This poem came out of the August 7, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from chanter_greenie . It also fills the "blood" square in my 6-4-18 Dark Fantasy card for the Winteriron Bingo Adventure fest. Based on an audience poll , this is the free epic for the September 4, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It belongs to the Polychrome Heroics series. Note: This poem contains reference to a past injury from a bicycle mishap. Despite copious amounts of blood, nobody was seriously hurt. "The Price of Freedom" When Millaray arrives for her fourth meeting with Dr. G, she has three butterfly stitches on her chin, and above them, an enormous grin. She bounces so much that the carpet creaks underneath her feet. "Well, you look like you had an adventure," Dr. G says. "Would you like to tell me about it?" "Yes!" Millaray exclaims, dumping herself into a chair. Her foster parents follow at a more sedate pace, but they, too, are smiling. "Mums and Pops found me a tutor for echolocation," she says. "It's so exciting! I'm learning to ride a bike and everything. But he warned us there would be blood, and yeah, it went just everywhere." "Head wounds can do that," Dr. G says. "They usually look a lot worse than they really are. So then what?" "Pops took me to the clinic so they could tape up my face," Millaray says. "The doctor was nice but one of the nurses was real mean and threatened to take me away from my new family." "Oh, dear," says Dr. G. "How did you handle that?" "I told her it's part of a program and if she didn't like it then she could call you," Millaray says. Elwyn signs, and Cecilia translates for him, "Then I stepped in and asked if the nurse had any practical objections or was just whining because a blind girl simply decided to do something that sighted girls get to do all the time." Dr. G laughs. "What did she do?" "Well, she got all huffy about it, but that attracted the attention of the doctor we saw and he helped us work out a plan," Cecilia translates. "That was kind of cool," Millaray says. "We told the doctor about the program and how often kids get hurt in training. It's not that much worse than any sport! Then he wanted to know if I knew first aid, so I could take care of myself in case I got hurt while I was playing alone." "Do you?" Dr. G asks her. "Not yet, but now I'm learning!" Millaray says, bouncing in her seat. "The hospital has a class on it. Plus Mums is taking advanced first aid because she already knows the basic and for kids stuff." Cecilia chuckles. "Yes, the staff at the clinic were quite surprised to find out how many first aid certs I had, and then embarrassed that they didn't have an instructor who knew how to teach a blind person. Well, I used to collect certs just so people had to learn how to teach them!" Millaray's mischievous giggle makes Dr. G suspect that she might take up that collection on her own soon. "I'm glad you found people to teach what you need to know," says Dr. G. "You don't mind the extra lessons?" "Nah," says Millaray. "My teacher told me that running into a pole is a drag, but never being allowed to run into a pole is a disaster. Pain is part of the price of freedom." "Well, he's not wrong," says Dr. G. "You have the same right as anyone else to get into scrapes and learn from them -- and how to tell people who try to keep you wrapped in cotton when they shouldn't." Millaray spouts a string of words that Dr. G can't understand but sound downright acidic. Cecilia laughs. "All right, what's the joke?" Dr. G says. "Mums and Pops found me a Mapuche tutor and a club for online practice," Millaray says, wiggling her fingers like typing. "But they won't teach me any of the naughty words, so I just yell the names of flowers in Mapuche and nobody knows they're not swears." Dr. G grins back at her. "You know, I do exactly the same thing in Esperanto except I name vegetables that I don't like." "I told you it was a good trick," Millaray says to Cecilia. "It's a very good trick," Cecilia agrees. "It sure sounds like you three are bonding well already," says Dr. G. "Ready for the paperwork?" They're redoing some things that Heidi Langenberg had done before referring the family here, to compare Millaray's relationship with her new foster parents against her birth father. Dr. G feels confident that in measuring Millaray's happiness, he'll see a lot of smiley faces. * * * Notes: "Running into a pole is a drag, but never being allowed to run into a pole is a disaster," he writes. "Pain is part of the price of freedom." -- Daniel Kish "If you happen to be blind and want to live a bold, stereotype-smashing life, there will be blood." I witness this firsthand when I spend a day mountain biking with Bushway and Ruiz. -- Daniel Kish There are classes and general tips for teaching children about first aid. Just start narrating first aid every time they have a complaint, and they'll learn the steps naturally as they grow old enough to remember what you're saying. Whenever they start showing interest, you can move up to lessons with demonstrations. Adult classes cover things like basic first aid , advanced first aid , basic babysitting safety , and pediatric CPR . In Terramagne-America, many people collect certifications on topics that interest them, so having a whole set like this isn't rare. Family dynamics may be assessed in various ways. Here is a Child-Parent Relationship Scale and its scoring . This is a Father Engagement Scale and its instructions . Here is a Children's Happiness Scale . Another useful tool with young children is a Happy-OK-Sad Scale , which children can use to show how they feel about topics on a list such as their parents, house, or school.