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. Goodwife Filster looked terrible, but she was
breathing and that was good, I guess.
"Goodwife Filster?" I whispered, and when she didn't
do anything, I asked again, "Goodwife Filster?"
She groaned then and half-turned so she could look at
me through all the rags that were tied over her head. Her
eyes opened, but they looked like they were dead.
"You were pretty mad at me for asking about Istar,
weren't you?" I asked.
Goodwife Filster just stared at me and didn't make any
noise, but I assumed her answer was yes. No one else said
anything. They all just looked at me, so I kept going.
"I was supposed to ask that question for Astinus of Palanthas,
to help out Ark," I said. "I was just thinking about it
all, and I think I know the reason Astinus wanted to find out
what people thought of the Cataclysm. It goes like this:
Nobody liked Istar very much, except maybe for you and
a few other people. But, then, from what I've heard, nobody
really liked anybody at all very much back then, and things
don't seem to have gotten much better now, because
everyone down deep still hates everyone else. Asking
people about Istar brings out all the worst in them and opens
up all the old wounds, though I'm saying that as a metaphor
and not because you have so many wounds right now,
really. I think Astinus knew that would happen, and he
wanted to find out just how bad things really were now, and
maybe he wasn't so much interested in Istar after all.
Astinus is really worried that someday something bad will
happen that will need all of us to pull together and work
together and maybe fight together to set things right again,
and if we don't learn that being different is really okay, then
we aren't going to make it in the long run and we'll be just
like the Karkhovs' melons and be swept away by the ocean
or whatever it is that Astinus is afraid will come at us
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