fandomhigh | Dealing With Loss [after classes]

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Dealing With Loss [after classes]

"Hey, everyone," Ben said, smiling around the room. "We'll keep this short because the Homecoming Fair has really astral free food and my grandfather in a dunk tank, and so isn't to be missed."

He crossed his legs out in front of him. "I guess the question I want to ask today is what brought you all here to this group? I'm not really one for wallowing in the past if I can avoid it, but I've been in Fandom long enough to realize that I'm not the only person without certain family members, you know?" He smiled. "And there are certainly more people who've lost people than are in this group, so what drew you here?"

He tried to meet each person's eyes individually. "If you want to talk about it. I'm not going to push. We can also just sit around and drink coffee and eat ice cream."

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As you do.

What brings you to the club every week anyway?

Who's the only Skywalker around right now.

Come on brain, turn on...

Edited 2010-10-22 16:02 (UTC)

Karla

Karla had only a small bowl of ice cream today; there was a carnival and she was going to fill up with fair food there, instead. "I was nine when my parents were killed," she said quietly. "And everything in my life went topsy-turvy after that. Here, at least, I can talk to people who'll understand at least a bit of what I felt during that time and not feel I'm treading on someone's sympathies."

William Murdoch

"I was six when my mother died," William shared. "I was the one who- found her body. There are times when I feel that, if only I'd known some of the things then that I know now... perhaps I could've saved her." He fidgeted a bit with the hat in his hands. "I think what drew me here is the fact that- well- the place I spent the rest of my childhood, all the other lads had been through similar losses, so it wasn't really- there didn't seem a point in talking about it, then."

Ben nodded. "I'd like to think we're going to be a pretty good group of listeners," he said.

Well that certainly captured Ben's attention. "I found my mom, too," he said quietly. "I was fourteen and have definitely wondered what I could have done differently to change things."

"I didn't--find them," Karla admitted. "But I also wonder that, a bit. If I had been smarter, more observant, something, could I have saved them?"

"I'd say from experience you already are," Karla said, giving him a slight smile. "Though I'm still a bit leery at the idea of talking about everything that happened after my parents died. It's just...a lot."

Ben nodded again. "Yeah, I don't want this to feel like some kind of interrogation chamber or like I have a weird obsession with other people's tragedies. I just hated feeling so isolated when Mom died."

"It's hard," Karla said, nodding. "No one knows just what to say, but everyone feels like they have to say something anyway. And eventually you end up catering to their emotional needs instead of your own, because they don't know how to handle you any other way."

Or maybe that was just Karla.

"I was the same way," Ben said. "They want you to be okay, so after a while you just pretend you are."

"Are you sure we're not related?" Karla teased. "I could be the daughter of the heretofore unknown triplet."

"I don't know," Ben said, grinning back. "The separated at birth thing has already been done in my family."

Lion-o

Lion-o stayed away from the coffee (he'd noticed that it made him so hyper that he started bouncing off the walls) but he did have a little bit of ice cream. It was a nice consolation for digging into a difficult subject.

"My home planet doesn't exist anymore," he said. "It blew up. We all managed to get off the planet in time -- all except for my father."

"Fine, then," Karla said, tossing her hair. "We're related some how in the future. My mother is actually your granddaughter, who was born in Kaeleer and never knew the other side of her family."

She beamed at Ben. "I love you very much, great-grandpapa."

Ben sighed and hid his face in his hands. "I really wish that didn't sound almost plausible."

"I'm so sorry," Ben said sympathetically. "Was it very recently?"

Elphaba Thropp

"It's okay, great-grandpapa," Karla said, patting his shoulder. "Think of this instead: you owe me fifteen back years of Winsol gifts. Isn't that better?"

"Last year," said Lion-o. "I went home for the summer and barely recognized the place. The damage from the constant tremors and volcanic activity changed it so much. In the end, the planet ripped itself apart."

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Dealing With Loss [after classes]

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