thinking a few minutes, ey called Kolchais over and asked, “Can the family spare me a few days?”

Kolchais’ eyebrows met eir hairline, but ey only said, “We can, but you may forfeit your work with the city.”

“The job ends this month anyway.”

Kolchais nodded, and Lefeng turned back to the wise-parent. “I will take the near-adult on a short walk, a half week. I must see what skills ey has to advise you. You will negotiate with my spouse-to-be for the cost of my services. I will be at your compound at dawn tomorrow to collect the near-adult.”

Lefeng grabbed one of the rounds of flat breads Chotaikytsai had left by the fire and went to work on the near-finished wattle walls. Ey sang while ey worked, and Kyatchais smiled to hear it.

Perhaps this would be good for all of them.

---