bittyliam | Waiting to go places

Bitty is waiting patiently in his room, since Mister Break said he'd come by with a book after the party. He's starting to get a little sleepy because he's had so much rich, delicious food to eat, but he's also excited because he likes books and he likes being read to.

While he's waiting, he's sitting on the floor in front of the terrarium and watching his frog--which he still hasn't named.

[PHDR; private to

almost_knightly]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

almost_knightly

Break spends a while out in the evening sun with some more scarce friends of his, but he doesn't forget -- he's been meaning to do this for a little while now. When he arrives, it is with a certain Dr. Seuss book held close to his chest.

Barma thinks it's a stupid book but Barma can take himself and his hair and go not read it somewhere else. So there.

"Liam?" he calls gently, knocking on the door. It wouldn't surprise him if the child had stumbled into a food coma; Break himself is still in the very last bits of one.

From:

bittyliam

Liam immediately jumps up to get the door, happy that he wasn't forgotten.

"Mister Break!"

He peers at the book, wondering what it is.

From:

almost_knightly

Whatever the book is, it's hardcover, and rather thin. The back is decorated with curls of color in yellow, pink, orange, blue, and green.

"D'you have somewhere comfy for us to sit? This one has pictures."

From:

bittyliam

Ooo, colors. Already Liam is wondering what all those colors are a picture of. He doesn't read many books with pictures; those are better to read with other people, and Master Rufus doesn't seem to like them.

"Uh-huh!"

He leads Break to the plush armchair in the room. It's where he and Barma read the book on frogs.

"Will this work, Mister Break?"

From:

almost_knightly

Break plops down on it and declares, "Excellent." Then he moves to allow the child to climb up with him. Once Liam is settled, he lets him have a good look at the cover, which features some sort of strange, striped mountain of colors, and a boy in a yellow jump suit standing on top of it.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! graces the top of the cover in big, blue letters.

"This book is from my world," he says. "Dr. Seuss was an aufor who wrote loooots of books for children, and in my world, we love him a whole lot. Barma finks this book is a bit young for you, but I'll tell you a secret -- if somefing means somefing to you, you're never too old for it. So you should read whatever you like, just to make sure~"

From:

bittyliam

Liam settles close, curled at Break's side.

He examines the cover with interest.

"Master Rufus doesn't like picture books. I like them, but they're more fun to read with other people."

He likes them lot more than he's willing to admit; he's supposed to read challenging things.

From:

almost_knightly

"Yeah, he's the sort who wouldn't. But a really good picture tells you just as much as words do. If you find any good ones, I'll read 'em wiv you. I like picture books a lot."

Xerxes Break: Nothing remotely resembling shame since 1971.

He opens the book, flipping past the title pages just slowly enough to let Liam see that they don't contain any more important information. The very first page of the actual story is simple -- mostly white space with the same little boy trudging across the bottom of the page.

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!"

Break has an unexpectedly good reading voice, and the rhythm and rhyme of the words fit well with his accent.

From:

bittyliam

Liam brightens at that, thrilled at the offer.

"Really? Y-you don't mind?"

He studies the pictures on those title pages briefly. Then he snuggles in a bit closer to Break when he starts reading, content to listen.

From:

almost_knightly

Break lifts his arm so Liam can scoot underneath it, allowing him to see better. He'll be spending a lot of time on the next page -- this is the one that made him want to give this book to the boy in the first place.

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where you go."

From:

bittyliam

And scoot underneath it he does. Bitty likes snuggling; he hasn't grown out of it like big-him has.

He peers at the paths in the picture, wondering a bit why the trees are pink, and listens intently, then realizes:

This is about making decisions for oneself. Maybe it'll help him with that.

From:

almost_knightly

"You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, 'I don't choose to go there.'
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
You're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town."

The book continues, following the wandering boy past looming dragon-things and wide, colorful plains, -- and on to a page with elephants and a little castle.

"Out there things can happen and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along. You'll start happening too."

From:

bittyliam

Liam listens intently, enjoying the silly pictures, but feeling the message as well.

He'll start happening when things happen...? If he doesn't stew and goes along? Maybe that applies to what happened with Master Rufus asking him to be a ward.

He doesn't want to break the magic of the storytelling, or ask questions that will be answered later, so he stays snuggled up, listening and looking, and thinking too.

From:

almost_knightly

Break likes this book because it's honest. It goes on for a bit about how amazing the reader will turn out to be -- and then acknowledges right after that sometimes, things don't turn out so well after all. The boy, flying in a hot air balloon, is snagged on a branch and watches his companions leave him behind. Then the colors shift and he wanders through a dark, blue-black sort of a place, where, it is said, one can occasionally find oneself in a slump -- a sad state of mind that's hard to get out of.

Eventually, the boy finds himself in a strange, confusing, loopy sort of city.

"You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?"

The emphasis is Break's.

Waiting to go places

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