Archive Bonus: Ambition

[archiveofarethusa]

Tom thought that, if he ought to die, he ought to die spectacularly. When death came for him he would never allow himself to fade gently, though all of the Bailey men inevitably did. He was not his father, although he was also a Tom Bailey - he came from a long line of Tom Baileys, in fact, each Tom's legacy more unremarkable than the last. In this way his marriage of necessity, lowly occupation and single son had all been picked out for him by a Tom centuries apart from him in many ways. How lucky for him that he believed destiny a child's tale. He would reach an age when he could safely declare himself grown out of it with a voice too adult to ignore, no longer a child to be silenced and beaten for insolence, and then he could do what he pleased. He would live as something else and die as something else. He would be something respected and admired, a just and responsible adult; a doctor, perhaps. While his father weakened, Tom grew stronger. One day, he would have all the strength of his father while the elder Tom's would be greatly diminished, and his father relied too heavily on seniority and force to be able to stop him when that day came.

Yes. New Kaddar would open itself to him, and then perhaps there would be time enough for really living.