{"id":2782,"date":"2025-05-25T10:51:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2025-05-25T10:51:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:51:22","slug":"patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/25\/patience\/","title":{"rendered":"Patience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Write a story in which the first and last words are the same.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patience. That\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve never been accused of possessing in any quantity. Makes my choice of career a little odd, but helping people solve their problems makes me feel better. Maybe it\u2019s just a way to ignore my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After starting from the bottom as a junior assistant in the Ambassador\u2019s office, I\u2019d made it all the way to the Ambassador\u2019s right hand woman, Senior Chief Aide. From there, it was a small step to go to work for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, I\u2019m known as a troubleshooter, broker, agent or, if they\u2019re being blunt, a fixer. The name fits, so I don\u2019t care. You have a problem, I help you fix it. Whether it\u2019s organizing a party for a bunch of dignitaries from hundreds of light-years distant, clearing up that little vacation indiscretion or arming and outfitting an off-the-books special forces op, I\u2019m your gal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This job, though, has me wondering if I should\u2019ve turned it down. It was<\/em> Ambassador Odobwe that hired me, though. After working with him for a dozen years, I trusted him and jumped at the opportunity to do a job for him \u2014 after<\/em> I got past the shock that he would even need a fixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turned out, his need for my services was entirely around protecting a visiting alien under the guise of showing her around and offering a place to stay. With the same skill that Oumar Odobwe could sell tap shoes to a snake, he had convinced her that it was a way to help immerse her in human culture during the short time she\u2019d be at the Coalition of Human Planets Embassy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cChip\u201d \u2014 CHPE \u2014 was, like all the Galactic Union embassies, an entire city on one of the artificial planets placed around a main sequence star just at the inner edge of the Scutum-Centaurus arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The planet had about half the gravity of Earth, and at sea level had about the same amount of atmospheric oxygen as Denver or Johannesburg. It took a little getting used to, but having artificial gravity in our homes and offices made things more comfortable for humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is she?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cColomoran,\u201d Oumar said. \u201cColloquially known as\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFluffy,\u201d I interrupted. \u201cNot part of the GU, yet, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I checked the arrivals board to see what time her shuttle was arriving. \u201cAre the lizards going to let the fluffys join \u2014 or are they still trying to block them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Manorians are still blocking their application.\u201d Oumar sighed. \u201cThey\u2019ve taken over one of the Colomoran colonies. It looks like they\u2019re trying to find a reason to get the GU to join their war against them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo,\u201d I asked, \u201cwhat\u2019s so special about the fluffy that\u2019s coming today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the third in line for the ascendancy. Her mother is the current Ascendent, and her mother\u2019s twin is second.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTarget for kidnapping, then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oumar nodded his head. \u201cBoth for political and monetary reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just now figured out what you meant when you said \u2018Patience\u2019 when I asked her name. You weren\u2019t admonishing me like the old days. The fluffys are all named the noun forms of adjectives. Her name<\/em> is Patience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oumar laughed. \u201cI knew you\u2019d get there eventually. Her shuttle is landing now, she\u2019ll be her in a minute. I\u2019ve had the pleasure of meeting her via subspace chat. I think you\u2019ll get along well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked like something out of a children\u2019s cartoon. Standing just 125 centimeters tall, with a soft, downy fur in bright green and blue, she had large, yellow eyes and a short muzzle with floppy ears. The fur atop her head had been styled into a large puff, and the fur on her ears was puffed out as well, making her look a bit like a poodle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOumar!\u201d she squeaked, bounding across the terminal, her ears flopping as she ran. She didn\u2019t stop until she was directly in front of the ambassador, then her head leaned back as she raised her gaze to meet his. \u201cI knew you were tall, but wow!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She might have been royalty, but she didn\u2019t show any of the entitled brat I\u2019d expected to see. \u201cOh! You must be Sylvia! It\u2019s a pleasure to meet you.\u201d She gave a little bow, then jumped back with a start. \u201cOops! I\u2019m sorry, I didn\u2019t introduce myself. My name is Patience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave her a slight bow. \u201cPleased to meet you, Patience.\u201d I spotted the green stripe on her shuttle ticket that meant her luggage would be brought out to her. \u201cShall we get something to drink while we wait for them to bring your luggage?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked around the terminal. \u201cDo we have to wait? Can I just go get it myself? I\u2019m not feeble, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oumar laughed. \u201cI need to get back to work. I\u2019ll see you for our meeting tomorrow afternoon. Until then, Syl will see to your needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Oumar.\u201d Patience gave him another bow before turning back to me. \u201cThey haven\u2019t brought my luggage yet, I\u2019m going to get it myself. Where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I led her to the luggage carousel and found a porter looking for her bag. I showed him her ticket and told him not to worry about it. She squeezed her way next to the wall where the bags were coming out on the belt and kept peering into the hole, looking for her luggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it came out, she\u2019d pulled it off the belt and was making a beeline for the exit before I caught up to her. \u201cWhat\u2019s the rush?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much to see, I don\u2019t want to waste any time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re here for eight days, I\u2019ll help you make the most of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We dropped her luggage in my apartment and her constant carrying on about foods she wanted to try led us to brunch at a diner. I picked a spot near the emergency exit in the back where I could keep an eye on both it and the main entrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a big meal where she easily ate twice as much as I can, we caught the ground shuttle to the museum. Probably not my best decision, but she was insistent. Of all places in the Chip, the museum was second only to the shopping center for non-human traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tentacles, feathers, scales, fur, you name it, there was a creature in the museum that fit the description. Patience didn\u2019t seem to be bothered by the presence of the majority of them, including the group of lizards \u2014 Manorians \u2014 I steered us away from. When a small group of fluffys entered,  looking like a rainbow of bright colored fur, she grabbed my arm and asked to leave in a hurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not certain as to what spooked her, I led her out a side entrance and into a nearby park where we had visibility and multiple escape routes. Once she\u2019d calmed down, I asked her why she was scared of the fluffys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her energy seemed to drain all at once. \u201cI know Oumar has me staying with you to protect me,\u201d she said, \u201cbut he\u2019s worried about the wrong thing. It\u2019s not the lizards I need protection from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sister, Acceptance, has already made one attempt on my life. She\u2019s not happy that I was chosen before her for ascendency.