Estel Means Hope ~ by SaralynArati

SaralynArati

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Story continues on this doll: httpwww.dolldivine.com/Game-of-Thrones/SaralynArati-2949027

10 years ago

SaralynArati

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This arrangement could not last forever, of course, but then, it didn't have to. Her mother was certain she would not live out a whole season beyond the death of her beloved husband. Estel, however, was just as stubbornly sure that she would, and as it happened, the daughter was right. What Estel feared was less getting caught by her neighbors during the day, than being discovered by those who also sailed at night, for lawless reasons of their own. Her own death would not help her mother.

10 years ago

SaralynArati

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However, Estel became... less resigned to creating nets. She did not lack for suitors, yet she did not particularly like any one of them above the others, at least not very much, and that was not enough for Estel. Then, suddenly, her father died, and not only was this a personal tragedy, but she and her mother could not earn enough money selling their nets alone, to put food on the table. Estel began sailing at night, and attributing the fish she caught to anonymous charity from her suitors.

10 years ago

SaralynArati

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At first, it was truly all Estel could do to be her father's left hand. It took all her strength to pull ropes and rigging. But she learned quickly, and was very clever about tacking against the wind, and her muscles adapted just as her eyes became used to the glare off the water. She had always known she did not get seasick, for if a family wants to visit relatives on another island, there are only two ways to get there, and swimming such a long distance is as foolish as it is impractical.

10 years ago

SaralynArati

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This was before her father had his stroke. He survived, he even did well, but he was left with some weakness in his left side. Trying not to hope too much, Estel pointed out that she was left handed. Essentially, she could be his left hand, and it would not be at all like a girl putting to sea; it would simply be a man who needed a little help to get things done. And so, secretly, they began. Because, despite the polite fictions they professed, it was very much like a girl setting to sea.

10 years ago

SaralynArati

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Estel's father was a fisherman, while her mother made and mended nets. He worked outdoors, but she took care of the house. And neither, according to them, was more important; it was simply the way that things were. A fisherman with no nets catches very few fish. On the other hand, a net lying on the beach remains largely empty as well. Estel was not a big supporter of "separate yet equal" as a system of assigning gender roles. However, she resigned herself as best she could to making nets.

10 years ago