The Girls Will Play

Writers: Chelle, Paula
Date Posted: 4th December 2012

Characters: Veerona, Milga
Description: Milga comes to watch Veerona and they talk about things.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 11, day 6 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Jylanya, Naton

Milga felt a bit strange, like an intruder, being in the Headwoman's apartment although
she had a legitimate reason to be there. She was looking after Veerona, while Jylanya
was away.

Vee came hopping from her room, carrying a set of hair ribbons and a bunch of
old jewelry that she had been given to play with. It wasn't of any value, but she
didn't care. "Milga-see what I have!"

"Okay, what have you?" Milga asked with a smile. She did like Veerona, so watching her
didn't even feel like a job.

"Well there's ribbons and jewelry." She sat down and opened the sack
and pulled some of it out. "Do you like this?" She dangled a string of
tarnished rectangles.

"It's nice but not actually my style," Milga replied. She took a seat on a couch and patted the
seat next to her, non-verbally asking Veerona to sit there.

She plopped down on the cushion and then dropped the bag in her lap, digging through it.
There were lots of treasures in there, most of them only valuable to a little girl playing
dress-up. "Do you like anything?"

"Those beads are lovely," Milga said, picking up a bead necklace. "Did you know, Veerona,
that I have four little sisters?"

"No." A look of surprise crossed her face. "Where are they?" She had never had a family
like that and she imagined it would be wonderful.

"They live in Caldera Island hold. It's an island near Windswept Isles, long sailing trip from
here," Milga replied. Pulling out a thing with feathers dangling from, she studied it critically.
"What are you supposed to do with this? Is it for the hair or what?"

"Umm I think it goes around your neck or a belt. I could be wrong..." She looked at it
dubiously. Feathers were itchy so it followed that she wouldn't want to
bother with that really. "Try it?"

"I think not, too gaudy," Milga said with a grin and put it away.

Shrugging, she kept searching and found a pin that she tried to affix to her tunic like some grand
lady. "Do you miss your sisters, Milga?"

"Yes, I do," the apprentice admitted. "Sometimes they were such horrible brats, but we had good
times too." Especially when their mother hadn't been there.

"I miss my mama sometimes too, but Lany's pretty good. I mean, I know she loves me."
Admittedly, the little girl finally trusted the headwoman though it had taken a long time
for that to come about.

"My mama died when I was just a baby. I have a stepmother. I just wish she was as nice as Lany,"
Milga replied and gave the girl a spontaneous hug.

Vee enjoyed the contact and hugged back, thinking this was like what sisters did and it
was very nice, talking like this about things. When she released and pulled back, she decided
to ask another question. "How come she isn't nice?"

Milga shrugged. "She just doesn't like me. Maybe because dad loves me so much," she replied. Her
stepmother had never directly abused or neglected her-her father wouldn't have allowed it. But
there were thousand little ways to make a child feel she was not welcome.
Like making sure she was clothed and that the clothes were ugly.

"Hmm...I don't know if I like Naton yet. Lany likes him." Vee looked uneasy about it for a
moment. "Do you think if he was my fosterfather, he'd be mean to me too?" That was something
she wasn't sure about really.

"No, not Naton, he's not the mean-type at all. Besides he already knows you. I first met my stepmother
when she was wed with Dad. And she was from another island too."

"How come you didn't meet her before then?" Vee was trying to follow the story, but she didn't
understand. Confusion crossed her face as she threw bunches of shell necklaces around herself.

"'Cause she was living in another island and I was just a baby," Milga answered. She
didn't remember it herself, but she had heard the story many times. "Dad
sailed with his ship there to court here, because there weren't any women he
could marry in our hold. They were all either already married or his relatives.
I was left home with my milkmother, aunt Milewa."

"Oh. Well least your Dad came back." That was something else she had been thinking about
from time to time and she remembered Jylanya's offer to try and find her
father. Veerona really didn't think it would help matters.

"Yes," Milga said, but her tone was a little sad. It just hit her that it had been more
than a Turn since she last saw him, or anyone else from her family.

Picking up on that note, the little girl reached over and gave Milga a hug. "It'll be okay. Come on, let's go
and make some cookies or somethin. I know there's some sweetener in there..."

"All right, but first we have to clean up here. Never leave litter on the deck," Milga replied,
trying for a stern tone.

"What's a deck?" Veerona asked, confused, before she bent down to start putting away her play jewelry.

"A part of a ship, the one that forms the lid over hull, where seacrafters walk and work.
Leaving things around it considered bad manners, not to mention dangerous. You
can trip on things or storm can sweep them overboard," Milga explained. She had
done it again, used expression no other understand, unless they were
seacrafters.

Last updated on the January 21st 2013

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The Girls Will Play