Lydia Schoch

Photo by Mr. Seafall.

This might only make sense to fellow writers, but the characters in After the Storm have begun leading me into plot twists I was hoping to avoid. Many years ago I had a similar issue with a character in another story. I was so invested in finding a way around who she kept turning out to be that I ended up aborting the project. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to where she was taking me and less to my preconceived ideas about the kind of protagonist I wanted for that tale.

I won’t make that mistake again. As I follow Daphne and her friends and family into new territory here are some of the things I will be asking them as I write.

No, the subject matter of these questions should not necessarily be interpreted as foreshadowing. I can guarantee with 99.99% certainty that there are no pterodactyls in Daphne’s world, but how she reacts to them may be similar to how she’d behave in other settings.

It would be fascinating to see how my readers answer them, though!

1. A flock of hungry pterodactyls are attacking your neighbour’s sheep. If the sheep are destroyed your neighbour and their family will face a high risk of running out of food over the winter. You do not have any weapons with you, and if you leave to warn your neighbours their animals will almost certainly be destroyed. To what extent are you ethically obligated to protect the herd? 
2. How would your daily routine change if you knew the exact date, time and cause of your death? Would your answer to this question change if you believe you could influence your expiry date?
3. To what extent are people capable of changing? At what point is it too late to atone for a terrible choice you made many years ago?
4. Is it worse to beat someone nearly to death once or to spread malicious lies about them for a decade?
5. Would society crumble if everyone stopped believing that free will exists?
6. Could karma work in a world that only had limited free will?
7. Are all secrets harmful? Is there ever a good time to hide something important from someone you love?
8. What would it take for you to have an honest change of heart about your most fervently held beliefs? (e.g. registering as a member of a political party that endorses something you currently find deeply unethical.)
9. Martin Luther King once said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Do you agree or disagree with him? If you agree with him, is there anything we can do to slow down or speed up its arrival?
10. If you could resurrect one person from the dead and interview him or her, who would you pick and what would you ask them?

This video is well worth the 10 minute investment. A few quotes from it:

“None of this stuff is really about morality or religion or dogma or big fancy questions about life after death.…”

“The alternate is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant, gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.”

Just tuning in? Catch up with parts one, two, three, four,  five and six of this story.

Ephraim had always taken after MacArthur’s tall, pale, and stocky frame so Daphne was quite surprised to see how tanned and muscular the boy had grown during his studies. Doctors were expected to cultivate their own herbs and have a well-stocked medicine cabinet throughout the year. She wondered how her son had found time to do anything other than study, grow herbs and learn how to make  salves, poultices and medicinal teas.

Isaac was as quiet and content as ever. He’d come back much darker and thinner than his childhood self, but nothing Daphne said could convince him to speak more than a few sentences about his apprenticeship. He insisted he was happy and that he looked forward to building more furniture and houses in the fall.

It wasn’t until Ephraim challenged him to a push-up contest while Daphne washed the breakfast dishes that Isaac’s face cracked into a genuine smile. Even he couldn’t resist his brother’s boisterous taunts or Lemon’s enthusiastic barks and playful pouncing.

“You’re going to break something,” Daphne said, swallowing her laugher. “Out of my house!” There were vegetables to harvest, water to gather, and a few holes to patch in the roof now that the rainy season was more or less finished. She gave her sons the list and warned them not to come back with Lemon until it was finished.

Just before lunchtime Nevaeh appeared at the front door for lunch. It had been over a week since her last visit, and Daphne had been beginning to wonder if Nevaeh was angry with her for some reason. It was rare for such an extroverted woman to stay away for so long, especially now that Daphne had a front row seat to the latest community news. Daphne wasn’t sure how long it would take Nevaeh to realize that certain information was confidential, and she wasn’t at all interested in churning the gossip mill.

“I’m here for lunch and bad news,” Nevaeh said. She carried a jug of cool water and what was probably her first radish harvest of the new year. Daphne added a few pieces of fresh cornbread to their simple meal. At this time of year everyone was earnestly waiting for their gardens to finish ripening before summer began.

While they ate Nevaeh spoke quietly about all of the families who were nursing this strange illness: the Eversons, the Reeds, The Grabers, and even Nevaeh’s own daughter and newborn grandson.

The Harris family had been struck particularly hard. In the last day and a half three of them had died of this strange disease, and two more were at death’s door. Naomi Everson also seemed to be loosening her grip on life, although Nevaeh understood if Daphne preferred not to pay her respects in that particular sickroom.

