Because I spent part of my vacation writing...
I wonder if I should have spent my vacation time working on fanfic instead of my regular story. I tcertainly would have made the days go faster. Unfortunately, I needed to go to the Internet to get my creative juices flowing, and the nearest Wi-Fi access point was in the motel across the street from the one where I stayed the last few days. Instead, I got around it by bringing along one of my notebooks and writing about 500 words a day to round out the first chapter, a portion of which I had written earlier. (PROTIP: college-ruled paper is a good way to fit a lot of words on your page, but not so much if you want to proofread it later.)
*ahem* Now, then...on with the story. Here's the prologue post, in case you missed out on it before.
Red Specter - Chapter 1: Aspirations
Just above Maxine and Doris' room, Gil Lyons took his usual seat on the couch in front of the television. Having finished his lunch, he turned to inspect the thermometer lodged in his grandson's mouth.
"How is it?" asked the boy as he raised his head from one of the couch cushions.
"It's down to 101 now," said Gil, "but you may still want to take it easy until we can get back to the doctor's office."
The boy attempted to blow his nose into the sleeve of his blue-and-white striped shirt, but reached for a box of tissues sitting on the table. "But I wanted to play outside today," he said. "Tony and Jacob were going to show me the new Silver Guardians figures they picked up at the toy store."
"Now, Ross, I know you're anxious to get up and go, but we can't risk getting your friends sick, too. They wouldn't want that."
Gil picked up a bottle of cold medicine and poured out a teaspoon of red liquid. He still dreaded having to do so because it reminded him of the days when his parents used to give him medicine when he suffered from colds during the fall months. The bitter taste lingered in his mouth for hours, and he worried that drinking water would dilute its effectiveness and slow down his recovery. He saw the look in Ross' eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to be the one taking the medicine this time.
Ross reluctantly opened his mouth and allowed his grandfather to feed him. He squinted and grimaced, hoping the bad taste would go away quickly if he simply swallowed it whole. "Ugh...what was that?" he asked. "I hope I don't have to take much more of this. It's disgusting!"
"Hopefully, no more than three days," said Gil.
"It'd be a lot easier to take if it came in grape or cherry flavors."
Gil inspected the bottle and pointed out a small cherry icon on the bottom of the label. "Would you prefer pills?"
Ross shook his head vigorously in disagreement.
"Okay, then."
As he got up to put the medicine bottle back in the cabinet above the refrigerator, Ross got up from his seat to answer a knock at the door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Max and Doris."
"Ah, perfect timing," Gil called. "Come on in."
Ross opened the door and allowed Maxine and Doris to enter. Doris reached out to shake Ross' hand, but he declined and returned to the couch to pick up a comic book to read.
"Cute kid," said Doris, half-smiling.
"Oh, don't mind him," said Gil. "He's been having a bad week. I'm sure he'll be in a better mood once his fever goes down. Ross, say hello to Maxine McAllister and Doris Williams. They live in the room right below us."
Ross looked up momentarily from his book and waved to the two girls. "Hi," he said in a soft voice.
"Hey, you guys," said Maxine. "We have some good news to tell you."
"Oh?" asked Gil. "What is it?"
"Remember that application Maxine sent in a while back? She just got her acceptance letter today!"
"Congratulations, Max," said Gil. "I'll bet you're just anxious to get started, aren't you? Being named an official battle-mage is a pretty big deal."
"I haven't been selected yet," said Maxine. "I still have to go down for an interview and tryouts tomorrow."
"Yeah, but with your talent and background, you should have no trouble getting in."
Maxine chuckled. She appreciated the flattery, but didn't want to let it get to her head too soon.
"So, wait...you signed up to be one of those battle-mages?" asked Ross, setting his comic book on his lap. "That's pretty cool! You'll be like one of those guys from this superhero comic I'm reading. I'll bet you'll be able to throw rocks and boulders around using your mind! Oh, or maybe you can jump up to fifteen feet in the air in a single shot! No, wait! I've got it now. Your special power is that you can turn invisible and sneak up behind the bad guys to hit them before they can react. Did I get it?"
With each superpower Ross named, Maxine and Doris shook their heads. They wished they have been trained to use those abilities, but they had been told it would be better for them to focus on other spells instead. The boy reacted with growing disappointment that Maxine wasn't like his idea of a typical action hero. "Well, then what can you do?"
