[P] the written word

[Tallulah Colt]

"Catalina?"

Tallulah found the girl in the stables, bent over something. While they were on good terms, she kept her distance respectful. The stutter made the dog hybrid believe the girl was naturally shy and would not want someone to press into her personal business. Sadly, Tallulah was the type to be curious about things other Luperci were doing. She noticed the scrappy-looking book. Was Catalina writing down her thoughts? Pa always said a lady needed a place to vent - if not at her friends, husband, or wife - then a place private to her. She hadn't even realized the girl could read and write yet.

"What are ya doing?" there was no shouting or angry tone to her voice. It was a mild curiosity; Tallulah had taught children to read back south, and even write. Did the girl need help? She could help. Inching closer, the dog hybrid still keeps a nice distance. She only stopped a few steps away, tilting her head and smiling brightly. It looked like she was scribbling down something, but the woman couldn't make out what from her angle. "do ya want some help?" she added to her, refusing to brag and say her Pa had been a teacher. A teacher's kid she was, but she only taught skills to pups who wanted to learn.

Not every Luperci did. A shame for the written language was just as lovely as the spoken one.

(238) | tagging catalina

[Catalina del Bosque]

“O n e…

Fingers and wrist worked delicately to write the words down, stealing pages from other books— Peony would be ashamed but what else was she to do?— Catalina worked gently on trying to spell to words.

“T o o” A delicate switch in her wrist to draw the o’s, and… oh no! She hadn’t spelled it right! Catalina worked feverishly to “x” our the one o, and replace it with the one W, of which was sideways and squiggly.

Was this how hard most these things were? Momma Aani didn’t teach her much… but what little she learned from Peony (when she wasn’t busy that was) she absorbed like a sponge. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a bother to anyone else, and hopefully she could start writing down the words she read. Of course, spelling and writing went hand in hand, and while the Del Bosque female had managed to get reading down, this was a much more difficult task.

The small voice startled her and she slammed the book shut before snapping her head around towards Tallulah.

It was only Tallulah. She reminded herself and opened the book back up, studying her words once again, and retracing them. Tallie was no bother to her, but the next questions made her glance up with a delicate smile on her lips.

“W-wri-writing…” The book was kept close to her though, afraid that Tallie would judge her, and fixating her gaze onto the scribbled letters with intensity. She would probably make fun of her, wouldn’t she?

Instead though, with a rather incredulous look on Lina’s face, she gaped at Tallulah. Help? She wanted to help her? “O-oh… yes-yes!” She beamed grasping her book and turning it around so that Tallulah could see what she was doing.

“Momma… Peony… s-she taught-taught me-e… to-to read…” Admission with a small shrug, wetting her lips and glancing down at the words upside down. They looked like chicken scratch, but Lina was proud of them regardless.

WORD COUNT - 330
sorry about the wait ;-;

[Tallulah Colt]

The girl had appeared ashamed and embarrassed. Tallulah would cease walking toward her as Catalina hid her book. Oops. That wasn't what she wanted to do. Thankfully, it was reversed. "My Pa taught me to read and write" she said almost proudly when the Chispa showed her the book at last "he was a teacher before I was born." A story she'd roll her eyes playfully at when the old man droned on about it. He'd make a smart remark about respecting elders and laugh. 

She inched a bit closer, keen to see Catalina's progress. "I used to teach some kids in winter" she went on "their parents would pay us" and "it's a good skill to have. Ya can document things and write about anything yer heart and head wants." Tallulah chuckled, remarking Peony's name being dropped. Catalina had said 'mom'... was this Peony's kid? Or did she said 'mom' and 'Peony' separately? She never saw an adult with the girl roaming around. She tried to press it away from her mind and focus.

"Oh, you're practicing numbers" she chirped "next is three" the dog hybrid added warmly "T-H-R-E-E" a pause before "sounds like tree. Actually, I used to write 'tree' and add in the other letters later... Oops." She winced as if her Pa was there, scolding her method.

(idc) | tagging catalina