Learning His Letters

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 30th April 2006

Characters: R'alt, R'mer
Description: R'alt helps R'mer with his reading
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 12 of Turn 3

"The Lord Hoooo... Hoooldairs... Lord Holders... are resss...
resssp...respooooonsaiblay... respohnsaiblay? What is this word?"

R'alt swallowed his mouthful of lukewarm klah, wincing at the bitter
aftertaste. This stuff sure tasted better hot. "Responsible. The Lord
Holders are responsible."

"Responsible? But there is an 'e' at the end. Doesn't it make the 'i'
an 'ai' sound?" Shards, but letters were confusing!

"Usually when the 'b l e' are strung together like that, the 'e' is
silent." The brown weyrling leaned forward again, propping his forearms
up on the small table. "You ignore it."

"But the harper told me that when there is an 'e' at the end of the
word, you say the vowel like the letter sounds. I _know_ he said that.
I actually _remember_ that part," R'mer groaned, holding his head in his
hands. Shards, reading was so much more frustrating than he remembered
it being.

Shards - how could he _explain_ this to him? "Well," R'alt began
slowly, rubbing his brow with his fingers, "the harper's right. For
some of the words. Not all of them. Just like in all kinds of stuff in real life,
there are exceptions to the rules."

"Ok, well then, what about this word? Is it 'tith'? Or 'taith'?"
Neither one made any sense to him...

"Tithe. Pretend the 'i' is sharp sounding 'y'."

"Shards, R'alt, this is gonna take me a whole sevenday to read," the
bronze weyrling moaned holding his head in his hands. "I'll never get
this assignment done."

"You'll get it done." He gave the younger boy a cheerful, encouraging
grin. "Reading, believe it or not, gets easier. All it takes is
practice. And time, which we're kind of short on at the moment..." this
last was a mutter. "But you _will_ get it done."

"R'alt, could you please just read it to me? It's taken me a candlemark
to read just the first two paragraphs! This assignment is due tomorrow.
And I still have to try to _write_ it! It's going to take all night.
I just... I don't have the brain for this kind of thing anymore."

Propping one foot up on the table, R'alt leaned back in his chair - but
not before grabbing the book and resting it on his thigh. "Alright,
R'mer, I'll read the rest to you. I guess you've done enough where I
can cut you a break." That good-humored grin was back. "I take it
you've never pulled an all-nighter before, huh?"

All-nighter? "A what?"

"All-nighter. You know, where you stay up until the sharding crack of
dawn doing whatever it is you're doing...or have to get done." This
time, his grin held slight arrogance to it - but it had nothing to do
with R'mer and everything to do with...other memories. "Usually, if you want
to stick it out and finish assignments like these, you drink mugs and
_mugs_ of klah to keep yourself awake." Pointedly, R'alt took another
drink of his own mug of klah, then raised it in salute to his friend.
"All-nighter."

"Yeah, well, lights out kind of ends that idea," R'mer frowned. "I have
one more candlemark to finish this sharding assignment. And all I can
thinking about is that I am sick of reading and writing and all this
mess. I'm just not smart like everyone else."

R'alt sighed as he set his klah back down onto the table. "You don't
_really_ believe that, do you? You're just saying it 'cause you're
pissed, right?"

R'mer sat up and folded his arms across his chest. "Look, you guys have
been able to do this kind of things since you were _kids_. It should be
easier that this, for shards sake! I'm an adult, I should be able to
read better than a holdbrat just learning his letters. My brain just...
isn't suited to this."

"I thought you just said that a harper told you about vowels. Doesn't
that mean that you had _some_ teaching before now?"

"Yes, that's just the point," R'mer said throwing his hands up in the
air in frustration. "I learned how to read until I was eight, but I
read worse now then I did then. I missed my chance, R'alt. I'm too old to
learn this stuff now."

"No," he shook his head. "You're not too old. It'll be harder than
when you were eight, but not _impossible_." R'alt looked at him. "How
come you stopped taking the lessons, Rey?"

He shrugged slightly. "Pa died. I had to help my uncle with the farm.
It was too much for him to work two farms all on his own."

"Oh." He winced at how that came out. "I'm sorry about your Pa.
I...guess you didn't have any older brothers?"

R'mer shook his head. "No, I'm the oldest of five children. My only
other brother had just been born. There wasn't anyone else."

Oldest of _five_? Shards. And R'mer really wasn't that old... "Well,
having some knowledge about reading is better than starting straight
from scratch. You can learn it, R'mer."

"Naw," R'mer said with a resigned frown. "My sister Imrie was always
the smart one. She can read anything. And she can do math and knows
her history. She knows all her teaching ballads perfectly."

"Probably because she stayed inside to keep on with lessons while you
were outside keeping the farm with your uncle." R'alt shrugged a
shoulder. "Here, you have a chance to do what your sister has learned. If I were
you, I'd take advantage of the situation and give it your best shot. I
mean, what have you got to lose, right?"

"I _am_ trying, R'alt. But it makes my head hurt and it just takes so
sharding _long_..." If Imrie were there she'd read it for him. She was
so good at reading. On long winter nights that was the family's
entertainment. Though they only had two books in the house, and perhaps
something new every once in a while if the harper thought to bring them
one, they just loved listening to Imrie's voice. Sometimes he didn't
even understand what the big words she was using meant, but it was just
the way that she read it that made it beautiful. Shards, but he missed
those times, her voice, and his best friend... He shook his head. It was no
use missing his family. They would meet in a few months anyway...
"Well, I don't think I can read any more tonight."

"I told you I'd cut you a break." R'alt's tone was a little annoyed,
but then he sighed, deciding to just let it go. For now. R'mer needed
more confidence, and shardit, if he wouldn't gain it by himself, R'alt would
shove it down his throat. He would _make_ him have more of the sharding
confidence. "Alright, Rey. Let's get this part of the assignment over
with." The brown weyrling took in a deep breath before beginning, "
'The Lord Holders are expected to tithe to the Weyrs they are beholden
to, for not only is it their duty but...' "

Last updated on the May 3rd 2006

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Learning His Letters