"You'll have to wait until the season begins," replied Maxine. "To explain it all now would ruin some of the mystique."
"Oh, you're no fun."
"You should be careful out there on the field, Max," said Gil. "I've heard reports of people getting seriously injured by getting overzealous with their magic. Just remember that even though you're part of a physical and mental competition, you're not going out to deliberately hurt people."
"Oh, of course, sir," Maxine replied. "I'm doing this as part of my self-defense training, so hurting people isn't going to be an issue."
"Don't forget to take it easy on yourself. I wouldn't want you to get stressed out and worry your parents."
"Do you know Maxine's parents, Mr. Lyons?" asked Doris.
Gil chuckled. "No. As long as I've worked at that market, I don't think I've ever run into them. Come to think of it, I don't think I've met your folks either, Doris. I'll bet their quite nice people, though, and I'd love to meet them some day."
Doris looked down at her watch, and saw that the time had just passed three o'clock, usually the time when she took a quick afternoon nap. Since she was out with Maxine for the weekend, she found that she had to make a hasty deviation from her normal plan. "Thanks for letting us come to visit you, sir," she said, "but Max and I have to leave so that we can cook dinner. We're sorry that we have to go so soon."
It's all right," said Ross. He could feel his cough returning after sampling the medicine, so he spoke on a soft voice so that he didn't continue to irritate his throat. "You guys can still come back later. Right, grandpa?"
"Sure, I don't mind," said Gil, "but it's up to them to decide whether they want to come back."
Ross waved to the two girls as they left, and then got up from the couch and tugged on Gil's sleeve. "That lady didn't look like a magician to me. Are you sure she's cut out to be part of that? Those guys on TV are professionals. She could get killed out there!"
"Don't be so sure about that. Max tells me she's prepared this this for the lat four or five years. Even if she doesn't become champion, she's poised to make a big splash as a rookie if she stays relaxed and keeps up her training."
As they returned to their room, Doris tapped Maxine on the shoulder and gave her a half-puzzled, half-annoyed stare. "Is that the best explanation you could give to him?" she asked. "Honest, Max...'self-defense training?'"
"Well, it is partially true," Maxine explained. "My mother says life in 'the real world' becomes more dangerous after you graduate from college. You don't get that same protection from outside elements that you did when you were younger, so I need to learn how to protect myself in order to survive out here."
"If you wanted to do that, then why didn't you just take a class or two on the weekends?"
"Because that's all they are...classes. If I'm going to put my life on the line, I may as well do it in a professional setting where everyone knows their stuff. I'm not going to learn anything new by sitting behind a desk all day. I've had enough of that."
Doris picked up Maxine's spell book and started flipping through it, hoping to find a more effective countermeasure against Maxine's barrier magic. "You and me both," she said, turning to a page on lightning bolts. "Unfortunately, I still have tow years left to take before I complete my degree, and I can't weasel my way out of it. My parents have spent more than enough money on my future already."
"You should have just gone for two, like I did."
"I could have done that, yes, but if I'm going to land a good job in the future, I have to aim high."
"And joining the battle-mage circuit isn't high enough?" Maxine tried to disguise her rhetorical question behind a playful smile, but Doris was able to see past it.
"Maybe for you," she retorted, "but for someone with my athletic prowess, that may not be the best career path."
Doris looked over at Maxine, formulating a strategy in her head for their next encounter. She had finished reading from Maxine's book and planned to use the phone to spread the good news to their families, but Maxine stopped her before she could start dialing.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling home. I'll bet your folks would love to hear about this new development."
Maxine took the phone from Doris and began dialing her parents' home phone number. "Hold on," she said. "If we're going to do it that way, then maybe you should let me talk to my-"
On the other end of the phone, Maxine's mother, Pauline, answered in a cheery voice. "Hello?"
"Hello, mother," said Maxine. "How's everything at home?"
"As good as can be. You know, your brother joined the art club the other day. The club leader said she liked one of Jesse's drawings so much that she put him in charge of advertising for the club. He tells me that he's working on a new club logo right now. I hope that this will help them get lots of new members."
"That's great! I can't wait to see it. How is Sandy doing?"
"She's in high spirits this week, too. Her first report card came back with mostly A's and B's. She's a bit disappointed about getting a C in composition, but I told her we could hire a tutor to get her to at least a B."
"Maybe Jesse could help. He's pretty good with writing."
