It's another piece from Faith today as she moves into a new county and starts a new book. I've never planned a character in this way before so it's interesting to see how she's developing in these little snippets of her thoughts.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my dad as I’ve been walking along and I’ve found myself wondering what he was like. As my mum has blonde hair and brown eyes and I have brown hair and green eyes, I assume these traits must come from my dad, or if not, then at least from his side of the family. My height must also be inherited from him, as no-one in my maternal family can claim to reach the top shelves in the supermarket.
I’m listening to Lorna Doone as I walk and it makes me laugh. The accents I hear from the people I pass on the road sound nothing like the drawl of the narrator and every conversation I have would be one-sided if they were, for I wouldn’t understand a word of their dialect. It’s got me wondering about other things I might have inherited from my dad though – not the physical things, but likes and dislikes, personality traits etc.
What would he have been like I wonder? Would he have been upright and strong like John Ridd’s father, keen for things to be fair and just, unafraid to stand up for himself? Or would he have had more in common with Sir Ensor Doone, angry with the hand life had dealt him and so loyal to his family that he was blinded to their faults and eager to ignore their misdeeds?
I also wonder – does he ever think of us, the family that got left behind? Is he twisted inside at the memory of what he lost, of what might have been, or does he not care? Does he even know of my existence? Would he want me if he did?
So many pieces of my life missing. So many questions I don’t know if I want the answers to.