Ruby City Mailbox/Inbox

[oathshackledbird]

You have found the Mailbox/Inbox of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, owner and teacher of the training school, Spiral. If you have business with him or the school, please feel free to leave a message and he will get back to you as soon as possible. Considering his abilities, that might be quicker than you think...

Comments

[oathshackledbird]

Not really a brat. Just a child, but...did you ever actually do that? Did you ever take the food away and make her do without?

[It might sound a little cruel, but doing that a time or two to his kids had quieted them very quickly.]

[airshipcaptain]

No. She's really a brat.

[There's a frankness to his text that comes 100% from an older brother standpoint.]

I've never done that before. but she's seen ME go without food once or twice. Not that I've actually ever told her I was going without but I'm sure she's realized it.

[oathshackledbird]

[Well, then...]

There is a big difference between knowing someone else is going without and going without yourself. One can never really understand how it feels to have a painfully empty belly until it is their own hunger they feel.

Give it a try. It doesn't have to be long and it is the least she can do if you have gone hungry for her sake in the past...

[airshipcaptain]

I'm her older brother, it's my responsibility to make sure she doesn't go hungry or anything. Though I guess I can give that a try. If anything it'll be a lesson.

[oathshackledbird]

It is also a big brother's job to teach his siblings the harsher realities of life because no one else will do it as gently as a big brother will...

[airshipcaptain]

I suppose so... I guess you can only shelter them for so long.

[Even if he doesn't necessarily like the idea of it.]

[oathshackledbird]

Sadly, that is all too true. No matter how much a big brother or a father might want to keep their siblings or children safe, no they can't shelter them forever. In fact, they shouldn't either. There are some kinds of experience that can only be gotten on one's own.

[airshipcaptain]

See, I'm almost afraid of what sort of trouble or experiences Rosa will learn on her own.

[It's in instances like this where Afonso feels older then he is. Really, he shouldn't worry as much as he does over his sister. He knows she's smart, knows that she can take care of herself and yet...]

[oathshackledbird]

[And yet the worry is still there and it always will be. It is just how this kind of thing works...]

Better to try not to imagine it. Even if you sit and ponder a long time, you will never be able to prepare her for everything. Just have faith in her that she will be able find her way out of whatever trouble she gets into.

[airshipcaptain]

How'd you manage not to worry yourself to death with five children? I mean, I don't even have a child so if I worry this much about Rosa.

Actually. I don't even want to think about that. Period.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid chuckles to himself before he replies.]

It is hard, but after a while you realize that there is only so much you can do. Teaching. Guiding. Protecting. Even after you do all of that, it's up to them to take the lessons and the advice you have given them and act on it. They are the true masters of their own Fate, not us. Never us, no matter how much we may wish we were at times.