landshell

[landshell]

Trapped by societal convention

Twilight’s eyes darted around the man in front of him to the three possible escape routes. He felt like a rookie getting cornered like this. It was his own fault really. He’d let his guard down. But the op had been going so well up to this point.

It had sounded so simple, just attend Yor’s work party with her and Anya. He had slipped easily into his role for the evening, a slightly toned-down version of the social, affable Dr. Loid Forger he was at the hospital. (The goal was to support his wife, not outshine her.) Yor had told him about her coworkers, so he thought he knew what to expect. (Except from Anya, but his daughter was always the wild card.) He wasn’t even dealing with a concussion this time.

The Forgers had arrived on time, with an appropriate hostess gift. Yor had taken great delight in introducing them to her coworkers. He’d made sure that at least some of the food Anya took off the buffet was healthy. (Bacon wrapped asparagus was technically a vegetable.) After they’d made the rounds as a family, he’d left Yor chatting with her work friends and kept an eye on Anya. She’d found another child her age and they were playing a game with the chess set on the coffee table. (It didn’t look like a regulation game of chess but at least they weren’t running around anymore.)

He’d been making polite conversation with the husband of one of Yor’s coworkers when this man approached. Twilight had recognized him from the list of City Hall personnel, Section Chief Barnes. Then Barnes sprung the trap.  “So, a doctor, eh? I’ll bet you play golf.”  Twilight had had to admit he did. He tried to brush it off with, “I picked it up in Med school, but I haven’t had the time to keep up with it.” The section chief would not be so easily dissuaded.

If there was one thing Mr. Barnes loved more than playing golf it was discussing golf. It had taken Twilight less thirty seconds to determine the man was a buffoon, and two minutes to get enough information to impersonate him should it ever be necessary. And still the man just kept talking.

Mr. Barnes launched into an incredibly tedious play by play of his latest golf game. To make matters worse Twilight had played that particular course (undercover, for a tournament) and was acutely aware of everything Barnes had done wrong. He feigned interest all the same. The section chief set Yor’s schedule. If Loid offended him Yor could get stuck with even more late shifts than she usually did.

Barnes was only on the fifth hole. (And why did he think using a pitching wedge was a good idea in that situation?) Twilight noticed the other guests were quietly slipping out of the room, some of them giving him sympathetic looks as they went. So much for the hope of someone breaking into the conversation and causing a distraction. Maybe he should fake indigestion?

Just then Twilight realized hadn’t heard any horsey noises from the direction of the chess set for a while. He looked over and saw Anya’s little head starting to nod. Perfect! A sleepy child was a socially acceptable excuse to leave a dull party. He smoothly slid around Mr. Barnes. “You’ll have to excuse me. It’s well past my daughter’s bedtime.”

Twilight scooped the little girl up and went to find Yor. When she saw him, and the now sleeping Anya in his arms, she quickly said her goodbyes. “I’m sorry we’re making you leave early.” He said.

“Oh, I think that’s probably enough party for all of us.” Yor replied. As they headed to the car he took stock. Yor was happy and only slightly tipsy, Anya hadn’t broken anything, and he’d escaped from the world’s most boring conversation without any social repercussions. Clearly the operation was a success.

[landshell]

New Moon

Anya was halfway through breakfast when she noticed that her parents’ minds were unusually quiet. “It’s a new moon tonight, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Her father replied. “That astronomy unit is paying off.”

“What’s the point of the moon going away once a month?”

“I don’t think there is point. It’s just physics.”

That slight pause before Papa answered meant he was thinking of something much more interesting than what he said. And today she couldn’t tell what it was.

Hmmph.

Things weren’t any better at school. She got called on in the middle of history while she was daydreaming, and she couldn’t get the answer from anyone else’s mind. She bumped into a third grader on the way to lunch. (Actually, in that case it was probably for the best that she couldn’t hear what he was thinking.)

Her last class of the day was science. It hadn’t been that bad this week. Stars were more interesting than the rocks they learned about in the last unit. Then Ewen asked about people going crazy during a full moon and the teacher said the moon affects the tides not people.  Shows what he knew.  He probably didn’t believe in telly-pathy either.

When Anya got home her father was already cooking dinner. “We’ll be eating early today because we’re going somewhere after dinner.”

“An ooting at night?”

“Yes, we’ll be staying out late since you can sleep in tomorrow.”

And ooting and up past her bedtime? The day was looking up.

Papa said to dress warmly, and Mama helped her pick out mittens and scarf.  Anya insisted that Bond needed to dress warmly too. Papa said that wasn’t necessary since Bond already had a fur coat, but Mama helped Anya loop a scarf around the dog’s neck. Then they all piled into the car.  Papa drove. And drove. It seemed like forever.

“Are we fleeing the country?” Anya asked.

“No, we’re just getting away from the city.” Her father replied.

“Is it another vacation?”

“Be patient and you’ll find out soon” her mother said.

