When I returned from my leave of absence from my writing group, I created Reba, a character who is based upon myself and helped me work through a lot of the things that I myself was going through, feeling, and thinking. 
Steret's control also went into their finances; once Steret demanded that Reba help him buy a boat that his grandfather had sailed on. The boat was old and in need of repair, and they'd had to take out loans to get the boat. Reba didn't even know who exactly they owed for the boat or how exactly Steret managed to finagle the finances to get it, but it was made clear to Reba at that time that Steret valued that boat far more than he valued her, since he told her that he would leave her if she didn't help him to get it. Reba doesn't believe that things should ever be more important to someone than their family, a fundamental difference in philosophy from Steret, apparently.
This is where events changed for Reba. She was still trying to find a job when she was Searched and went to Rising Dawn Weyr, taking her dog Bart with her. Steret continued to write to her, and visit whenever possible, but his message seemed almost always to be the same; it was all Reba's fault that their marriage was ending, because he was now willing to go to counseling and work on their marriage, so she should be too. He did his best to make her feel bad about herself and guilt her into going back to him, but she stood her ground and refused to go back. She had tried to get Steret to realize that their marriage was in trouble, and he'd buried his head in the sand and denied it, and now it was too late for them to fix things, because she didn't trust him and never would be able to do so again. Finally the harassment from her husband became so bad that she talked to the Weyrwomen and had Steret banned from visiting her at the Weyr. She then wrote to him and told him that if he had anything important to say to her, he should do it in letters. He wrote a few more letters about how it was her fault, and then probably realized how bad they made him look and how she could use them against him by showing them to Lord Andon if she wanted to, so he apologized profusely for everything and stopped writing to her at all, a turn of events that surprised but pleased Reba. She then went to Lord Andon of Brightcliff and got divorced, leaving Steret with the properties and the debts associated with them.
After a while, Reba's younger brother Rebret was Searched, and he Impressed a brown named Sehanath, to her delight. His name changed to R'et. Although R'et and Sehanath have graduated, neither Reba or R'et plan to move away from Storm Fires Weyr. Their dragons don't have an uncomfortable degree of closeness, and both of them have stand-ins, so there should be no real problems with both of them living in the same Weyr.
As we now know about Reba's past, we can go into what she looks like and her personality. In looks, Reba is not very like me. She stands at 5'6" tall, with her blond hair cut just off her shoulders. She has a heart shaped face, and her short blond hair attractively frames it and makes her light brown eyes sparkle. She also has a nice smile, which she shows often. She's not the prettiest girl around, but as one friend of hers put it, "She's a cutie who has the ability to be a hottie if she tries."
One good reason for the breakup of Reba's marriage is her personality when compared with Steret's far more aggressive and dominant one. Reba is a nice lady who intensely dislikes confrontations, and thus will avoid them if at all possible. She can go to great lengths to do so, and when put under pressure to do something that she doesn't want to, will often cave. However, if she believes that whatever it is that she's being pressured into doing is the wrong thing to do, and then there is no chance of persuading her, for she has a stubborn streak which she can display for the right reasons. She doesn't often find people who want to take advantage of her good nature though, and her friends are all good people who wouldn't pressure her into doing anything that she doesn't want to do, so it's not normally a problem for her. She's a naturally sunny person with a lot of energy who works very hard at whatever it is that she does, believing that she ought to give it her best so that she can be proud of herself. Her dog Bart is often with her or nearby, and she is very affectionate with him, since she feels that it's easier to show her emotions with the dog than it is with people, who might not approve of such displays of affection.
Her family is a very nice one, with her mother Baretta acting as a guiding hand for the family, her father Repaun as the laid back go to man for just about any project as a handyman, and her brother R'et who has his own page.
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