The Glider Ideal

Checkers' faraway look vanished, and she began to speak.

"Mary, there have been some facts that I have been reluctant to tell you, because they are personally embarrassing. I think that if you hear about them, some things will make sense."

"An inhabitant of the RDL will never go outside of its boundaries, except when compelled to as part of a war. The thievery of which you speak must be from those who have been ostracized by their home city for some failing." Checkers paused, and took a breath, as if she were thinking, "Let's get this over with." She continued, "I am one of those. We have various tests to meet, and are judged by our guides, who supervise a group of us, based on our age. I made enough mistakes where I had to leave. Slaying the dragon is reserved to us outcasts to provide us a chance at redemption, and to prove that we are worthy of rejoining the community. It is not an easy task, but I have to make the most of it."

Mary said nothing, but just nodded, wanting to know more. Checkers continued, "Well, I was given a map to the dragon, but it is not any good. The area west of here is blotted out. So I went along the path that would avoid settlements, as I knew that your kind would kill me. I had never quite seen anything like those grasslands, and was hoping for more game. Unfortunately, there was not much beyond the jackrabbits and grasshoppers, and so I became weak, to the point where I could no longer fly. I had to get some water and hope to find some food. I remembered that there was a creek and made my way through the grass. That is where you found me."

"And why are your people so hostile?"

Checkers again took a deep breath, trying to reconcile the history that she had learned with a desire not to offend her hosts. "It is a long story, ma'am. Part of the problem is that, from our point of view, your kind has so much - the entire world, as a matter of fact, and our kind has so little. It was not always that way, but our people have many stories about that, which I will tell you later if you are interested. The important thing is that now we just have the Red Dolomite Range and the foothills. If we lose the hunting grounds and the trees and berries, we die as a people. Whenever a group comes in and tries to fence in the land, they drive off the animals and stop us from gathering food. What your kind does with the land is marvellous, but we are not built that way, and many of the plants you sow cannot be used by us. So the settlement that you look upon as 'harmless' appears to us as an attack, and we respond. We just desire to be left alone."

"In the accounts that we hear from the east, you are more aggressive than that. I do not want to argue about that, though. Why were you in particular sent out?"

Checkers fell silent for a moment, and then replied. "There were lots of things. It would take a long time to explain it well, but there are certain ideals that make a Glider something more than an animal. There is a sort of code that we like by, an ideal to which we aspire. For example, in order to succeed at hunting large game, we not only have to perform our assigned tasks well, but quickly. I have always had trouble with that. I sometimes will read meanings into an order that no one else will see, and that interferes with the task for everyone else. There are other parts of the ideal, too. For one thing, we are not to act in an improper manner in public. For example, complaining about one's work or lot in life is considered to be 'un-Gliderlike.'"

"You are never allowed to complain? It sounds a bit oppressive."

"I never thought of it in that way. Again, you have to live there to understand. There is a song, "Georgie the Hero," that we sometimes sang after mess. Georgie takes his place in the patrol with visions of a glamorous life, but he ends up doing nothing but tedious and unpleasant tasks. That is not only fine with the guides, but clever additions to the song are encouraged. However, making the same complaint about a task while performing it is considered to be a deviation from the Glider ideal."

"Interesting. So you do sing and tell stories?"

"Yes. The city will typically stage a play or show every month, and there are also holidays where the whole community will prepare for a spectacle for weeks in advance. It is considered good form if you can sing well, or be able to tell a good story. I never had any problems doing that - in fact, some of my guides thought that I read a little more of the old lore than was good for me. But even when we are not going to a formal performance, we would improvise after the school mess or after family dinner."

"Well, I am about finished with washing these clothes - they just need to be dried and scented with some herbs and flowers. I would like you to tell me and Bennie some of those stories after dinner, if we could make you presentable."

"How so?"

"I need to wash your old clothes for a start. And it would not hurt for you to wash yourself, and maybe wear a little scent packet. I have some lavendar to spare."

1. Checkers accepts Mary's invitation.
2. Meanwhile, not so very far away from this scene...

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