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 Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:37 pm
His eyebrows raised. "I never said I felt obligated to do so." Thoughts started to wane of her perhaps not knowing the 'secret' of the island.
"And I thought I heard you singing something festive before I spoke up. Perhaps I should criticize you for singing happily during the holiday season." He was perplexed - why on earth would someone he didn't even know criticize him for making a loved one a gift - that she also didn't know.
"And Perhaps I wanted to cling to some aspect of normalcy here - celebrate the holidays with the people I care about - even if I cant order something from a catalogue or buy from a department store. After all, I thought something handmade would be more... thoughtful.... as you sneered at."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:43 pm
Chana crossed her arms. "I was singing to myself, and so it really wouldn't matter if the song was for Hannukah or...or Rosh Hashanah!"
And then he was talking about normalcy and handmade gifts over store-bought. Chana cocked her head as she considered what he said. Finally, she sighed. "I suppose you do have a couple valid points. This island is the strangest place I've ever been, and handmade gifts are better. I still don't hold with the whole "season of giving" though. Any old time of the year is a good time to put a smile on someone's face."
Charities worked year-round after all. And wasn't her being here also along those lines?
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:49 pm
Ahh, so she was Jewish - that was the missing piece. He knew very little about that, other than some of the holiday names, and using the Old Testament...
"Yes... well... for me... at least, Christmas was one of the few times I actually got to see my family really happy looking - actually having time for me and spending time together..." Ambrose shook his head, trying to shake the wave of nostalgia away. Talking about family was usually painful for him... even when talking about some of the few, scattered good moments.
"Anyway... I guess it has always felt like a kind of magical time... though too bad we don't even get snow here. It feels different." He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Please don't ruin what I do have. Besides, I thought Hannukah was a gift giving, celebration holiday as well."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:55 pm
"Happy looking?" Chana echoed. It certainly sounded very different from 15-25 people eating and talking and arguing happily several times a year.
And snow. Chana wasn't overly fond of the cold, though she did enjoy snowball fights. "It is different to not have snow...but there's almost none in Israel," she commented.
"And gifts or not, Hannukah's not even a real holiday," she snarled. "The rabbis made it up. I'm not sure why, but maybe it's because all the other religions had celebrations and festivals around this time of year."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:03 pm
Ambrose shrugged defensively as she echoed his words. "My parents have never been the overly affectionate sort."
"And I Never heard that about Hannukah. But even so - don't you think the Rabbis had a reason for doign so more than to just imitate the Christain giftigiving holiday? Maybe... you know... the sentiment, the way it brings people together? Besides, Hanukka's older than Kwanzaa - which certainly is invented."
Ambrose plopped down on the sand, picking up the block of wood again and turned it over in his hands, visualizing what he could make from it, while glancing back at her, still standing in the surf.
"Look" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not trying to argue with you. I'm sure neither of our holidays advise that."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:10 pm
"Must've been a rough way to grow up," Chana said softly. She knew she'd been lucky to grow up in the busom of a large family that made sure she knew she was loved and special.
"Not many people know. But I wasn't referring to Christmas. I'm not sure approximately when this was, but the big festivals would have been Solstice and Saturnalia. And Saturnalia was also a gift-giving holiday."
Chana stepped out of the water, though she remained about a meter from Ambrose. "You're probably right about that...I'm sorry. This is just...I'm not at my best...and half the people I've seen look like horror movie stars." She sounded sheepish as she brushed wind-blown sand off of her face.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:21 pm
"I see..." Ambrose had heard of the pagan holidays mentioned in passing... but never really looked too much into it. "Well, regardless of the inspiration... I still maintain that there is some reasoning for the... copying... for lack of a better word." His mouth quirked up. "Who knows. Maybe there really is something magical about that time of year. Not that I really would ever be one to believe in that sort of thing... but with the goings-on recently... who knows."
Ambrose made no move towards her as she approached, just turned the block of wood over a few times in his hands. He had really been enjoying helping Chubbs with the project - he hadn't been that crafty since shop class... and he found that he really did enjoy it. Fencing had always been his 'creative' outlet, but it was frustrating not having much in the way of a sparring partner here. Not that he was going to give it up! Just.... find a supplementation.
He snorted at her horror monster comment. His appearance was still something of a sore subject. "And I Don't look this way by choice." His ears swiveled back again. "Besides, there's only one horror movie star here. Not sure if you've run into Vasile yet."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:27 pm
"This late in the game, the only way to know which celebration came first would be to build a time machine," Chana replied, chuckling weakly.
