busyWarning: Torn World has some really complicated issues with disability, and different cultures deal with it in different ways. The Southern Empire will completely support people with disabilities -- but not allow them to work for a living without a lot of extra effort jumping through hoops. This is one reason why some people run away to become Purists. We have a whole collection featuring material about Disability in Torn World.
"With a Bow"
In the Rainbow Rainforest,
the year-end celebration
was more cultural than seasonal,
because the tropical climate
scarcely varied through the months.
People still liked to exchange gifts,
though, especially the ones
who came here as a refuge
from the pressures of the Empire.
Oranya had come because of
her crippled legs that would not
allow her to stand or walk.
The Empire would support her
but not let her support herself,
so she fled to the Rainbow Rainforest
where she could make things with her hands.
In Marimev she made ribbons and bows
to decorate the gifts for Nuvimev.
At the beginning of the holiday time,
Oranya's tribe-brother gave her
a gray skykitten with a red bow
tied around his neck like a tropical flower.
He loved the red bow and
kept trying to play with it,
so she named the kitten Hibiscus
after the flower that the bow resembled.
That gave Oranya an idea;
she taught Hibiscus to play fetch
and bring her first the bow,
then other things.
Eventually he learned
to climb up the shelves
and glide down to her
with things that she needed.
It didn't matter that
Oranya's legs didn't work.
She could use her hands to make bows
and her bows to train a skycat to fetch things,
so that in the end she had what she wanted
just as if she'd been able to reach it herself.
* * *
Notes:
Skycats are like housecats but with gliding membranes similar to a flying squirrel. They are popular pets in some parts of the Southern Empire.
Cats are sometimes used as assistance animals. They really can be taught to fetch or to carry things; it is instinctive for cats to carry things in their mouths, and some of them greatly enjoy doing so. This skycat has been taught to climb and retrieve items, much as helping hands monkeys do.
The Rainbow Rainforest is populated by the Rainbow Tribes, a loose assortment of Purists living outside of Imperial culture.
See the calendar of the Empire. It has ten months. Marimev means "tenth month" (like our December, which is now twelfth). Nuvimev means "zeroth month," the name of the five intercalary days between the old and new years, a holiday period for parties and gifts.
July 3 2014, 06:48:24 UTC 7 years ago
Yay!
July 3 2014, 07:00:19 UTC 7 years ago
July 3 2014, 08:56:30 UTC 7 years ago
Yes...
July 3 2014, 09:25:16 UTC 7 years ago
Thanks!
>> I didn't know that cats were actually being used as assistance animals, <<
They seem to be mostly used as therapy animals or seizure alerts, but can be used for other things. It depends a lot on the cat. I'd pick Ragdolls for cuddle therapy, due to their exceptional resilience and affection; but I'd take Maine Coon or Abyssinian for more physical tasks due to their intelligence.
>> and it sounds like a skycat could make a very handy assistant. <<
Yeah, they seem to be pretty smart cats. They would need to be, in order to calculate flight trajectories. Though the kittens can be pretty boneheaded about jumping off of things.
>> Plus, yay for happy endings. :) <<
<3
July 3 2014, 12:27:44 UTC 7 years ago