Balun's Tale - 1Grandmother Boga and Grandfather Mahato were the first Master Parents in our tribe. By then the village had been inhabited by our tribe for well over two hundred years. Together Boga and Mahato had ten children. The oldest of their children were the triplets, Tarita, Thema, and Tatoa. Tatoa was my mother. She was a good woman, not especially pretty, but very loving. She, like Grandmother and all of her siblings, was a farmer. My father, Nonolo, was a brilliant architect. I remember him waking each morning and heading off to continue work on the hospital. When he wasn't working, he'd try to teach us - me and my brothers - how to use tools. But his efforts were wasted on us.
My twin brother Bass and I always knew we'd go into farming like our mother. When we were little, we used to sit at the edge of the fields and watch our family work. I loved it. We were five when mother had Coen. A skinny little thing, he's always been. Flaming red hair just like Mother and Bass and I. He loved farming too. It was inevitable that we'd all go into that line of work. I think Father was a little disappointed at first, but he was very proud that we were such hard workers, going straight from school to work at fourteen. Nothing like a lot of kids our age, who preferred to sit by the fire and daydream.
Aki and Waiata joined us in farming that year. Aki was Aunt Tarita's daughter, and Waiata was Aunt Thema's. The four of us were born days apart and had always been very close because of it. I was also very close to our Aunt Italia. Italia was only a few years older than us, and she was in a generation all her own. By the time she came of age, men were either too young or already married. Without the added distraction of finding someone to marry, she focused her attention on work and friends. As it turned out, I was more like Italia that I could have realized at the time.
There were very few girls my age. I hadn't really taken an interest early on, but it was expected of villagers to choose a partner at the age of eighteen. Waiata announced her engagement to Saku right away. It wasn't that surprising. They'd been dating for four years. Aki started a relationship with Yap. Both men were scientists. Kappa and Alana were the only other girls in our age group, and they were snatched up quickly. This left men to seek mates in older women - widows, mostly. Bass and I were not so lucky. No women fancied us, and in truth we were not in a rush to settle down.
We watched, happily, as Coen, Waiata, Aki, and several other cousins married and began having children. I was surprised, then, to find out that I was fathering a child. Huma and I never married, but she gave me my twin girls, and I'll always be grateful to her for that.
I raised Tillie and Tiki with minimal help from my family. My grandparents died a few years before the birth. They thankfully lived long enough to see their youngest, Italia, get married and have Kaia and her twins, Sake and Shuzia. Mother helped me whenever she could. Work had consumed her life when Father died from disease a few years ago. Bass helped me a lot. He loved the girls as much as I did. Coen was married and had children of his own, so I tried not to interfere in his perfect life for too long.
When the girls were little, I'd take them to work with me. Bass and I would take turns working and watching them. This worked for a long while. But when they turned three they became too active to sit quietly while we worked. At that time, Kappa's husband died in a storm. Bass had fallen for her and her son and they had begun seeing each other. Italia had opened up a daycare of sorts in her home. Kaia, Sake and Shuzia were all old enough to attend lessons now, but her boys Kenji and Kazuo were the same age as my twins, and she was now pregnant again. She agreed to watch the girls for me while I worked, in return for my help on the days I didn't.
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Tillie and Tiki started lessons when they were five. I was thirty and was nearing the age when one was expected to become a Master. Bass had married Kappa and they had two sons of their own now. They weren't planning on any more children. Italia's children were all doing quite well in their classes. Nani was now the only one too young to attend them. She, too, was not planning on having any more. Three boys and three girls were quite enough for her.
I was repeatedly called from the fields to speak with my cousin Pippa, Waiata's sister. Pippa was a teacher - Tillie and Tiki's teacher, to be more exact. I was disappointed to learn that they refused to listen in class, or stay in class at all. Pippa told me the girls liked to run off in the middle of lessons, but she wasn't sure where to. A little investigation told me that they were going to the ocean, to watch Bass fish.
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Many years passed. I became a Master Farmer at thirty-five with Bass by my side. Mother was so proud. As expected, Tillie and Tiki began farming at fourteen. It was a hard day for me, watching them learning with the other beginners. They were still so young, and it was hard to imagine that Bass and I had been the same age when we began. But I was happy to hear that they weren't taking after either of us. Both girls were doing exceptionally well on the fields and in the water.