Anya pouted. She wasn’t used to her parents keeping secrets from her, at least not successfully. Stupid moon.

Finally, her father parked the car by a dark empty field.  It didn’t seem very fun. Papa went to get something out of the trunk. “A colleague of mine told me about this place, it’s the local soccer field.”

Anya wondered why they’d come so far to play soccer in the dark.

“Anya,” Mama said, “Look up.”

Anya did. “There are more stars out here!”

“We can see more stars, away from the city lights especially since there’s no moon tonight.” Her father pulled a telescope out of the trunk.

“Can I look at the telly-scope?”

“When I get it set up.”

Mama pointed to sky “while we wait, I can tell you how to find the north star.”

Mama told Anya about growing up in the country and using the stars to find north. There was a big bear constellation and a little bear constellation. “Bears in the sky are helpful, but you should avoid bears on the ground.” Mama said.

“There aren’t any bears here are there?” Anya asked looking around. She couldn’t see far in the dark.

“No, Bond would alert us if there were.” Mama reassured her.

Papa had finished adjusting the telescope. “Alright, Anya you can look now.”

Anya looked through the eye piece at the end of the telescope. It took her few seconds to focus and then “It’s Saturn?!”

“Yes, can you see the ring?” her father asked.

She could, “But Saturn is really far away.”

“It’s also really big.”

She looked again.  The planet looked tiny through the eyepiece, and the ring was at an angle instead of straight like in her textbook, but it was clearly discernable. “It’s really real.”

“Of course it’s real. What did you think it was?” Her father gave her a confused look.

“What else can we see through the telescope?” 

The family spent more time stargazing until Anya’s fingers started to get numb and she began to yawn.  Cuddling with Bond in the back seat on the way home Anya reflected that maybe there were some advantages to the new moon after all.

[landshell]

Yor's Day

Yor’s day had started off normally enough. She had breakfast with her family as usual. She caught the train to City Hall. Now was in the office listening to her coworkers complain.

 Camilla eyed the growing stack of paperwork in the department inbox with distaste. “I hate the end of the month! Everyone procrastinates and then expects us to be able to get all their stuff in on time.”

Millie groaned in agreement. “I can’t believe we have to go through all this today.”

“You have to.”  Sharon commented. “I’m taking off early.”

“What seriously?”

“It’s been on the schedule for two weeks. It’s a half day at Eden College. I’m picking up my child and then I booked us both dental appointments.”

“Oh, that was a good idea.” Yor chimed in. She’d have to remember to tell Loid about it.

Camilla rounded on her “And I suppose you’re cutting out early too?”

“Oh, No. Loid is picking up Anya today. I’ll be here till closing.”

Sharon went back to her typewriter. “Lucky you.  I wish I could tell my husband it was his day to handle the kids.”

“Well, it makes sense.” Millie said. “It’s not like Anya is Yor’s daughter so—"

“Millie!” Camilla interrupted.

“I didn’t mean it as insult. I was just. . .”  Millie trailed off looking at Yor’s downcast expression.

“No. You’re right. I’m just her stepmother.” Yor kept her eyes on the form she was working on even though her eyesight blurred a little. The conversation died down around her and everyone awkwardly got back to work.

For the next couple of hours Yor tried to put all her attention on accounts payable and avoiding typos but the feeling of gloom remained. She barely noticed when Sharon made her exit accompanied by death glares from Camilla and Millie. Maybe if she sped through her paperwork she could leave early. She looked at the department inbox which didn’t seem any emptier. Maybe not.

It was going to be a long, lonely day. Just then Millie cursed quietly and yanked the paper out of her typewriter, tossed it in the trash and loaded another one. Okay, so today wasn’t going to be a day of gossiping and lingering over tea but she wasn’t alone. Why did she feel lonely? She was needed here even if she wasn’t needed--

Goodness, she had to cheer herself up somehow. Maybe for lunch she’d go to a café instead of the basement cafeteria. The food would be better. She might even order dessert. Anything to get out this mood.

A runner stuck his head in the office door. “Mrs. Forger? You have visitors at the front desk.

Yor startled and got up. She didn’t usually get visitors. Her first thought was Garden business, but if that were the case she would be meeting them in a back office not the public area of the building. She pushed open the door into the lobby and began walking toward the desk. Why did her mind keep returning to her family? The man at the desk even looked like Loid from the back. Suddenly her daughter peeked out from around his legs.

“MAMA! HAVE YOU EATEN YET?” Anya called out.

“Inside voice, Anya” Loid hushed her. Then he turned to Yor. “We came to see if you would like to join us for lunch. That is if you aren’t busy.”

Yor looked at them. Anya was still in her Eden uniform; they must have come straight from school. They wanted to see her.

Yor smiled, almost in tears for the second time today.  “I’d love to. Let me grab my coat and tell the girls I’m taking my break.  There’s a great café just down the street.”

Her day was looking up.