Ouroboros Spine amaniittuk ≐
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One usually imagines life as a river that runs through a set course. It begins somewhere and it reaches its destination elsewhere and the path inbetween is defined, even if the endpoint is not known. There are occasional obstacles in the way that cause the water to rush and ripple. There are steeper drops, where a waterfall forms. Despite this one looks in the future and takes it for granted. The grand sea is there and nothing will stop us from reaching it.

A fine metaphor, but is it a true one for all?

So far along her life Kausiut had struggled to run the path chosen for her. Rather than a steady river, she was that first little rivulet of melted icewater, snaking through small cracks and crevices in a glacier. Fighting against ice was hard. Many bumps along the way. Many hard falls, dead-ends, set-backs and moments to pool up and decide, where to go next. It could have been easy to branch off her family as a small river. As her siblings and cousins had, all connected in that complex web of relationships they shared. Yet easy had never been interesting for her. Kausiut had first fought against the odds of survival and then, when this had no longer been a novelty, she had chosen a different opponent.

Breaking the glacier - the mold of life set out for her, where she did not belong.

It was not clear, why Kausiut liked Murra from the moment she met her. She did not ask such questions to herself, but it might have been that she had longed for a friend. You had come very close to being such and, perhaps, Murra had filled that gap. The walrus hunter did not seem to be bothered by Kau's oddities - either she was not a woman of many words herself or she a gift of connecting with people intuitively. Whatever it was, she connected with Kau, first, by playing her game of items, second, suggesting the girl to explore more and learn new. By day two Kau cautiously hung around the walrus-hunter, observing her comings and goings, how she interacted with others of her village. By day three Murra had a little four-legged shadow, who hobbled after her everywhere.

Often a good friend changes the way we behave. Inherently Kausiut possessed all the same characteristics that made her both genius and both downright pain-in-the-ass around others. However, Murra could see past the outward expressions of them. Kau's signature stubborness and refusal to obey became strong willpower and independent mind. That's, what the elderwoman could work with. Put in the right setting and properly challenged, this mishapen thing could prosper and achieve great things. Or not, in case that rivulet decided that there was a different glacier to break.

Kausiut had not thought of leaving, because she had accepted that as many other strangers here, Murra had come here to stay for good. It was not clear to her until that moment, when the hunter asked her, if she would like to go and her family somewhat reluctantly proposed the same question to her, did she began to wonder, what if... There was an imminent danger of losing yet another friend. Kausiut had had the bitter taste of unhappiness, and her child's logic was, that, if shde were to go, she would not have to go through that again. Only few days down the road, when the novelty of the journey would have worn off, would she began to long for the family she had left behind.

Yet... one can't say that she did not spare a single glance at her mother and father. She moved in to touch her mother's cheek gently, pressed her forehead against her father's neck. A rare moment of affection from the wayward girl. Then she retreated and joined Murra.

Perhaps, breaking the glacier together would be easier.
Messages In This Thread
amaniittuk ≐ - by Kukutux - February 26, 2022, 02:07 PM
RE: amaniittuk ≐ - by Kausiut - February 26, 2022, 04:03 PM
RE: amaniittuk ≐ - by Sialuk - March 02, 2022, 02:18 PM
RE: amaniittuk ≐ - by Lótë - March 08, 2022, 05:23 PM