62nd of Spring, 522 A.V.
Adal didn’t always just sculpt faces. Sometimes she liked to venture out of her comfort zone, sculpting whatever came to mind. Today that was a small stone house, and she started with a block of soapstone, a chisel, and a hammer. Sitting on a stool with the block of soapstone on the table before her, Adal started at the top. Chiseling away at an angle away from herself, she knocked bits off the edge of the block until she achieved a slope she was satisfied with. She then did the same to the other side before switching to the point chisel and a heavier hammer.
When she found the edge of the slope she wanted to work against, she made sure the head of the chisel was angled so the force of the blow would go up and out, maintaining the incline she wanted. Then gripping it firmly, she went through the motion of striking the back of the chisel slowly with the hammer before winding up to do a heavy strike. There was a satisfying clink as the head of the hammer made contact and Adal felt her other hand jolt, although she didn’t think she’d managed to chip away any of the soapstone. In fact, she was pretty sure she hadn’t because it didn’t feel right, although she checked the indentation with her fingertip just to make sure.
Then slowly this time, she took another few practice swings at the back of the chisel before really winding up the hammer to hit it. There was a clean clang of metal on metal that mixed with the sound of cracking stone as the pressure she had exerted chunked off a large slice of it following the earlier groove she had made. A bit more satisfied, Adal continued along that side of the soapstone, carefully hammering off large pieces until she had half of her pitched roof done.
She had considered making it like the one for the small house in the park, but it had been a while since she had last felt the shape of it so she was worried she’d only end up making a flat circle which wasn’t what she wanted at all. There was a chance that her mother had several shapes Adal had played with as a child, but it was a little too late for that now. Shortly after her mother’s death, Adal had sold the home to another family before giving away much of her belongings andkeeping only her mother’s ring which she now wore over her left thumb. A warm reminder of the woman who had raised her to overcome her disability to an extent. That extent of course being sculpting.
It had been uncommonly hard at first, with more than a few hammer blows hitting her hand instead of the chisel, but Adal found that as long as everything remained in its proper position, she could navigate almost as well as any sighted person. An for those times she couldn’t, there was Drooly to help keep her from walking into any trouble. Well, had Drooly.
A strange air had come over Lhavit. People were more tense than usual because the animals around Lhavit had become more aggressive of late. All animals in fact, including Drooly who was not to be let outside for any reason by order of the Shinya. While Drooly was fine in her presence, he was apparently a danger to others, and Adal really couldn’t argue that point with the Shinya when Drooly had snapped at the man. Adal liked to think that Drooly was fine with her because of their long history together. She had known him since he was a pup and she a slip of a girl, but part of her knew that her charm bracelet had something to do with it. Had Nilen known about the strange aggressiveness of animals before she had given her this charm? It was a question she did not have the chance to ask yet because although Nilen had promised to visit her again soon, she hadn’t seen the woman since her mother’s funeral several tendays ago.
Of course Adal didn’t hold that against her. With the city so out of sorts over this, she expected that her friend was very busy trying to figure this out, and suspected she would see the woman again when some sort of solution had been reached. Still she wished that Nilen would visit soon so that she might clarify a few things about what was going on with the city. She desperately needed her guide dog Drooly back at her side. Not just for security and companionship either.
Without him, she didn’t dare to stray farther from her apartment than Talin’s studio, so she spent most of her time there rather than be a shut in all day. Still she didn’t know a great many people and most were only just passing acquaintances so she spent most of her time in the studio left to her own devices except for the occasions when Talin could spare a moment too chat with her which she always enjoyed.
Like Nilen though, Talin was also just as busy so Adal was left alone more often than not. Except when she got an interested customer.
WC - 880
When she found the edge of the slope she wanted to work against, she made sure the head of the chisel was angled so the force of the blow would go up and out, maintaining the incline she wanted. Then gripping it firmly, she went through the motion of striking the back of the chisel slowly with the hammer before winding up to do a heavy strike. There was a satisfying clink as the head of the hammer made contact and Adal felt her other hand jolt, although she didn’t think she’d managed to chip away any of the soapstone. In fact, she was pretty sure she hadn’t because it didn’t feel right, although she checked the indentation with her fingertip just to make sure.
Then slowly this time, she took another few practice swings at the back of the chisel before really winding up the hammer to hit it. There was a clean clang of metal on metal that mixed with the sound of cracking stone as the pressure she had exerted chunked off a large slice of it following the earlier groove she had made. A bit more satisfied, Adal continued along that side of the soapstone, carefully hammering off large pieces until she had half of her pitched roof done.
She had considered making it like the one for the small house in the park, but it had been a while since she had last felt the shape of it so she was worried she’d only end up making a flat circle which wasn’t what she wanted at all. There was a chance that her mother had several shapes Adal had played with as a child, but it was a little too late for that now. Shortly after her mother’s death, Adal had sold the home to another family before giving away much of her belongings andkeeping only her mother’s ring which she now wore over her left thumb. A warm reminder of the woman who had raised her to overcome her disability to an extent. That extent of course being sculpting.
It had been uncommonly hard at first, with more than a few hammer blows hitting her hand instead of the chisel, but Adal found that as long as everything remained in its proper position, she could navigate almost as well as any sighted person. An for those times she couldn’t, there was Drooly to help keep her from walking into any trouble. Well, had Drooly.
A strange air had come over Lhavit. People were more tense than usual because the animals around Lhavit had become more aggressive of late. All animals in fact, including Drooly who was not to be let outside for any reason by order of the Shinya. While Drooly was fine in her presence, he was apparently a danger to others, and Adal really couldn’t argue that point with the Shinya when Drooly had snapped at the man. Adal liked to think that Drooly was fine with her because of their long history together. She had known him since he was a pup and she a slip of a girl, but part of her knew that her charm bracelet had something to do with it. Had Nilen known about the strange aggressiveness of animals before she had given her this charm? It was a question she did not have the chance to ask yet because although Nilen had promised to visit her again soon, she hadn’t seen the woman since her mother’s funeral several tendays ago.
Of course Adal didn’t hold that against her. With the city so out of sorts over this, she expected that her friend was very busy trying to figure this out, and suspected she would see the woman again when some sort of solution had been reached. Still she wished that Nilen would visit soon so that she might clarify a few things about what was going on with the city. She desperately needed her guide dog Drooly back at her side. Not just for security and companionship either.
Without him, she didn’t dare to stray farther from her apartment than Talin’s studio, so she spent most of her time there rather than be a shut in all day. Still she didn’t know a great many people and most were only just passing acquaintances so she spent most of her time in the studio left to her own devices except for the occasions when Talin could spare a moment too chat with her which she always enjoyed.
Like Nilen though, Talin was also just as busy so Adal was left alone more often than not. Except when she got an interested customer.
WC - 880