“They aren’t having a wake,” Nevaeh said in a puzzled tone. She had been brought up to believe that anyone who didn’t hear the story of their life or death was bound to repeat all of their mistakes when they were born again. “Their daughter-in-law and sons will be buried tomorrow morning, but the family is looking for volunteers to help bury the bodies. I thought you and your boys might be able to help with that.  I’d go myself if my daughter wasn’t ill.”

Daphne nodded. Like many of their neighbours Nevaeh avoided the dead and dying out of fear of catching what had killed former friends, but Daphne had stopped worrying about death a long time ago. It would find her when she reached the end of her days, and in the meantime there was nothing she could do to entice it or keep it away.

Death could be a mercy for someone in labor for three days like Daphne’s mother, or when an infection spread to the bloodstream after a hunting accident like her father, or even for those  as arthritic and confused as her grandfather in his final months. She had expected to die when her sons were born and was pleasantly surprised that all three of them survived it. The gods must have been been in a happy mood when they wrote that chapter of her life.

“We’ll go,” Daphne said, suddenly realizing that her jumbled memories had thinned out the conversation.

The hike to the Harris’ land was the quietest hour Daphne had known since her sons came home. Even Lemon sensed the heavy mood and for once he stuck to the path and left the rabbits alone.

Daphne wasn’t surprised to see that she and her sons were the only guests at this event. Half of the Harris’ were too sick to attend this funeral themselves. Normally a clan of nearly 20 men, women and children would be bustling with activity at this time of day. It was eerie to see how few of them were still healthy enough to walk.

The body of a woman in her late teens was being wrapped in elk hide as Daphne and her sons walked up the stone staircase to the main house. From the scorch marks on the hide Daphne could tell that the woman had been married and had one child before she died. Two of the daughters-in-law fit that description, and Daphne wondered if she was looking at the shell of  Lola or Casey.

Two smaller bundles beside Lola or Casey had already been prepared, but Daphne could tell nothing else about them because children were clean slates. Nothing they did counted for or against them in their next life unless they were born with more than one soul. When they died, then, they were returned to the gods with no record of to whom they had belonged.

The blind underworld was coming for the dead ones now, and it was best not to speak until the mission was complete. No spirit could take you before your time, but they had been known to follow some mourners home and spook the animals or move household objects when no one was looking.

A numb processional carried the woman and children to their grave. No sooner had the bodies been deposited than the weakest family members began the short trek home.

Isaac held the dog at a safe distance from the dead as Daphne, Ephraim and one of the Harris grandfathers began shovelling dirt over the shallow trench.

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, a brand new message board, flash fiction and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

From Silencing Techniques:

Have you ever had an entire conversation that was not about the thing you wanted to talk about, but about why you needed to stop talking about it?

It’s called silencing.

Silencing is when rather than addressing the substance of whatever it is being talked about, someone tries to dismiss, trivialize or derail the conversation, so that the topic, whatever it is, stops getting discussed.

Five Easy Steps for Talking with Children about Art. The advice in this blog post can be applied to so many other scenarios in life. Almost any topic becomes more intellectually stimulating when you ask open-ended questions and don’t expect everyone to know the “proper” terminology or agree with you.

The Leaving the Faith Project.  I’m so excited to share this link with you! My friend Bruce Gerencser is starting a private message board for people deconverting from Christianity. This site will be a safe place to figure out what you really believe with support from volunteers who know exactly what you’re going through.

The Boy Next Door. Flash fiction from my new Twitter friend, KD_Rush.

Why We’ll Never Meet Aliens. Who else wants to sit down and pick this blogger’s brain? Aliens have never been a subject I spent much time thinking about but this argument tickles my fancy.

Places That Shiver via CGAyling. I tend to believe that places that shiver can be understood without the use of religious or supernatural explanations, but I’ll never stop loving good ghost stories. 🙂

What I’m Reading Now. Jenna is looking for book recommendations.

If the dead could speak what would they tell us? Faces from the Past reveals some of the secrets of a Buffalo Soldier, about a dozen slaves (most of whom died as infants or children), a French Sailor, and 19th century Chinese miners among others.

This book is written to appeal to middle and high school students. The language is simple and repetitive. I would have preferred detailed, scientific explanations of how these individuals died and what tests were performed to determine what little information we know about them.