At eighteen they were assigned to teach Bass' boys, as Masters. Eighteen. Strange, how time seemed to pass so quickly. My family believed the mastery had come early for them because they studied both forms of farming. I saw their mother on occasion by the science table and food bin. Our tribe was big, but it was hard to avoid someone, I realized. I never told the girls who their mother was, and they never asked. I imagine Mother might have told them in private.
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Not much had changed in twenty-one years by way of tradition. Tillie and Tiki were eighteen and that meant that they'd have to marry soon, or face settling for a widower later in life, or a younger man. Neither of them had much experience in dating, to my knowledge. It wasn't something we spoke of too much. Mostly they preferred to speak with Italia about such things, and I was very thankful to my aunt for that. So it was because of my lack of knowledge that I was so surprised when Tiki came to me and said that she'd like to marry Mikyle.
Mikyle was a nice enough boy. His father had been a friend of mine during our school days, but that'd ended when he became a builder. I was most pleased when Mikyle took a liking to farming. My permission was hardly necessary where my daughters' marriages were concerned. Merely a formality for the in-laws. So long as they were happy, I didn't care who they married. I worried about Tillie though. My girls had always been the best of friends, they'd never done anything apart, and yet Tillie didn't seem to take any interest in men.
The wedding was large, due to the size of my family. Most were able to make it. Some didn't care to come, like Keli and Mani, but we had a wonderful time without them. We had it on the beach, where Mikyle's father and brothers had opened a crate the night before. The crate, I'd learned, had contained the final piece of the Gong of Wonder. It was rung for the first time that night and granted the tribe enough food to last us several years. Tiki told me later on that she was very pleased the gong was rung on her wedding day, this way everyone would remember the event. I laughed at that, but I still worried for Tillie.
Mother was getting on in years. In six years she would be considered elderly and yet she still worked alongside me and my brothers each day. Eventually I begged her to move in with me and Tillie. The hut felt empty without Tiki's cheerful presence, and I hoped that having Mother around more would help Tillie's mood, which had grown dark in her sister's absence. Thankfully, Mother agreed. She decidedly refused to let go of her own hut though, the one she'd raised us in. She said this would one day be Tillie's. I wasn't so sure she'd ever need more than one bedroom. Bass tried to keep me calm by reminding me how old we were when we'd had our children. This did little to help.
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A year passed quickly. Tillie's attitude had not improved much, though I had now let Tiki in on the problem and she was doing all she could while keeping her marriage running smoothly. Coen had become a grandfather, and Italia's eldest daughter was pregnant. Tiki repeatedly told us that she had no plans to become a mother until she and Mikyle were sure they were prepared. My own mother had been forced to cut back on her work hours by the village healer, Koko. I think the only reason she listened to him was because he was married to another of my cousins. Family always had meant more to my mother than anything.
But after six months of her new routine, Mother took a turn for the worse. She was on permanent bed-rest. Koko visited every six hours and he usually stayed for hours during the days when Tillie and I had to work. One day I over-heard Mother talking to Tillie while I prepared a meal for us all.
"Don't worry about love," Mother had said. "The Guiding Hand will send someone to you soon enough." The Guiding Hand. Most of our tribe believed in it, I wasn't sure if Tillie did though.
"I'm not so sure, Granny. You and Grandfather found each other before you even started work - it's been that way in our family for years. And poor Father hasn't ever found someone to love."
"Your father hasn't looked for love," Mother corrected and the tone of her voice as she said it made me feel a bit guilty. "When your mother died, it hurt him badly. And I'm sorry to say that some people just don't get over their first love. Like me. I was only thirty-six when your grandfather died. I could have re-married, but I chose instead to work. Your father had you and your sister, and that seems to be enough for him. Now, maybe, when you're off on your own too, he'll choose to find someone. But right now he's happy, and that's all we can hope for."
There was a long silence. I couldn't see what was going on in the room, but I hoped that was the last they'd speak of my relationships - or lack there of.
"I have a confession, Granny." I barely heard Tillie's words, she was whispering now. "I have already been asked to marry, but, I refused the proposal and he married someone else."
"Why would you do that, dear?" My mother sounded very surprised. I had to admit that I was as well. I couldn't imagine any reason why my daughter would turn down a man she loved.
"Because of Daddy. I was worried about what he'd do after Tiki and I left."
I stopped listening after that. I decided to skip dinner and take a walk instead. My hut was positioned a hundred feet or so from the fields, so too far from the Ancient Mosiac. I started to walk there first. I circled to Mosaic at least three times before moving on, following the stream all the way to the pond and the giant waterfall. I sat there for a long time, thinking of my life.
