Schooling age

Dury was wildly in love with music and dance. Announcing that she wanted to be a bard and go to ?? to learn the trade. Suddenly Lyleth knew it was time for Dury to go to the school in Mispoint. With trepidation, Lyleth prepared Dury for her formal, formative years.

“Dury!” Lyleth called and called. ‘That little mischievous child where is she?’ Lyleth hung out the window of the tree house and took a mighty inward breath, and then she hollered. “Dury! Get your little tail home!” it was not a question it was a demand.


Dury heard Lyleth’s holler clear across the field and ran. It was not very often that Lyleth yelled or screamed and when she did it was serious and not to delay. Her beautiful new purple dress caught around her ankles as she scampered up an embankment, making her roll backwards, ‘Pestilent gnat of a spider tree!’ Dury’s mind squealed as she fell into a puddle of mud. Standing up she stamped her feet in anger, her eyes welling with tears. “Blasted croaking father of a troll!” she hissed as she looked down at her pretty dress. “Lyleth is not going to be pleased!”

Lyleth stood hands on hips, watching Dury as she trundled up the front path. Evidence of the fall was all over her dress and her face was streaked with tears. Lyleth shook her head and smiled. ‘Maybe I should dress her in boy’s breeches for playing. At least then she can tear them and get them very dirty and it won’t make as much work for me.’

“Dury stopper those tears. I’m quite used to the fact that you ruin your good dress’s. You are such a girl, when you whimper and cry like that!” Lyleth scooped Dury into her arms, all the while giving her a quick visual appraisal. ‘Nope not a scratch, no squishy bits. My girls a strong one.’ She smiled as she released Dury. Instructing her to change into other clothes.

“Dury, its time that you went to school.”
“No!”
“Yes, and there will be no argument. I will not allow this one to be manipulated by you.” Lyleth wore her hard eyes and voice. The one that Dury did not hear all that often, but had heard enough to know it brooked no resistance.
Pouting Dury tried her sad face, only to end up laughing. “Please no!”
“Dury, don’t even try it on with me. I know you all too well.” Lyleth looked her in the eyes. Taking her hand, she led Dury to the front room and they sat down to discuss school and the future.

‘Ok, so I’m a Halfling. I knew that!’ Dury sat swinging her legs from the landing outside the kitchen. ‘I’ll live longer than a lot of my human friends and Halfling friends.’ She chewed her lower lip. ‘No biggy there.’ Lyleth’s cooking scents made Dury’s tummy dance. ‘Oh I’m so hungry, I could eat a Orc!’ Dury glanced over her shoulder, silently begging that Lyleth would cook faster. ‘Why does Lyleth insist on telling me what I’ve already worked out?’ Dury crinkled her eyes, deep in thought.

****

Dury was not the only one of her friends that had a pigtail. However, hers was very long. It started high up, almost on the top of her head and ending halfway down her back. It was fat too. Dury on chill days would pull it around her neck, like a scarf, and keep her throat warm.

Lyleth knew Dury’s hair was far from ordinary, she looked at the pigtail, and it made her feel sudden affectionate pride for her adoptive daughter. She then patted Dury’s bottom and handed her the satchel with her parchments, quills, and lunch.

“Off to school!” she said with a toothy smile. “Don’t argue with the teacher and please stay away from the mud ponds.” Her voice hinted at the laughter that she could barely contain.

Dury climbed down the ladder, her school satchel strapped tightly across her back, the hem of her purple dress securely held into place in her mouth. Concern and pride glowed from her face as she looked back up at Lyleth standing on the front landing.

“Go on now Dury! You will be fine!” Lyleth’s heart pounded in her chest as she tried to reassure her daughter that school was good. Lyleth was a little more than apprehensive when it came to Dury. “You’ll make plenty of new friends and start going out to parties, soon enough. Now Get!” As Dury turned her back, Lyleth quickly whipped a hand up to her eyes and wiped at a tear that threatened to spill. Her stomach was in knots.

****

“I’m far from ordinary!” Dury squared off facing her teacher. “No one is this school is ordinary! How dare you insinuate that we are all ordinary!” Her small face reddened, her hands clutched into tight little fists of frustration. “Take a look at us..’ Dury raised her hands, signalling at the crowd of young students that stood quietly behind her. “We live in the City of Halflings and you call us ordinary!” Her eyes tightened, she could feel her rage building. Swallowing deeply she chewed it back to the bottom of her stomach. ‘Later I’ll have to release this anger.’ She thought as she continued to confront the teacher.

“Dury Lane!, put a cork in it.” the teacher frowned. “You were not listening in the correct fashion.” His whiskered chin wobbled as he spoke. “What I said little miss cheeky mouth, was we have a collection of both ordinary children and extraordinary.”
Stern eyes held Dury’s, “You were distracted by lets just same nameless students.” He looked at the group of boys standing behind Dury, knowing that they had tugged her braid as he was making the curriculum announcement. “Now if you would just calm down, I’ll finish what I was saying.” He met Dury’s gaze and held it. A feeling of kinship, rushed into Dury’s soul.

“Today as it is the first day of school ….”

****
Meeting the strange old woman on the path home had made Dury pause and think. She’d said out of the blue, “It’s a pretty bizarre thing to learn to cope with, your gift. Its only weird if you find it weird!” She laughed, “You’re going to have to learn to digest it the proper way as it is happening or you will have trouble in the future.” Dury frowned in consternation, ‘What in the Mothers is she on about?’ Dury looked over her shoulder as she went past the strange old woman. “Your going to blow someone away one day.” She called after Dury, “Seek out Father Elsen, he will assist you.”

Later on her way home Dury stopped past the God Elsen’s shrine. She stood with her head cocked to the side and mouthed ‘Help me!’ As soon as she said that, things just went whooshing around inside her head. Like white noise, Dury put her hands over here eyes and waited for it to all subside.