Story: Middle Part 19
[[Continuity Note: We find Alf and Jessica walking home, for Alf to tell the Alduses his great news.]]
Jessica and her parents, and Alf himself sat in the sitting room where they'd had their original meeting, in a set-up akin to that life-changing moment. The monumentality of the current situation wasn't lost on Alf.
"So what is it you wanted to speak to us about, Alf?" Mrs Aldus asked.
Alf looked at her. Had she really agreed to a meeting when she didn't know what he was going to be talking about? Had she really forgotten since this morning? Admittedly it was quite early in the morning, but she had been awake when he'd arrived, barefoot in his pyjamas.
"I have a possible solution to the council's problem," Alf said.
The adults looked a little sceptical, but seemed to think that since they'd allowed this meeting in the first place, they had better go through with listening to what Alf had to say.
"Okay," Mr Aldus stated. "What is it then, Alf?"
"Well, Aliana's made me listen to the past few council meetings over the past few days. And it occured to me that they way they've proposed to integrate into the non-magical world is wrong."
The three Alduses looked quite offended at that statement, and Alf worried that they wouldn't pay further attention, so amended his comment. "Well not wrong per se. It's just not the most inconspicuous way to go about it."
"But it's a monumental occasion," Mr Aldus protested. "Of course it shouldn't be inconspicuous. It should be very conspicuous since there are hundreds of magical people suddenly declaring themselves different. We shouldn't be hiding, we should be proclaiming."
Well, if Alf had wanted the answer to the question about which side of the debate Mr Aldus was on it became quite clear that moment. He hadn't expected the mere voicing of his idea to be so difficult. He had expected the difficulties later, when they'd actually heard what he had to say. Perhaps he just should have said it.
"Of course," Alf agreed verbally. "But the main problem with that idea is that we have no idea how well everyone is going to be received throughout the world, especially since people are known to be jealous and intolerant of what they don't understand."
"Right," Mrs Aldus agreed.
Meanwhile, Jessica was catching on to what Alf was saying, but didn't want to ruin his thunder.
"Basically, we should be prototyping and testing people's reactions to magical society."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Mr Aldus asked, with a note of scepticism still present in his voice.
"Well, who are the people most likely to accept the fact that there are magical people in the world?" Jessica was about to answer, but Alf noticed, and continued regardless. It was a rhetorical question. "Their friends, people who know them well, of course. I think that each person should tell their best friend or whoever close to them, and, judge by their reactions how well they'd be received in that community. Once they're okay, everyone can tell someone else, and eventually, the whole world will know."
The elder Alduses sat in stunned silence. Jessica sat as though pleased that she'd been able to discover the one who would solve their problem.
"My dear boy," Mr Aldus proclaimed. "That is sheer genius."
"And so simple," Mrs Aldus remarked. "It's a wonder no one in the council had thought of it earlier."
Alf thought it dreadfully obvious why no one magical had thought of it. They'd never heard of the term 'prototyping' before. The other, real, reason was evidenced in Mr Aldus' reaction. They'd never thought about it before because they wanted to do it in a large scale way. Mr Aldus wanted parades and fanfare. The council members wanted political assistance. Alf just thought about the problem.
"I think Alf should propose his idea at the next council meeting," Jessica voiced.
Alf immediately went pale. He'd had enough of council meetings. They were dreadfully boring and seemed to do basically nothing. "I don't think that's such a good idea. I was thinking either you, Mr Aldus, or Mrs Aldus could do it," he sad, looking toward the adults.
"You're right, Alf," Mr Aldus agreed. "They wouldn't go for a plan if you were the one that pitched it to them. One of us will have to pretend that we came up with it, unfortunately. It would be nice if they would go for it if you proposed it."
"But they wouldn't," Alf agreed, merely glad that there was an actual reason for him not going besides the fact that he was scared of being bored to death. Council politics just didn't interest him the way it should have. On the other hand, he was also a little offended that the council wouldn't believe anything he said. But he had gotten the impression at the meeting he attended that they thought of him as a mere oddity, and largely an outsider as he'd been raised without any knowledge of the way real magic worked. They wouldn't put any stock in what he thought. It had been difficult enough for the Alduses to grasp it, despite their knowledge of his character.
"I think, Karen," Mr Aldus said, turning toward his wife. "You should be the one to propose it. Bela Kun has not thought much of my opinion since I commented on the size of his nose, and I fear his will be the deciding vote."
"All right," Mrs Aldus nodded. "Is that all right with you, Alf?"
"Sure," Alf nodded in return.
"We'll work on the proposal together," Mr Aldus said to his wife. "Then run it by you when it's finished, Alf."
"What about me?" Jessica asked. The acceptance of Alf into the family as one of their own had diminished some of the spotlight on Jessica, the picture of an only child.
Mr Aldus looked at his daughter as though he'd forgotten her presence. "Of course you can look at it then, too, Jessica," he mollified her.
The rest of the evening was spent discussing the plan in more detail so that Mr and Mrs Aldus could put it together in speech format without Alf's help. The winds of change were blowing, but Alf wasn't going to stick around to see which way the wind would blow next.
[[End scene.]]
posted by Cedric @ 6:02 pm
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