I wondered whether I'd really done the right thing by raising the girls without a mother. I decided that it was the best thing I could do at the time. But perhaps I shouldn't have given up on love. Maybe I'd missed my chance at love by being consumed by work and the twins' happiness. No. I didn't believe that. So what was I to do, now that I knew why Tillie was so unhappy? Was it possible she was meant for someone else?
I couldn't think any more. I walked back to the hut slowly, and found Tillie standing outside the front door looking scared. She said I'd been gone for three hours and she and Mother were worried sick. I apologized and explained the problem. By morning we had agreed that we both needed to try harder to make ourselves happy and not worry about others so much.
-----
Tiki visited our hut a week later with good news. She was expecting her first child. Tillie was overjoyed at the thought of becoming an aunt. I wasn't so keen on the idea of being a grandpa, but I acted happy for Tiki's sake.
Our excitement was short-lived though. Mother was getting worse by the day. Koko said she had three months left to live, at best. Mother had always been so happy and energetic. It was hard to watch her wither away in that bed like a plant growing in the shade and not getting the sun it needed. We all had a family meeting to discuss what we could do to help her. Tarita and Thema, Mother's triplet sisters, had already passed on. As had Coho and Tipa, two of her younger siblings. Keli refused to visit. He said he'd see her in her final hour. Mani, Koi, Miki, Huka, and Italia were all ready to do anything they could to help their sister.
Koko tried several mixtures of herbs that were said to prolong life spans. Most of us resigned ourselves to putting said herbs into our best stews. There were two in particular that seemed to work well for her. She always seemed healthier after eating them. We also filled the room with her favorite flowers. Sweet-smelling violet things that Koko said he'd test for healing properties.
All in all, we were very pleased when Mother surpassed her given three months. Tillie decided that was a good time to announce that she'd been seeing a nice man and they planned to be married within a few weeks. The obvious rush of things being her wish to have Mother attend. Nani was Tillie's fiancee. He was a builder and had helped in the restoration of the Ancient Mosiac when he was fifteen, I remembered. I think my mother only approved of him because he reminded her of Father. As with Tiki, I approved because he made my daughter happy.
The wedding took place in the center of the village this time. Nani was very popular and many friends attended the wedding.
-----
Tiki was doing quite well for her first pregnancy, according to Koko. She was six months along and getting bigger every time I saw her - which, I must admit, wasn't too often. She'd cut down fishing hours and now worked strictly in the fields, but she wasn't working too much there either. And the few hours she was working, I was at home looking after Mother.
She wasn't as bad as she had seemed three months ago. Something the family had done was still working. She loved receiving visits from her ever-growing family, my girls especially. I supposed the novelty of Coen's children marrying and having children of their own had worn off, and Bass' boys were just out of school. But Tiki and Tillie were still newly wed, and one with a baby on the way.
-----
Mother died this morning, having lived to the age of sixty-three. Amazingly, she exceeded her given time by a year exactly.
-----
Tiki's baby, Ginger, is now seven months old and doing wonderful. Ironically, she was not named for the color of her hair, which continues to be my family's trademark, but for the first child born in our tribe - and our first Esteemed Elder, too. A nice tribute, I think. She's already pregnant again. Tillie and Nani have decided to wait on having children. They're perfectly fine with the idea of starting a family in their mid-twenties. This definitely isn't the traditional way of thinking for our tribe and I'm proud of Tillie. Though I wonder vaguely if my becoming a father at twenty-five had any influence in the situation.
~~~~~
Bass' youngest son got married today. I think I'm still in shock. The girls are laughing at me because they saw this coming and they say I'm just acting old by saying that I really don't know where the time went.
Ginger has started lessons. She's five. Tiki had another girl and named her Kinga, and she has also has a two-year-old son named Ecco. Tillie finally decided to grant me a grandchild. Her daughter, Noa, is three. Both girls have decided to wait a couple of years before adding more to the family. Tillie actually said she might stop at one, but I doubt it. People in our family never stop at one child.
Bass' older sons already have children. I think it's quite funny that he was the last to join us in the category of grandparents. He was always a step ahead of us, it seemed. Now we get together once a week with Coen and Italia. Sometimes Aki and Waiata join us, but they have different work schedules than ours, being scientists. I'm happy that we're all still friends though. I would have thought a lot would change in fifty-one years, but it all still seems the same.