\u201d Patience sat on the bench, waited for me to sit next to her, and leaned against me. \u201cMy father was trying to deal with her while I was on \u2018diplomatic missions\u2019 but she\u2019s fled the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat does your sister look like?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She looked at me like I\u2019d sprouted a second head. \u201cShe looks like me, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow would I know that? You all have different colors of fur and different patterns\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlmost all of us are identical twins,\u201d she said. \u201cAbout three percent are singles, and half a percent are triplets or quadruplets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour poor mothers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat? Oh, no. Our mother lays a single egg, and the zygote inside splits \u2026 usually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, your mother, who became the Ascendent, and her sister both hatched from the same egg at the same time?\u201d I asked, then felt stupid for asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObvious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI mean, how do you choose who\u2019s first in line?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe same way the names are chosen; the name sorting order. The first to take a step after hatching gets the first name, the other gets the second.\u201d Patience sniffed. \u201cOur names, like most, rhyme in our language, and sorted into alphabetical order, my name comes first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour aunt doesn\u2019t seem to mind not being the Ascendent. At least, not that I\u2019ve heard of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy translator does not know that word. My what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAunt. Your mother\u2019s sister.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh, we say second mother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight. I\u2019ll file that away in my memory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t crave it for the same reason I don\u2019t.\u201d Patience seemed to stare off into the distance. \u201cThe Ascendent is outfitted with cybernetics, and her mind is directly connected to the world computer. What you do with AI, we do with organics, with the Ascendent as the arbiter of decisions and advocate for the will of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrganics?\u201d I asked. \u201cAre there other fluffys \u2026 uh, Colomorans \u2026 connected to this world computer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFluffy is fine, slick-skin,\u201d she said with a waggle of her tongue. \u201cOthers connected? Tens of thousands. For those who choose it, it confers a great honor on them and their family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan they change their mind later? Disconnect?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She flipped her ears back and forth. \u201cNo. Once connected, the only way to disconnect is brain disease or death. Since Mother ascended, I haven\u2019t been able to speak to her about anything. There\u2019s too much noise from the computer in her head to focus on anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d I put my arm around the little creature and gave a light squeeze. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry your sister is a \u2026 well, not a nice person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs there anything I can help you with before your meeting with the ambassador tomorrow?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust be there, I guess. I\u2019m meeting with the lizards \u2014 that\u2019s what you call them, right? \u2014 to beg forgiveness and sue for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeg forgiveness? I thought they were the aggressors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo we all thought, until Father uncovered my sister\u2019s plot. The initial attack wasn\u2019t Manorian soldiers, they were mercenaries hired by Acceptance to kill her way to the ascendency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was taken aback by that. \u201cThat means, from their point of view, your people declared war out of thin air and began attacking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt does.\u201d She looked up at me with those large eyes. \u201cI have<\/em> to make it to that meeting tomorrow. I have the proof of my sister\u2019s treason, and the terms of surrender authorized by the Ascendent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll make it, all right.\u201d I looked down into those eyes and felt the incredible weight that had been placed on her slight shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a couple hours rest, no doubt to digest that huge meal, she was back to her nearly frenetic self. While Patience didn\u2019t exactly match her name, she did try mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the initial meeting with the lizards, an emergency convention of the GU was called for the following day. I flew with Patience and Oumar to the meeting on the second planet from the star. Patience got up in front of the entire Galactic Council to repeat the entire apology and surrender to the lizards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She laid out the plot, how her own sister was the culprit, and offered the reparations her mother had approved. The meeting adjourned for two hours while the Coalition played arbiter between her and the lizards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the GU reconvened, the matter was settled. The lizards were appeased, the fluffys didn\u2019t have to give up quite as much as they feared, and the block to their entrance to the GU was lifted. In light of those developments, Patience updated the duration of her stay from days to indefinitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the fluffys built their own embassy city, she stayed with me, until long after it was completed. It was the capture of her sister on a lizard world that finally allowed her the peace to live among her own people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still took jobs for others and was often busy, but we always found time for each other. Until last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got word that her mother was ill, and she left for home. The official story is that her aunt \u2014 second mother<\/em> \u2014 would ascend in four days\u2019 time. At that point, she would be the first and<\/em> last in line for ascendency until her own egg hatched. I didn\u2019t even hear who the father might be. She wasn\u2019t coming back, I knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took a break from work and arranged passage to Colomor. Even when she wasn\u2019t living with me, she\u2019d been taking up space in my life \u2026 in the best possible way. Now, the world seemed a little emptier. Besides, I needed to find out who the father of her children was, because if he hurt her\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For once, I agreed with Oumar\u2019s constant comments about what my life needed. For once, I felt like I needed it too. Patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Write a story in which the first and last words are the same. available at Reedsy Patience. That\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve never been accused of possessing in any quantity. Makes my choice of career …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[210,228,209],"class_list":["post-2782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fiction","tag-science-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sxT7i-patience","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2783,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions\/2783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}