"I thought of that at first," Pauline continued, "but I'd rather let him concentrate on his own school work. I take it you and Doris are doing fine, as well?"
"You bet! A few weeks from now, I could be a member of the Magic Duelist League. My acceptance letter came back in the mail yesterday."
"Congratulations! I knew you'd be able to go it. However, won't you lose your current job if you take this new one?"
Maxine paused. She had told her boss during a lunch break a week ago that she had been placed on MDL's waiting list, but hadn't considered what she would do if she actually landed a position there. "Do you think I could continue to work there part-time?"
"I don't know," said Pauline. "Won't it be tougher for you to hold down two jobs at the same time?"
"Not really. MDL matches only happen once or twice a week, so I should still have enough time to practice and earn some money on the side."
"Okay. I'll trust your judgment on this one. Take good care of yourself, sweetie."
Even though she knew her mother couldn't see her, Maxine smiled and said, "I will. Thanks, mother! Goodbye!"
Doris sat down a few feet away from Maxine, giggling and watching as her roommate hung up the phone. "Sounds like somebody's mother's in a good mood," she said.
"Were you listening in on my conversation the whole time?" Maxine asked sternly.
"Oh, no," Doris teased. "I could never do that. Eavesdropping isn't a game I'm any good at playing, anyway."
She took a turn at the phone, placing a call to her own parents. After waiting for a few rings without an answer, she tried calling her uncle Shawn in Anderson City, who was usually eager to talk with any relative who called his house. She kept her free hand over her mouth to prevent Maxine from lip-reading, but Maxine had already taken a trip to the freezer to remove a bag of frozen fish fillets, showing little interest in listening to a one-sided conversation. She couldn't make much sense of the random "uh-huh" and "right" sounds on Doris' end anyway.
"That takes care of that," Doris said as she put the phone back on the hook. "So, are we ready to eat?"
Maxine grabbed a small handful of whiting fillets and placed them on a microwaveable plate. "Yes, ma'am," she said, licking her lips.
Doris examined the empty bad. "Frozen fish? I thought you were going to cook fresh tonight."
"Not this week. Besides, this bag's been sitting in the freezer for almost a week. I wanted to finish them before they spoiled."
"Yeah, I hear you. We can worry about drawing up a diet plan once your training officially starts."
The microwave alarm went off, alerting the girls to their finished meal. Maxine removed the fillets from the microwave, holding her nose with one hand to block out the salty smell as she opened the door. "All right! Let's dig in!" she said gleefully.
*ahem* Now, then...on with the story. Here's the prologue post, in case you missed out on it before.
Red Specter - Chapter 1: Aspirations
Just above Maxine and Doris' room, Gil Lyons took his usual seat on the couch in front of the television. Having finished his lunch, he turned to inspect the thermometer lodged in his grandson's mouth.
"How is it?" asked the boy as he raised his head from one of the couch cushions.
"It's down to 101 now," said Gil, "but you may still want to take it easy until we can get back to the doctor's office."
The boy attempted to blow his nose into the sleeve of his blue-and-white striped shirt, but reached for a box of tissues sitting on the table. "But I wanted to play outside today," he said. "Tony and Jacob were going to show me the new Silver Guardians figures they picked up at the toy store."
"Now, Ross, I know you're anxious to get up and go, but we can't risk getting your friends sick, too. They wouldn't want that."
Gil picked up a bottle of cold medicine and poured out a teaspoon of red liquid. He still dreaded having to do so because it reminded him of the days when his parents used to give him medicine when he suffered from colds during the fall months. The bitter taste lingered in his mouth for hours, and he worried that drinking water would dilute its effectiveness and slow down his recovery. He saw the look in Ross' eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to be the one taking the medicine this time.
Ross reluctantly opened his mouth and allowed his grandfather to feed him. He squinted and grimaced, hoping the bad taste would go away quickly if he simply swallowed it whole. "Ugh...what was that?" he asked. "I hope I don't have to take much more of this. It's disgusting!"
"Hopefully, no more than three days," said Gil.
"It'd be a lot easier to take if it came in grape or cherry flavors."
Gil inspected the bottle and pointed out a small cherry icon on the bottom of the label. "Would you prefer pills?"
Ross shook his head vigorously in disagreement.
"Okay, then."
As he got up to put the medicine bottle back in the cabinet above the refrigerator, Ross got up from his seat to answer a knock at the door. "Who is it?" he asked.
