The New Goal

The sound of her footsteps echoed in her head as she walked with her parents. Solana had said goodbye to her brother. She had never been close to him, but it was something she was not expecting to happen so soon. Her parents had told her to pack a few weeks ago. They were moving to Mythrite to try to have a more successful business. They told her about how so many people were moving there. They would need talented leatherworkers. They could have more customers than they could here in their small city. With all the business that was sure to be there, they could become wealthy. They would be able to live more comfortably. Her brother was not going to be a part of this vision though. He decided to stay because he didn’t feel welcome in their family. Solana could not help but feel this was in part, her fault. Her parents had always favored her, giving her lots of encouragement and letting her have first pick at the supplies they had. She had never really done anything to balance out her parents favoritism because it did not seem to benefit her. But now, she lost her brother. The perfect family that spent hours working together and supporting each other was no more. Solana wanted to have her entire family, but she respected her brother not wanting to come. She could understand it was not fun to constantly be pushed aside for someone else.
As they entered their new home for the first time, Solana looked around. She realized that there was no room for her brother, her parents knew he was not coming. That perfect family that supported each other did not exist. Not ever. Her parents never truly supported her brother and she never tried to bond with him. She had always been too busy improving her craft and trying to impress their parents. Her brother was right. He was not welcome in their family. She should have realized it sooner. She should have done something to fix it. A little anger flared in her. Her parents did not care about her brother at all. Perhaps she should not be so reliant on them. There could be a day that they decide they like someone more than they like her. She could end up like her brother, feeling unwelcome in her own family. She did not want to lose the affection of their parents, she could not. This place was new to them, her craft and their parents is all she has now. These connections are incredibly valuable to her. Solana knows this now.
When she makes a friend, she will be sure to help them. She will make sure they know she values them. She could not tell them here trade secrets, in case that led to losing her parents on account of sharing business secrets. Anything else though, she would do. There would not be a repeat of her not realizing someone important to her not getting enough support from her. It would be difficult to maintain as much time in the shop, but it would be necessary to value her relationships. There is a reason maintaining friends is difficult, people don’t always need support at convenient times. As she unpacked her stuff into her new room she started thinking that maybe she could fix her relationship with her brother as well. Not now while she was busy starting her life here, but once she was successful.She should keep in contact with him. Once she finished unpacking she would write him a letter telling him they got there safely. Maybe once they had gotten enough wealth here, they would want to hire her brother as some extra hands to help with all the customers her parents were planning on having. Then she could take the time to bond with him. She could have a family where everyone was supported and wanted to be a part of it. She would have to find a way to convince him things would be different though. Maybe if she was the successful one instead of her parents she could tell him she would pay him more than wherever he was working now.
Solana would have to be successful here. There was no way she would be able to support every single person she cared about if she could not support herself. This had to be beyond helping her parents with their shop, she had to be able to completely support them. That way, if she was too busy helping someone else, her parents would not suffer too much from it. She would not be too busy supporting her parents to help someone else if she could hire someone to fill her role in the shop. How was she going to accomplish this though? Her parents didn’t pay her enough to hire someone else. They probably never would. The success she got could not be by doing what her parents wanted her to do. She would have to find a way to be successful on her own. She could create a new style that only she knew how to make. This way, all the money would go to her instead of her parents, then she could divide it in a fair way, one that didn’t exclude people like her brother. That was what she needed to do. Take over her parents shop and do a better job than they could ever do. Then support all her family and friends with the money she would make here. Perhaps the key to doing this lay here. With all the shiny metals people were digging up. The people dug up that metal because it brought them hope of riches. If it could make them rich it could make her rich as well. It could bring her hope of keeping all her family and friends close.