Friendship Doesn't Need Language
The crisp, orange-brown leaves lightened to yellow, and almost overnight, the trees erupted into a rich green. Summer had arrived. Classes were dismissed, and Louis’s first year at Durmstrang was finally over. It was the end of having his head dunked in toilets, bugs placed in his cups and clothes and books misplaced by a small percentage of the male population of his class that found it fun to come after him wherever he went —for now. Summer meant home and his mother. Summer meant spending long days on his beautiful horse Augustus as they galloped in the fields. Summer meant he had his twin sister, who he feared was lost to him, back with him. Liesel had spent almost every bit of the school term with her bundle of friends, and it was difficult for Louis to speak with her.
But after the long days with the sun shining on their happy faces passed, and September encroached, looming in the corner, Louis felt less happy. He was anxious whether he would finally have someone to be friends with. It was aggravating for the German boy that he could never learn the art of socializing his twin seemed to master. Soon, he was back at the castle, luckily with no Konrad to dictate and loom over, now that his brother graduated. The twelve-year-old knew there wouldn't be many people at Drumstrang counting down the days till school started again so they could see his face, for as far as he knew, his friend list only stretched to his dormmate and a boy one year older than him—the first brother-figure in his life, Magnus Blackwood,
The first month passed blissfully. His bullies in his class were too caught up reuniting with their friends over the long summer to care for him, and Louis spent his days in the library or on the grounds, where he found a tall oak tree that covered a large area of the grass, leaving a cool shade he could escape to. On any other day, he would bring his books down with him and do his homework there, unbothered by anyone, save the lone person or two that had the same idea. As he flipped the calendar sitting on his bedside table by one page for October's arrival, his summertime determination to get himself a friend was in the back of his head.
On occasions where he would remember his vows to himself, he would make plans to assuage his loneliness by bringing an extra book down with him, or some interesting things he thought his classmates would like, such as his wood carvings, or books in German as the German to Russian ratio at the school was stark, and he had yet to find someone that could even understand German, to no avail. They were hardly interested.
Louis found himself once again under that big oak tree on the school grounds one October afternoon. The sun wasn't harsh, and a gentle breeze was blowing cool air onto his face, making it the ideal weather for doing homework, which moved onto reading. But he had enough of reading that day, and he threw his books down. Instead, he began to talk to himself. But that would have him dubbed 'crazy', so he turned to sign language. As he was deaf, Louis was fluent in German Sign Language. It would be weird if he was signing to himself, but he didn't care as there weren't many people around. It would be interesting if he met someone who understood German Sign Language—or come to think of it, any sign language. Or even someone who would look him straight in the face.
permission from @Magnus Blackwood to mention him in this post!!
| maisie f.r. williams | |
Sta: 6 | Eva: 6| Str: 5 | Wis: 4 | Arc: 6 | Acc: 8 |
Sta: 4 | Eva: 7 | Str: 2 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 9 | Acc: 6 |