Bramblepoint suli ∏

She listened to the story with the sort of attentiveness that she often did. She tried to imagine what it must have been like, feeling an odd sense of... sadness(?) that she could not experience it firsthand. At least not in a way she could remember. Next year, when it grew warm again, perhaps she could be there when her mother gave life to more children. She was excited about that prospect, and maybe one day she could tell her younger siblings about the day that they were born, just as her mother had done for her. It would be from a different perspective, she knew, but she saw no harm in that.

Will I be there when the new children are born? she asked. She had a feeling that father would be sent away, but children were women's work, and there would likely be ways in which Sialuk could help. She was already well on her way to becoming a decent medic, and she had a feeling keeping her younger siblings occupied would become much of her life when spring rolled around.