The Dale Decision

Whistle - Transcribing

The morning tea had gone well in Whistle's opinion. Not too confronting or uncomfortable. Especially since she had taken care of the awkward "confession" part already. Ma wouldn't let something like that sour the occasion, and didn't mention it again. She meant it when she promised they'd discuss it once they returned home.

In fact, the morning tea went so well that the only thing that could have made it all better was if it had taken place in that courtyard garden – but the outdoor furniture there didn't seat enough people and they'd have to move some other furniture over, and some of the access ways were rather narrow.

Tis had enjoyed it; he hoped that it eased his nerves. He got to help prepare sandwiches, and there were a range of sandwich fillings. He hoped that lunch had similar offerings.

Besides, it was time Ma and Pa didn't have to spend chasing around after them – not that they were all that energetic in the first place, having lost a bit of sleep.

It was fortunate then that they didn't have morning tea in the courtyard... Bis started to doze off and needed somewhere to lie down. The trivia game and the morning tea had tired her out. Pa took her over to one of the armchairs in the adjoining sitting room so she could get some sleep. Kendall said it was all right to use it.

It was kind of like their own house, with a sitting room nearby a dining area... there was just no kitchen in sight.

Ma started fretting about sleeping patterns, but she didn't want to force Bis to stay awake. If Bis needed to sleep, she should. They had brought along some sleep masks of Bis' as well, but Bis said in between big yawns that she didn't need one just now.

Whistle stayed where she was; she preferred to have a table so it would be easier to write things down. She had her own goals for the morning tea; she was hoping Kendall wouldn't mind... she managed to obtain both her and Ma's permission for it. She had told them she wanted to write about the Dale family, mostly so they could remember their names better... but if it wasn't allowed, they'd try something else. Mercifully, they wouldn't have to devise an alternate solution.

It felt strange to ask Kendall about her family members and for her to describe them, and even stranger to write them down, but for each one, Whistle felt more buoyed. The idea of keeping track of these names by way of fast paced conversation... that sounded like a proper nightmare.

In fact, that sounded like a nightmare she had actually went through – she was told to memorise some important message of extreme importance – a matter of life and death – but when it came to actually hearing the message all she heard was nonsensical gibberish that she couldn't believe anyone could conceivably understand, let alone remember.

The biggest issue wasn't even that they were talking too fast, although they were certainly doing that. It was that none of the stuff they were saying sounded like... words. At least, words she'd heard before. Nothing in the speech sounded even vaguely recognisable.

That had been distressing. She had wanted a cuddle with Ma and Pa on that occasion, and they had gladly given it – but they had also come with reassuring words. If somebody was giving her a long, complicated, difficult to remember message to memorise, then it would be negligent of them to do it purely through speech. Even then things could misheard and misinterpreted to say nothing of misremembered. A responsible person would give her it in writing, perhaps with copies.

For good measure, the message may also contain the addressee. That was another thing that could be misheard or forgotten.

If it was confidential, it would be in code, and able to be decoded by the intended recipient. Hearing all of that made Whistle feel much better about the whole thing.