A little seven-year-old girl, carefully holding the results of the test and the attached application form to her chest, slowly padded her way across the cold tiled floor of the hallway. She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, blue-black hair in flying pigtails, lavender eyes holding anticipation, fear, anxiety, resolve. "Mother," she whispered. The figure at the sink washing vegetables didn't seem to notice. "Mother!" she tried again, slightly louder.
A beautiful woman with the same colouring as her daughter was at the sink. "Yes, dear?"
Without a word the girl handed over the various papers. The woman dried her hands on the apron, and accepted the documents. She read over the results carefully and then the attached application form. Finally, she bent down to her daughter's level and gazed at her thoughtfully.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Lucrezia?" she asked softly.
The little girl hesitated, and then nodded emphatically.
"Does your father know about this?"
Noin looked away. "No."
"Wouldn't you think it's better to consult your father on this before we take any action?"
"Mother, would you really think that he'd agree?" she said angrily. "To him, I...I'm only a girl, incapable of doing things like this. You know what he thinks of women and their role in life." Hotly she continued on. "Mother has two university degrees and she's kept at home..."
Now the woman smiled. "Dear, your father might have some backward views of women in general, but even he couldn't make me stay here if I didn't want to. There's nothing wrong with staying home and taking care of the people I love--" The little girl opened her mouth to dissent. She held up a hand to stop her. "But, there's also nothing wrong to do what you want in life."
She grasped her mother's arms, eyes bright. "Then you will sign?"
"Lucrezia. Do you know what this entails? Being a soldier does mean you will have to kill people, sometimes even people you know. Or following orders to abandon your friends on the battlefield. And during battle, to wake up each day knowing that it might be the last day you live--"
"I want to do it! I want to show him I can do it! My two elder brothers, they--"
"That's not a very good reason to enlist."
Noin broke away. "There's also this." She look away into the distance. "I know it sounds crazy, but I...I really just love space."
Her mother smiled. "That's better."
And although at the dinner table there were hysterics and a lot of yelling, eventually the documents were signed and the youngest daughter of the Noin family was sent off, alike her elder brothers to the military. More specifically to Lake Victoria Base, the elite school of the OZ military forces, where even her brothers couldn't make it in. Her elder sister wept and cried. Her father shouting and turned blue and red and various colours of purple. But mother and daughter sat through it calmly, and eventually the victory was conceded.
A beautiful woman with the same colouring as her daughter was at the sink. "Yes, dear?"
Without a word the girl handed over the various papers. The woman dried her hands on the apron, and accepted the documents. She read over the results carefully and then the attached application form. Finally, she bent down to her daughter's level and gazed at her thoughtfully.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Lucrezia?" she asked softly.
The little girl hesitated, and then nodded emphatically.
"Does your father know about this?"
Noin looked away. "No."
"Wouldn't you think it's better to consult your father on this before we take any action?"
"Mother, would you really think that he'd agree?" she said angrily. "To him, I...I'm only a girl, incapable of doing things like this. You know what he thinks of women and their role in life." Hotly she continued on. "Mother has two university degrees and she's kept at home..."
Now the woman smiled. "Dear, your father might have some backward views of women in general, but even he couldn't make me stay here if I didn't want to. There's nothing wrong with staying home and taking care of the people I love--" The little girl opened her mouth to dissent. She held up a hand to stop her. "But, there's also nothing wrong to do what you want in life."
She grasped her mother's arms, eyes bright. "Then you will sign?"
"Lucrezia. Do you know what this entails? Being a soldier does mean you will have to kill people, sometimes even people you know. Or following orders to abandon your friends on the battlefield. And during battle, to wake up each day knowing that it might be the last day you live--"
"I want to do it! I want to show him I can do it! My two elder brothers, they--"
"That's not a very good reason to enlist."
Noin broke away. "There's also this." She look away into the distance. "I know it sounds crazy, but I...I really just love space."
Her mother smiled. "That's better."
And although at the dinner table there were hysterics and a lot of yelling, eventually the documents were signed and the youngest daughter of the Noin family was sent off, alike her elder brothers to the military. More specifically to Lake Victoria Base, the elite school of the OZ military forces, where even her brothers couldn't make it in. Her elder sister wept and cried. Her father shouting and turned blue and red and various colours of purple. But mother and daughter sat through it calmly, and eventually the victory was conceded.