Chapter 35: Trust

"This exercise is called trust."

I have my charges lined up on the practice field. Alys, Nev, Brin, even Godiva has decided to join in. I want to help them regain some of the trust in themselves and in their fellow man. I remember this game from one of the thousand classes I took when I as trying to find my place as a teenager. I was pretty sure it was a stupid game at the time. As it will serve a purpose today, so I no longer think it so.

"That's a stupid name," Brin whines agreeing with my teenage sentiments.

"Brin, that is not polite," Godiva corrects her.

"You will partner up," I continue on, as if Brin had not said any thing. "One of you will catch the other as she falls. Backward." They just look at me in varying degrees of confusion.

I sigh. "Godiva, would you mind?"

I hold out my hand for her to be my volunteer. She gives me a wobbly smile but puts her hand in mine. I give her a quick squeeze to reassure her.

"You stand here," I place her.

Then I move a couple of small steps in front of her. "Catch me Diva." I sing out and throw my arms open and start to fall backward. She huffs as she runs the few steps, but she makes the catch. My butt never hits the ground.

"Like that," I look at my charges. "You now have to trust that your partner will catch you. And you have to trust that your partner who is falling is not going to do something stupid."

"It looks easy," Nev says, wondering what the trick of the game is. "Too easy."

"It is, and it is not. I will leave it up to you to figure out what the trick is," I dust myself off and give Godiva a reassuring pat.

"Now, team up," I instruct the girls. Alys and Brin, Nev and Godiva. They start.

As I observe them, I can see there is some trust. It is fragile and new. But all the fallers stay very close to the catchers. They look over their shoulders and take an inordinate amount of time to fall back. Those that are catching spend time reassuring that they are not moving and they have their arms out.

They do this a few times then I have them change partners. Things do not improve. They are still tentative with all of their actions. Until Nev starts practicing her swooning.

Nev gives a dramatic "Oh I feel faint you must catch me" she says to Brin.

She has everyone in peals of laughter as she does this a few more time. Nev seems pretty smart, now that she is not a sniveling wreck in the basement.

The laughter draws attention from the Protectors, who are doing their own workout on the field. Nev gets some cheering and applause when she performs a particularly dramatic swoon, but the moment she realize she has an audience she clams up. But Brin takes over. Alys just giggles at the antics along with Godiva. This is better than I was hoping for. They are remembering who they used to be.

"You got them to laugh," Gwen says as she joins us. I give her a quick hug hello.

"I didn't think it was possible. You are a miracle worker, Nosis." Her eyes wide as she watches the antics.

"So, what are they supposed to be doing?" She gets around to asking me, never taking her eyes of the girls.