"It's Max and Doris."
"Ah, perfect timing," Gil called. "Come on in."
Ross opened the door and allowed Maxine and Doris to enter. Doris reached out to shake Ross' hand, but he declined and returned to the couch to pick up a comic book to read.
"Cute kid," said Doris, half-smiling.
"Oh, don't mind him," said Gil. "He's been having a bad week. I'm sure he'll be in a better mood once his fever goes down. Ross, say hello to Maxine McAllister and Doris Williams. They live in the room right below us."
Ross looked up momentarily from his book and waved to the two girls. "Hi," he said in a soft voice.
"Hey, you guys," said Maxine. "We have some good news to tell you."
"Oh?" asked Gil. "What is it?"
"Remember that application Maxine sent in a while back? She just got her acceptance letter today!"
"Congratulations, Max," said Gil. "I'll bet you're just anxious to get started, aren't you? Being named an official battle-mage is a pretty big deal."
"I haven't been selected yet," said Maxine. "I still have to go down for an interview and tryouts tomorrow."
"Yeah, but with your talent and background, you should have no trouble getting in."
Maxine chuckled. She appreciated the flattery, but didn't want to let it get to her head too soon.
"So, wait...you signed up to be one of those battle-mages?" asked Ross, setting his comic book on his lap. "That's pretty cool! You'll be like one of those guys from this superhero comic I'm reading. I'll bet you'll be able to throw rocks and boulders around using your mind! Oh, or maybe you can jump up to fifteen feet in the air in a single shot! No, wait! I've got it now. Your special power is that you can turn invisible and sneak up behind the bad guys to hit them before they can react. Did I get it?"
With each superpower Ross named, Maxine and Doris shook their heads. They wished they have been trained to use those abilities, but they had been told it would be better for them to focus on other spells instead. The boy reacted with growing disappointment that Maxine wasn't like his idea of a typical action hero. "Well, then what can you do?"
"You'll have to wait until the season begins," replied Maxine. "To explain it all now would ruin some of the mystique."
"Oh, you're no fun."
"You should be careful out there on the field, Max," said Gil. "I've heard reports of people getting seriously injured by getting overzealous with their magic. Just remember that even though you're part of a physical and mental competition, you're not going out to deliberately hurt people."
"Oh, of course, sir," Maxine replied. "I'm doing this as part of my self-defense training, so hurting people isn't going to be an issue."
"Don't forget to take it easy on yourself. I wouldn't want you to get stressed out and worry your parents."
"Do you know Maxine's parents, Mr. Lyons?" asked Doris.
Gil chuckled. "No. As long as I've worked at that market, I don't think I've ever run into them. Come to think of it, I don't think I've met your folks either, Doris. I'll bet their quite nice people, though, and I'd love to meet them some day."
Doris looked down at her watch, and saw that the time had just passed three o'clock, usually the time when she took a quick afternoon nap. Since she was out with Maxine for the weekend, she found that she had to make a hasty deviation from her normal plan. "Thanks for letting us come to visit you, sir," she said, "but Max and I have to leave so that we can cook dinner. We're sorry that we have to go so soon."
It's all right," said Ross. He could feel his cough returning after sampling the medicine, so he spoke on a soft voice so that he didn't continue to irritate his throat. "You guys can still come back later. Right, grandpa?"
"Sure, I don't mind," said Gil, "but it's up to them to decide whether they want to come back."
Ross waved to the two girls as they left, and then got up from the couch and tugged on Gil's sleeve. "That lady didn't look like a magician to me. Are you sure she's cut out to be part of that? Those guys on TV are professionals. She could get killed out there!"
"Don't be so sure about that. Max tells me she's prepared this this for the lat four or five years. Even if she doesn't become champion, she's poised to make a big splash as a rookie if she stays relaxed and keeps up her training."
As they returned to their room, Doris tapped Maxine on the shoulder and gave her a half-puzzled, half-annoyed stare. "Is that the best explanation you could give to him?" she asked. "Honest, Max...'self-defense training?'"
"Well, it is partially true," Maxine explained. "My mother says life in 'the real world' becomes more dangerous after you graduate from college. You don't get that same protection from outside elements that you did when you were younger, so I need to learn how to protect myself in order to survive out here."
"If you wanted to do that, then why didn't you just take a class or two on the weekends?"
