If the man was speaking older than he looked, Alice was hardly one to point it out. She'd been old since she was twelve, since she'd realized that she was dying, everyone was dying, save her father.
She didn't talk about these things. Didn't even think of them, on her better days. But it was Christmas, and this man was no one. She looked at him, encouragingly. Like she looked at her students, when they were just on the cusp of something.
"I didn't teach him to tie his shoes," Susan said. "When he was at the age where you learn that sort of thing. I didn't spend much time around children before him, and it slipped my mind that people weren't born knowing how to tie shoes. It wasn't until last year, at breakfast. We're sitting at the table, and he tells me about the time that Gram taught him how to tie his shoes."
Felt like it'd happened this morning, but to someone else. A different Alice. She'd been split in two the moment that Steven died, and one Alice was off, staying in her memories and not having to move forward in the present.
"I forget things like that. Obvious things. Always have."
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Date: 2010-01-06 06:28 pm (UTC)She didn't talk about these things. Didn't even think of them, on her better days. But it was Christmas, and this man was no one. She looked at him, encouragingly. Like she looked at her students, when they were just on the cusp of something.
"I didn't teach him to tie his shoes," Susan said. "When he was at the age where you learn that sort of thing. I didn't spend much time around children before him, and it slipped my mind that people weren't born knowing how to tie shoes. It wasn't until last year, at breakfast. We're sitting at the table, and he tells me about the time that Gram taught him how to tie his shoes."
Felt like it'd happened this morning, but to someone else. A different Alice. She'd been split in two the moment that Steven died, and one Alice was off, staying in her memories and not having to move forward in the present.
"I forget things like that. Obvious things. Always have."
((ooc: You minx!))