But the pictures in this book that show what these individuals looked like when they were alive gave me goosebumps. Almost everyone experienced severe health problems that could easily be treated or prevented in 2013. When I stared into their reconstructed faces I could see glimpses of the lives they might have known with better nutrition and access to modern medicine.

What have you been reading?

Last week, during a conversation about her upcoming wedding, @lindsayrobins asked me for marriage advice. This is what I have learned over the last 7 years, 10 months, and 29 days of my marriage. 

1. Relationship Books Are Useless. Read them for comedic purposes (if you must), but don’t forget that people are complex. Of course gender can affect certain relationship dynamics for some couples, but it can never be boiled down to all men are X and all women are Y. Not everyone labels themselves with one of those identities, not all relationships are comprised of one man and one woman, and even folks in opposite-sex relationships will not always act the way these books insist men and women are “supposed” to behave.

Seriously, people are complex. There’s no such thing as a one size fits all approach to us.

2. With That Being Said, Go Read “The 5 Love Languages.“ This book applies as much to your relationships with friends and family members as it does to your significant other. It’s all about discovering what each person actually need to feel valued and learning how to communicate your needs to one another. Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation are my love languages. When I’m running low on them I find it much easier to blow things out of proportion or take offense where none was intended.

3. Don’t Fight Dirty. You know (or will soon figure out) your future spouse’s weak spots. Never take advantage of them, especially when you’re angry. Yes, you will get really pissed off at them sooner or later, but it’s important to communicate all of your emotions with kindness. It’s better to table a heated discussion or admit you don’t know how else to word your argument than to say something you’ll regret in thirty seconds.

4. Start a Family Calendar. I don’t care if you’re planning to remain a party of two or have 10 kids in the next 12 years. Write down the events that matter, and always check the calendar before making plans. Good communication makes every other aspect of your relationship much more likely to run smoothly, and writing down the important stuff makes it less likely to be accidentally forgotten.

5. Remember, Rules Are Flexible. What works for one family might be an unmitigated disaster in another. It doesn’t matter what I or anyone else thinks about your relationship.  So have a stay-at-home spouse or don’t. Have 0 kids or 20. Split all chores 50/50 or assign them all to one person only. Outside opinions don’t matter because how you arrange your marriage isn’t anyone’s business but your own.

 Readers, what have I missed?

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, short stories and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Neurodiversity Rewires Conventional Thinking About Brains via JeffHolton.  I like where this is headed.

Coming Out. Non-theists, this link is for you. How do you talk about your atheism/agnosticism /apatheism with strangers, friends and family members?

Star Wars Has No Good Guys. The comments in response to this are even more interesting than the original post.

Falling Fruit. Ok, I’ll admit that this recommendation is a little random. Falling Fruit is compiling a list of places where you can go to forage for all kinds of food. The vast majority of the entries are in California, but they are slowly beginning to expand to other states and countries. I love this idea but wish there were more entries for Ontario!

What Merfolk Must Know. Normally I’m not a fan of mermaid stories but this one is excellent.

From I’m a Believer via BillyDees:

It seems as though more and more people are asking me directly and personally, “Well, what do you believe in?” It is as if there is some prerequisite regarding the character of a person that a belief of some kind be held in something….

So all right, do you want to know what I believe? Here we go…

I believe in love.

From A Girl Voice:

One child–the only one who ever calls me “Mr.” while the other children have no question about addressing me as “Ms.”– looked over at me and asked, “Are you a boy or a girl?”

Instant Mom is the true and often hilarious story of how Nia Vardaloss adopted a developmentally delayed toddler from the U.S. foster care system.

What I loved about this book was that the author refused to sugar coat the adoption process and had an unflappable ability to move on to plans B, C and D when plan A doesn’t work. Her daughter quite understandably had trust and attachment issues and was definitely not grateful for being plopped into the arms of strangers yet again.

I won’t spoil the ending for you but I found this book to be a well-balanced account of an older child adoption. It isn’t all roses and sunshine…but neither is it thorns and tornadoes. 🙂

What have you been reading?

Craitor’s Bill 48: Children’s Law Reform Amendment Act (Relationship with Grandparents), 2013 passed Second Reading with strong support from the opposition Progressive Conservatives and NDP.

The latest version of the bill also has growing support from within Craitor’s own Liberal caucus.

During Question Period earlier in the day, Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen indicated the government is prepared to take a close look at the bill as it proceeds.

– From Ontario’s Attorney General Expresses Interest in Craitor’s Grandparent’s Rights Bill as it Passes Second Reading.