"Because that's all they are...classes. If I'm going to put my life on the line, I may as well do it in a professional setting where everyone knows their stuff. I'm not going to learn anything new by sitting behind a desk all day. I've had enough of that."
Doris picked up Maxine's spell book and started flipping through it, hoping to find a more effective countermeasure against Maxine's barrier magic. "You and me both," she said, turning to a page on lightning bolts. "Unfortunately, I still have tow years left to take before I complete my degree, and I can't weasel my way out of it. My parents have spent more than enough money on my future already."
"You should have just gone for two, like I did."
"I could have done that, yes, but if I'm going to land a good job in the future, I have to aim high."
"And joining the battle-mage circuit isn't high enough?" Maxine tried to disguise her rhetorical question behind a playful smile, but Doris was able to see past it.
"Maybe for you," she retorted, "but for someone with my athletic prowess, that may not be the best career path."
Doris looked over at Maxine, formulating a strategy in her head for their next encounter. She had finished reading from Maxine's book and planned to use the phone to spread the good news to their families, but Maxine stopped her before she could start dialing.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling home. I'll bet your folks would love to hear about this new development."
Maxine took the phone from Doris and began dialing her parents' home phone number. "Hold on," she said. "If we're going to do it that way, then maybe you should let me talk to my-"
On the other end of the phone, Maxine's mother, Pauline, answered in a cheery voice. "Hello?"
"Hello, mother," said Maxine. "How's everything at home?"
"As good as can be. You know, your brother joined the art club the other day. The club leader said she liked one of Jesse's drawings so much that she put him in charge of advertising for the club. He tells me that he's working on a new club logo right now. I hope that this will help them get lots of new members."
"That's great! I can't wait to see it. How is Sandy doing?"
"She's in high spirits this week, too. Her first report card came back with mostly A's and B's. She's a bit disappointed about getting a C in composition, but I told her we could hire a tutor to get her to at least a B."
"Maybe Jesse could help. He's pretty good with writing."
"I thought of that at first," Pauline continued, "but I'd rather let him concentrate on his own school work. I take it you and Doris are doing fine, as well?"
"You bet! A few weeks from now, I could be a member of the Magic Duelist League. My acceptance letter came back in the mail yesterday."
"Congratulations! I knew you'd be able to go it. However, won't you lose your current job if you take this new one?"
Maxine paused. She had told her boss during a lunch break a week ago that she had been placed on MDL's waiting list, but hadn't considered what she would do if she actually landed a position there. "Do you think I could continue to work there part-time?"
"I don't know," said Pauline. "Won't it be tougher for you to hold down two jobs at the same time?"
"Not really. MDL matches only happen once or twice a week, so I should still have enough time to practice and earn some money on the side."
"Okay. I'll trust your judgment on this one. Take good care of yourself, sweetie."
Even though she knew her mother couldn't see her, Maxine smiled and said, "I will. Thanks, mother! Goodbye!"
Doris sat down a few feet away from Maxine, giggling and watching as her roommate hung up the phone. "Sounds like somebody's mother's in a good mood," she said.
"Were you listening in on my conversation the whole time?" Maxine asked sternly.
"Oh, no," Doris teased. "I could never do that. Eavesdropping isn't a game I'm any good at playing, anyway."
She took a turn at the phone, placing a call to her own parents. After waiting for a few rings without an answer, she tried calling her uncle Shawn in Anderson City, who was usually eager to talk with any relative who called his house. She kept her free hand over her mouth to prevent Maxine from lip-reading, but Maxine had already taken a trip to the freezer to remove a bag of frozen fish fillets, showing little interest in listening to a one-sided conversation. She couldn't make much sense of the random "uh-huh" and "right" sounds on Doris' end anyway.
"That takes care of that," Doris said as she put the phone back on the hook. "So, are we ready to eat?"
Maxine grabbed a small handful of whiting fillets and placed them on a microwaveable plate. "Yes, ma'am," she said, licking her lips.
Doris examined the empty bad. "Frozen fish? I thought you were going to cook fresh tonight."
"Not this week. Besides, this bag's been sitting in the freezer for almost a week. I wanted to finish them before they spoiled."
"Yeah, I hear you. We can worry about drawing up a diet plan once your training officially starts."
The microwave alarm went off, alerting the girls to their finished meal. Maxine removed the fillets from the microwave, holding her nose with one hand to block out the salty smell as she opened the door. "All right! Let's dig in!" she said gleefully.