Post by Maxy on Mar 2, 2011 16:25:01 GMT -5
So, I hope this is okay, but last night I had a crazy desire to write, so write I did, and this is the result. At some point, I plan to go into her father's death (the poisoning, to be exact) but for now, I think this a good overview of how I see my puppy.
Keilani's Recent Past
She and her brother didn’t look all that different. Both were canines of moderate size – although she carried herself with more poise than her twin ever would. Body shape aside, they were also both Spades and colored bright turquoise and bubblegum pink; in fact, at first or even third glance, the only noticeable discrepancy lay in the styling of their wine-colored hair. The girl wore hers in loose braids that swung around past her neck, while the boy preferred dreadlocks. Needless to say, they were often confused with one another, especially when they were little.
It soon became apparent, however, that in terms of personality they were as opposing as the poles. He was like their dear mother, Midori through and through: something of a mooch and completely lacking in ambition of any kind. The girl was willing to cut their mother some slack for this terrible character flaw; there was something charming about her easy displays of affection that her daughter couldn’t help but respond to. How she felt about her brother, on the other hand, was more complicated…
Unlike her brother, who grew up on the sunny beaches of Midori and never ventured from its shores, Keilani spent her childhood shuffling back and forth from there and the Selki Lakes. That was where her father, a blue and white fox and the most influential creature in her life, lived and managed his business. She spent school years with him, only returning to Midori for summer vacation and some breaks. She had no issue with this living arrangement; her father was strict but very kind, and the classes she took at the Selkie school were more diverse and challenging than anything she could hope to take in Midori. It was a difficult day when she learned she was better educated than her mother and brother, and worse still when she realized neither of them cared. To them, the hot sun and foamy surf would never lose its appeal, whereas she always felt like a fish out of water.
It wasn’t that way when she was living near the freshwater lakes with her father. There, she felt appreciated. Her father and business associates were all so pleased and impressed by both her willingness to haggle and her overall competitive nature, and it was no secret that she was being raised to follow in his footsteps. Compare that to her mother, who laughed good-naturedly at Keilani’s constant pleas to save money rather than waste it on baubles and Midori grass, and her brother, who could sleep the day away and feel it was time well spent. So, even though she felt a natural affinity for wet sand and salty air, the Midori girl was always looking foreword to getting back to work.
But what if the only work to see to was burying your father?
Her father. Funny thing. She always called her mother ‘mother,’ usually accompanied by a sigh of exasperation, but her father – Watson – was never anything but Dad. Her relationship with her mother wasn’t strained, Halia never raised her voice, making arguing impossible, but they weren’t close. Keilani and her Dad, on the other hand, were thick as thieves. She had her own friends, of course, her own life, but at the end of the day she admired her Dad and wanted nothing more than to be like him. He had an amazing work ethic she was doing her best to cultivate and did not allow failure either from himself or those around him. Although he gave spoken praise rarely, she never doubted his love and respect, and the best memories of her life were the long conversations they had over takeout.
She hadn’t expected them to become memories so quickly. Her Dad had never been sick with anything more dangerous than the flu, and was hardly old enough to be considered middle-aged, let alone knocking on Death’s door. Yet knock he did, until eventually Death let him in.
The days that past after her Dad’s passing went by in a blur. She was only partially aware of what happened; the funeral, the crowd of relatives she barely knew, it was as if she was only half alive. All she remembered was a sea of black and pastel flowers. Maybe that was for the best. It hurt enough already – maybe it was better she went through those first horrific weeks in a trance-like state.
Like sand through some ugly hourglass, time marched on. The strong part of her, badly shaken but nonetheless present, reasoned that her Dad would have delighted in the receding grief. He wasn’t a fan of fuss, just one of the ways they were similar, and the idea that his favorite child would give into her sorrow for so long would annoy the living daylight’s out of him. She could just hear his voice in her head, chiding her on her inability to see to business. “What’s the point of having that brain of yours if it’s not put to good use?”’ That was her father, practical to a fault.
For a while there, Keilani wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to follow his advice. Her account books lay untouched, she stopped going to class, and her life in general seemed to pause. The only thing she was able to do was visit her Dad’s grave, and even then there were all too many days she couldn’t even get out of bed.
What finally shook her from this depressive state, surprisingly, was a visit from her mother. This was the first time Keilani could remember her leaving Midori, and she only did so because she was sick with worry. “I know we’ve never been close, not like you and… you’re father, but we’re family and we’ll pull through this together.” The words didn’t mean as much as the dawning understanding that even though her Dad was dead and gone – even now, she refused to believe in an afterlife of any kind – she wasn’t alone.
In the days that followed, her motivation and high standards flowed through her in waves. She was still feeling sad and angry and lonely and so many other adjectives she was basically a walking thesaurus, of course, but she was able to sleep for a few hours a night. Her new found energy enabled her to get back to work, albeit slowly and with a lack of confidence that she had never had to deal with before. That, she could innately sense, would take a while for her to reclaim. In the meantime, she would crunch her numbers, visit with employees, and most importantly of all, avoid the all-too-familiar dinner table.
