Silent Promises 3/5

FIRE!! Oh, it’s the hearth in the Page living room. As Nathan is sitting down, Laura asks if he would like some coffee. He says alright, then Laura signs “coffee for father” for Daniel who goes to fulfill the request. Oops, did he forget to sign “Hi, I’m Daniel and I’ll be your server today?” Mr. Page asks Laura how she did that and she explains the concept of sign language. She starts to flip through a manual, but Nathan says he needs his glasses. Before he can get up to retrieve them, Laura signs “spectacles for father” and Daniel goes and grabs them. Nathan is dubious, claiming that Daniel saw the book being opened and, knowing that his father can’t read without his glasses, went to retrieve them. Laura asks why Mr. Page is being so resistant. “I’ve been living with him for fifteen years,” he says, “next thing you’ll tell me he can hear.” Eh, at least it’s not an accusation of witchcraft. Goody Ingalls asks Nathan to ask Daniel something. Nathan wants Daniel to show him the picture of Daniel’s mother. Laura demonstrates “show me mother’s picture” and Nathan mimics. He then signs it for Daniel, who complies with the request. Nathan is wowed and Laura goes for the kill with her sales pitch. Nathan then asks how he can tell Daniel he loves him. Aw. And then they make out…just kidding. They do hug and Laura smiles.

We then see a montage of Nathan reading up on his sign language. After watching him learn the first few letters of the alphabet, we dissolve into a scene of the father and son signing the Lord’s Prayer by Daniel’s bedside. I’ll probably be upgrading my ticket to Hell for saying this, but it looks like they’re doing some sort of Holy Hand Jive.

The next day at the Ingalls’ place, Albert bursts through the front door telling everyone to come out and look at his finished work. Everyone goes outside, though no one is more reluctant than Bandit. Albert uncovers the dog house and the family congratulates him. Bandit just looks around like most dogs do. He’s not having anything to do with the dog house. Both of the dogs I had growing up were indoor dogs, so a dog house was never an issue, but I doubt either one would have been enthusiastic about being expected to live in a dark enclosure. Well, my second dog might have, but only in the case of thunderstorms because she would be hiding. But we wouldn’t be leaving her outside in that situation, so it’s kind of a moot point. Albert is trying to goad Bandit, but the dog is totally non-responsive. I don’t think he has fully adopted Albert the way the other Ingalls have. Just saying.