~~~~~
I think Tiki and Mikyle are determined to be the next Boga and Mahato. Well, they did name their next daughter Boga. And then there were the twins, Kiri and Kini. She just had Laki yesterday. That's seven so far. I wonder if they'll beat the record. Ginger is twelve now. Kinga's eleven. Ecco's eight, Boga's six, and the twins are four.
After sending Noa off to school, Tillie realized that she did want more children after all. Noa is now nine. Axyl is six, and little Ema is four. She told me again that she's not sure what she wants for her family and this time I believe her. I don't care either way. Nine grand kids are more than enough for me. I'm just happy that my girls have good lives now.
Don't get me wrong, I love being a grandfather. Ginger, Kinga, Noa and Ecco visit me regularly after school and I take them for walks through the fields. They love to see where their mothers work and I know they'll all join us someday. I only hope I get to see that day. I'm fifty-six, I don't have that much time left. Koko, though no longer practicing healing, says I'm probably going to live for a long time yet. I pray he's right.
~~~~~
I'm the proud grandfather of twelve beautiful children. I'm using the word 'children' loosely. Ginger's eighteen. She isn't a child anymore and that scares me. It scares Tiki too, I just found out. She told me yesterday that she's afraid of becoming a grandmother. I laughed, but didn't bother to ask if that's why she's had so many children. In any case, she's finished.
Ginger has said she can't be bothered with finding a husband until she's positive that her children won't be older than aunts and uncles. So she's waiting an extra year to make sure Tiki is really done. Currently Kinga is seventeen, Ecco is fourteen, Boga's twelve, the twins are ten, Laki is seven, Mohai is five, and Betty is just a few weeks old. Tillie is also almost certainly done having children as well. Noa is fifteen, Axyl is twelve, Ema's ten, and Kumi is three.
It looks like another generation of the family has passed. Though I believe I still have a few much younger cousins whose children aren't done adding. I've always been the oldest. My mother was oldest too. Except for our doubles, of course. My brother, and her sisters. I sometimes wonder what it must be like to be the youngest in the family. Italia tells me it's not so great. She's sixty-five, three years older than myself. And she's always considered herself the oldest anyway - my older sister.
-----
Two years. Amazing how much can change in two years. Italia, the poor thing, had become a great-grandmother. Coen had also reached the title of 'great.' I imagined I wasn't too far off as Ginger was taking a fancy to a young scientist. Italia was at the age considered elderly, and I felt bad for her. Her hours had to be cut back, though it was the only thing keeping her from the empty hut since her husband died last year.
I was walking slower myself nowadays. Not yet considered elderly, but nearly there. I was sixty-four. Coen, the little show off, was only fifty-nine and had no problem keeping up with the teenagers as we walked from the fields to the gong encasement for the daily ringing. He walked ahead like most others. We were just passing the food bin and I could see Bass waiting for us farther along the path, where it branches off to the ocean. I waved him on - no reason he should be late to see the gong's magical effects just because I was too slow.
But Bass didn't make it to the encasement either. Whoever was doing the ringing today must have been impatient. Usually I could make it to the science table before I heard the loud booming through the village, today I only just passed the food bin. The gong rang three times and suddenly I was looking at the sky. It took me a few seconds to realize I had fallen over and was lying on my back on the hard earth.
'Oh God,' I thought suddenly, 'Am I now too old to handle the sound of the gong? How pathetic. I must look ridiculous lying here.' I sat up slowly, but felt dizzy as I watched several co-workers running to my aid, so I decided to lie back down.
Suddenly Coen was standing over me. He seemed so tall from this angle, it was kind of creepy.
"Balun? Is that you?"
I rolled my eyes and was going to make a sarcastic comment but when I opened my mouth, the voice that came out was not my own. "What happened?" I squeaked.
He knelt down and looked me over. "Can you stand?"
"I'll try," I said. The dizzyness I had been worried about was replaced with a headache as I stood up without any trouble. But then I looked back at Coen and realized he was still looking down at me. I was at full height, and he was kneeling. "What happened?" I asked again.
Author's Note: Part two may be slow coming. I'm a bit busy right now. But at least this can act like a one-shot for now.
Please comment on this story (link coming)
The original PG-13 version of this story is
here, if you'd like to know more about Tiki and Tillie's mother.
-Lizzy<3
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