"I guess...I don't think anyone would want to look anything like people on this island," she said slowly, thinking it through. Beneath the fur and the Christianity...there was something quite down-to-earth about this guy. She half-remembered Cassidy saying something...but it was gone again. Regardless, she felt...she felt that this man was not her enemy, and that she shouldn't be afraid of him and his...fellows on this island.
"Who's Vasilie?" she asked instead. The name sounded remotely familiar, but no more than that.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:37 pm
Ambrose picked up the knife, keeping his eyes on the block of wood made a few notches as guidelines for where to cut and shape later.
"Very true. I suppose the whole 'which came first' argument doesn't really matter. They're all here now, and they make people happy, right?" He glanced up to her, the amiable smile starting to return.
"And no... I wouldn't wish this fate on my worst enemies. From... what you're saying I do assume you've been given the... run down of what's going on...? I wasn't sure with how I startled you, but maybe you just hadn't seen anyone as.... different as me yet." He shifted positions a bit, trying to make himself more comfortable in the sand.
"And Vasile DiRossi.... the film star.... apparently he's being listed as being in a planecrash...."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:41 pm
"Another way to ask the chicken or the egg," she added, smiling slightly.
"Run down? I...ah...think...Cassidy tried," she admitted, flushing. "I...well...this hasn't been very easy, seeing people like this."
Chana stared blankly at the name. "Who? No, never mind. I'm really bad at keeping up with that stuff. Wonder if he'd rather the planecrash," she mused.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:52 pm
"Precisely. And a rather moot question at that." He made a few more notches in the wood before turning it to check to see how things lined up, and then smiled, making some deeper cuts.
"So you met Cassidy?" He nodded. Cassidy was also pretty far in her changes - although along a very different line. "I haven't seen Cassidy in a while.... is she doing alright? .... But no - it's not any easier on us, I can assure you. Most of us at least. It's one thing to see someone else with fur or scales... quite another to see it in the mirror. But... admittedly, even that hasn't made it easy to see your friends changing around you... remembering them as human... and seeing them scared, looking different... more like an animal." His ears drooped.
Ambrose snorted a bit at the question. "I guess that's a good question you'd have to ask him. Me...... I don't know to be honest. It's.... it's hard thinking that things are only going to get... more drastic from here, and that I'll never be able to go home - never be able to chase my dreams." He shook his head. "I'm sorry." He sighed. He always had the tendency to think about himself when talking to others about the problems of the island. Selfish. "From the sounds of things you had a good family.... I'm really sorry...." He trailed off, realizing he didn't have her name yet.
"I'm terribly sorry - my name is Ambrose."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:59 pm
"Yeah...Cassidy was pretty nice. I...I really had trouble looking at her, but we had a good conversation. She seems...to be doing well." Chana was quiet. Looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing...something like that? Changing? Chana felt she should ask...but...no. If she didn't know, she could hang on to what little sanity she had left. Coward, she called herself, but so be it.
Then he started talking about her family. Unbidden, tears clouded her eyes. She quickly wiped them and responded to his last statement.
"I'm Chana. It's...well, it's nice to meet you, Ambrose."
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:04 pm
Ambrose nodded. "Cass has been having a rough time... last I saw her. She and Vasile had been slowly trying to... help eachother through all of this, but I haven't seen either of them in some time to be honest. I've been... rather reclusive for a while until just recently..."
Ambrose looked up, his ears crumpling as he saw her expression, and he set down the carving. "Chana.... I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to upset you..." He slowly rose to his feet, debatng between tryting to comfort her or if that would just make her feel more uncomfortable.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:08 pm
Chana waved Ambrose away. "Really...it's just...I've never gone a year without seeing my family during Hannukah. I even missed Winnie the Jew for my family." The tears were gathering again.
"Maybe I should go think about what you've said today," she told him, her voice not quite wavering.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:14 pm
"That must be painful" Ambrose said quietly. He wasn't quite sure what Winny the Jew was other than from the sounds of it some sort of parody of the famuous bear, but it was obvious how meaningful her family was to her.
"Well.... it probably sounds like an empty sentiment... and I know that if I were you, I wouldn't be overly comfortbale with me... but if you ever want to talk about anything - I'm in duplex one." He gave her a small smile and a instinctive few wags of his tail.
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