Destined

Chapter 26-Trials

January 27th, year 966 A.R.E

"Of course I will help." Amner nodded eagerly. "And Ornin and Elnirah will be thrilled that I have done some tinkering away from home."

I beamed. "Wonderful! Now, if my cousin would just quit the habit that his family has of being fashionably late, we'd actually be able to get started." I peeped out the door of the workshop, in case he might be approaching. However, the hallway remained empty. "For Fairies sake, where is he? He ought to be here by now." Then to myself, I muttered, "He was one that said we needed every minute possible to work on the motor, and he isn't even here yet. Typical."

"Actually, I am glad we have a few moments together," said Amner quietly. "I was hoping to ask you about something that has been troubling me lately."

That got my attention. "Oh? Nothing too serious, I hope."

"No, no." He shook his head. "It is very minor, and I suspect it is troubling me more than it should. That is to say—if I had grown up in this kingdom, I do not think it would bother me at all."

I was very curious now. Did this have something to do with our cultural differences? "Please, tell me about it. I have grown up in this kingdom you know, and I'd like to help if I can."

"Well," Amner took a deep breath, then explained his dilemma, "ever since I first arrived here, I have had a lot of people looking at me in a curious way, and I realized it is because I dress differently than everybody here, of course. But that was to be expected. However, after several days, I guessed that people would stop looking at me in that way. But, if anything, people stare at me more than before! I thought much about it, and I just could not be sure of the reason. At last, I asked your sister Alydia, and she told me that it is because I have worn nothing but shades of pink and purple since I got here, and that it is odd for a man to wear such feminine colors, and especially for so many days at a time. And I don't know what I should do about it. All of my tunics are within that color range—since they are my favorite, but the more I wear them, the more I get judged for it!"

I hate to admit this, but I laughed—and heartily! He was so innocent, so unused to the cruelty of most of our world, that it made me laugh. "I'm sorry," I apologized, still gasping for breath. He had looked so unhappy, and now he even looked resentful. "Please, forgive me! I'm not laughing at you—not really. Well, perhaps a little. But you should know that it stems from envy. You see, you Ilakans are wrapped in a little protective sphere, where no one judges anyone for their peculiarities, so much so, that there's no such thing as peculiarities. You all celebrate your differences. And that's why I've always longed to visit, even for just a few days. But unfortunately, in this kingdom, and nearly all of the rest, it isn't like that. As horrible as it is, we all judge one another for what we wear, where we live, how we live, what we do, and how we act. And we all expect one another to fit in our own personalized box of what we consider the norm, and we judge one another if we don't fit perfectly inside it." I sighed gloomily, just thinking about it. I despised myself for doing this, as well as other people. "But unfortunately, when such a society becomes the fashion, it's nearly impossible to change it. And here we are, stuck in it. You'd think that we'd learn from your people by now, and realize that your King Dabid was right all along. But no—we're still here."

"But how do you cope with it all?" Amner's eyes pleaded for clarity. "How do you live in such a world?"

I chuckled. "I ask myself the same question quite often—and my usual answer is that people are fools."

Amner's soft-colored eyebrows flew up his temple. "Mah? Did I hear you correctly?"
"Yes," I laughed. "People are fools! And I'm a fool because I'm one of them. We're fools to think that people can meet every one of our petty expectations. We're all born different. No two people are alike, and it's foolish to think for a moment that they should be."