Keilani's Recent Past
She and her brother didn’t look all that different. Both were canines of moderate size – although she carried herself with more poise than her twin ever would. Body shape aside, they were also both Spades and colored bright turquoise and bubblegum pink; in fact, at first or even third glance, the only noticeable discrepancy lay in the styling of their wine-colored hair. The girl wore hers in loose braids that swung around past her neck, while the boy preferred dreadlocks. Needless to say, they were often confused with one another, especially when they were little.
It soon became apparent, however, that in terms of personality they were as opposing as the poles. He was like their dear mother, Midori through and through: something of a mooch and completely lacking in ambition of any kind. The girl was willing to cut their mother some slack for this terrible character flaw; there was something charming about her easy displays of affection that her daughter couldn’t help but respond to. How she felt about her brother, on the other hand, was more complicated…
Unlike her brother, who grew up on the sunny beaches of Midori and never ventured from its shores, Keilani spent her childhood shuffling back and forth from there and the Selki Lakes. That was where her father, a blue and white fox and the most influential creature in her life, lived and managed his business. She spent school years with him, only returning to Midori for summer vacation and some breaks. She had no issue with this living arrangement; her father was strict but very kind, and the classes she took at the Selkie school were more diverse and challenging than anything she could hope to take in Midori. It was a difficult day when she learned she was better educated than her mother and brother, and worse still when she realized neither of them cared. To them, the hot sun and foamy surf would never lose its appeal, whereas she always felt like a fish out of water.
It wasn’t that way when she was living near the freshwater lakes with her father. There, she felt appreciated. Her father and business associates were all so pleased and impressed by both her willingness to haggle and her overall competitive nature, and it was no secret that she was being raised to follow in his footsteps. Compare that to her mother, who laughed good-naturedly at Keilani’s constant pleas to save money rather than waste it on baubles and Midori grass, and her brother, who could sleep the day away and feel it was time well spent. So, even though she felt a natural affinity for wet sand and salty air, the Midori girl was always looking foreword to getting back to work.
But what if the only work to see to was burying your father?
Her father. Funny thing. She always called her mother ‘mother,’ usually accompanied by a sigh of exasperation, but her father – Watson – was never anything but Dad. Her relationship with her mother wasn’t strained, Halia never raised her voice, making arguing impossible, but they weren’t close. Keilani and her Dad, on the other hand, were thick as thieves. She had her own friends, of course, her own life, but at the end of the day she admired her Dad and wanted nothing more than to be like him. He had an amazing work ethic she was doing her best to cultivate and did not allow failure either from himself or those around him. Although he gave spoken praise rarely, she never doubted his love and respect, and the best memories of her life were the long conversations they had over takeout.
She hadn’t expected them to become memories so quickly. Her Dad had never been sick with anything more dangerous than the flu, and was hardly old enough to be considered middle-aged, let alone knocking on Death’s door. Yet knock he did, until eventually Death let him in.
The days that past after her Dad’s passing went by in a blur. She was only partially aware of what happened; the funeral, the crowd of relatives she barely knew, it was as if she was only half alive. All she remembered was a sea of black and pastel flowers. Maybe that was for the best. It hurt enough already – maybe it was better she went through those first horrific weeks in a trance-like state.
Like sand through some ugly hourglass, time marched on. The strong part of her, badly shaken but nonetheless present, reasoned that her Dad would have delighted in the receding grief. He wasn’t a fan of fuss, just one of the ways they were similar, and the idea that his favorite child would give into her sorrow for so long would annoy the living daylight’s out of him. She could just hear his voice in her head, chiding her on her inability to see to business. “What’s the point of having that brain of yours if it’s not put to good use?”’ That was her father, practical to a fault.
For a while there, Keilani wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to follow his advice. Her account books lay untouched, she stopped going to class, and her life in general seemed to pause. The only thing she was able to do was visit her Dad’s grave, and even then there were all too many days she couldn’t even get out of bed.
What finally shook her from this depressive state, surprisingly, was a visit from her mother. This was the first time Keilani could remember her leaving Midori, and she only did so because she was sick with worry. “I know we’ve never been close, not like you and… you’re father, but we’re family and we’ll pull through this together.” The words didn’t mean as much as the dawning understanding that even though her Dad was dead and gone – even now, she refused to believe in an afterlife of any kind – she wasn’t alone.
In the days that followed, her motivation and high standards flowed through her in waves. She was still feeling sad and angry and lonely and so many other adjectives she was basically a walking thesaurus, of course, but she was able to sleep for a few hours a night. Her new found energy enabled her to get back to work, albeit slowly and with a lack of confidence that she had never had to deal with before. That, she could innately sense, would take a while for her to reclaim. In the meantime, she would crunch her numbers, visit with employees, and most importantly of all, avoid the all-too-familiar dinner table.