Several attempts have been made over the past few years to pass a bill in Ontario that would give grandparents more rights in certain custody hearings.

Can the bond between grandparents and grandchildren be wonderful? Absolutely. Some of my happiest memories involve visiting my grandparents on their farm and exploring the house my grandfather built in the 70s. Even as an adult I occasionally dream about those happy afternoons that stretched on for eternity.

Here’s the problem, though: not all families are The Waltons or The Brady Bunch. Abusers grow old. Addicts grow old. Unsafe people in general grow old. Becoming a grandparent is in no way an endorsement of anyone’s character. Growing up in an emotionally healthy extended family is worlds away from growing up with a cycle of abuse that trickles down from one generation to the next. Kim Craitor is projecting his own childhood onto the lives of others in an inappropriate manner. His experiences were amazing…but that can’t be said for every family and it’s simply not possible to safely recreate his experiences in every situation. The last thing a healing family needs is for their unsafe relatives to grasp onto a law like this and push for contact that isn’t in the best interests of the child or children involved.

A parent’s decision to put limits on whether or how often a particular relative visits should not be taken away lightly. Every family I know who restricted or denied access to certain people had excellent reasons for their decisions. No one did it rashly or without considering every other option. In some cases the rules have changed over time. Relatives who respected boundaries were slowly given more freedom, those who trampled them were given less.

Are there good grandparents who have been separated from their grandchildren in messy divorce cases? Yes.  I can’t imagine ever doing that to my loved ones, but it happens.

The court room isn’t an appropriate place to remedy this, though. Just as parents decide what their kids eat for dinner or what they will teach their kids about any number of controversial topics – the existence of god,  the morality of eating meat, whether Deep Space Nine or Voyager was the best Star Trek series of all time- parents need the unrestricted authority to decide who is and is not a safe and appropriate role model for their kids. Raising a child is difficult enough without the rest of the world poking its nose into areas of family life that are none of our business.

This will never be a battle I personally fight but I am still planning to contact my local politicians to make sure they know that I oppose this bill. If you agree and live in Ontario I hope you’ll contact yours as well.

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, poems, quotes, games and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

It is okay to be at a place of struggle. Struggle is just another word for growth. Even the most evolved beings find themselves in a place of struggle now and then. In fact, struggle is a sure sign to them that they are expanding; it is their indication of real and important progress. The only one who doesn’t struggle is the one who doesn’t grow. So if you are struggling right now, see it as a terrific sign — and celebrate your struggle. – Neale Donald Walsch

From Curiouser and Curiouser:

I’ve always had a fondness for old books and boxes.
But it wasn’t until years later that while carefully handling
the old manuscript that I discovered the box had a false bottom of sorts.

A Peek at the Real Life of That Writer You Envy.  I know I’ve envied the charmed lives I assumed others were leading, but it’s crucial to remember that appearances can be deceiving.

Fake is Real and Real is Fake via vlb. This article dovetails nicely with the above link. Hopefully the authors of them will meet one day and compare notes!

Tearing Down via Positively Wyrde. Abandoned buildings are melancholy places. They can also be filled with a deep sense of peace, though, now that the frantic season of their existence has ended. This poem explores what happens to a building after humans partially dismantle it and then leave.

What Can the Person Who Drives You Crazy Teach You? My answer: it’s ok if you don’t befriend every single person in the world. Always be kind and polite, but there’s nothing wrong with disliking certain personality traits or quirks. I guarantee there’s someone out there who feels the same way about your idiosyncrasies.

LOLscience Explains Why Cats (and Other Animals) Like to be Stroked. Story time! So mumble-mumble years ago when my mom was a little girl my grandmother lightly stroked her daughter’s arm to keep mom quiet in church. A few decades later when my siblings and I were growing up mom did the same thing when she needed us to be still. It was and is one of the nicest feelings in the entire world, and I was quite surprised when I found out some people don’t find it blissful.  As kids my brothers and I were also easily amused by bits of string and tin foil balls so I’m beginning to wonder if my grandparents forgot to mention a werecat ancestor or two. Does anyone have any catnip? I’d like to test this theory at the next family reunion. 😛

Gabriel has only lived for two decades. Now he is dying in the same house where he was born. Before he dies, though, he must decide whether to Surrender to the truth about something terrible in his past before someone else gets hurt.

Readers, you will either love or hate this book. The plot is occasionally linear, but every detour makes (more) sense by the end. If you read it let me know which theory about what really happened makes the most sense to you!

What have you been reading?