Aren had been struggling with communicating in the last year of his life, on account of his newly acquired lack of voice. Once he had been a very talkative young man, happy to chat about anything with anyone. But when that was taken away, he became a much different person. He started off writing messages to people, using the little book he carried tucked into his belt. It was an adequate tool, unless the other person couldn’t read. Then there were other problems with it. Writing took time, even if it was only a short message, and some people felt the need to fill the space with talking. This led to whatever Aren was writing to be irrelevant before he’d finished it. In groups this was worse. The flow of the conversation often being much faster and harder for him to keep up with. He could also try to mouth his messages, but it felt humiliating, emphasising his inability to speak of which he was still so insecure. So Aren begun to withdraw, not participating in conversations and just watching them.
His other option was to make hand gestures. Sometimes this worked, it could be quicker on occasion, but more often than not it just led to people looking at him with confusion. Maybe they didn’t understand or maybe they weren’t paying enough attention. Either way, they often soon lost patience and tried to move on to something else. And so Aren slowly became a more and more withdrawn man. He drank a lot, his closest friend and father figure had been murdered, and he had been outcast for it. They didn’t even want to listen to him properly because they never gave him the chance to. So he coped by drinking.
Inayat was patient. Sure she couldn’t read but that didn’t matter. She would take the time to understand the message he was trying to give her, and if she didn’t she would do her best to try and guess, and figure it out. They had spent long periods of time just trying to get a message across but she never seemed to get bored or restless from it, in fact it was almost akin to a game. In groups, she would patiently wait for him, enabling him to participate with ease as she would pass on his message if others didn’t understand his gestures.
Slowly, Aren found himself coming out from his shell. His laughs came more frequent, plastering his mirth across his face, his general happiness soared, and he felt content to be in a group of people for the first time in a long while. The drinking began to stop, and he got to the point where he could safely have a pint and not go for more. It was still risky being near lots of alcohol though, so he now avoids taverns if he can.
Even as time goes on, Aren feels his communication with Inayat only improves. He feels as though they have come to understand one another much better, and he could tailor his gestures for her and she could understand him much quicker and more often than before. Maybe she was beginning to understand the thought process behind his actions.
So, on a warm night on the shores of Nen Harn, he begins to bolster his courage. They lie in their tent, not a care in the world outside them, focussing solely on one another. Inayat recognises the look on his face. He’s nervous, and he doesn’t quite know how to gesture what he wants to say. After some intense thinking and warm encouragement, he knows what to do.
His movements are exaggerated to emphasise each point, as he firsts points to himself, then places a hand over his heart before finally points at her. For a moment, only a second, she doesn’t quite know what he means but then her face lights up like a beacon as she confesses her love for him also.
And then, about two weeks later, they stand in his newly acquired and decorated home in Hookworth village. As the hold each other, he points between them, then down at the floor, hoping it’s enough for her to understand. Once more her face would light up after she realises what he is meaning to ask, and Aren can’t help but beam at her. “Yes,” She answers, she will move in with him.
A lack of communication tore his life apart. But when he could communicate again, his life became so much better than before and he knew it.
