In the Beginning
A Caustrian Tale
Kathyrn Grace was not one of athletic build.
In fact, very little about her was athletic at all, with the
exception of her near female basketball player height of 5'9". But then,
thought she, as she turned from the mirror to get ready for class, sports
weren't the only thing that mattered on a college campus. There were such
things as intellectual pursuits.
Unhurriedly, Kathy chose a warm sweater and jeans ensemble
from her wardrobe to combat the chilliness of the Pennsylvaina mountain morning
air, then strolled over to her roommate's bed.
"Daina," she said, softly. "It's time to get
up."
Daina Threats, resting peacefully in a combination of deep
sleep and warm quilts, did not answer. Kathy shook her head, then leaned over,
turned the bass on her stereo to 10, then switched it on.
"Jesus!!!" Daina shrieked, nearly tumbling
out of bed to the tune of "Motownphilly". Kathy grinned at her as she
turned the music down.
"Mornin', short-n-skinny," she said.
"Good morning, cruel-and-unusual," came the frosty
reply. "Must you slam that kinda noise into my ear this early in
the morning?"
"Well, if I don't use your ear, I'd have to do it
intravenously and I don't think your frail little body can handle that,"
came the smug reply. "Besides, I thought that was your favorite
song."
"There is something so wrong with you,"
Daina grumbled, wrapping her blankets around her as she sat up indian style in
the bed. "God, it's cold in here!"
"Turn the heat on if you want," said Kathy,
turning back to the sink mirror to fix her hair. "Or try getting out of
bed and getting ready for class."
Daina turned the heater on by her bed, then yawned and
leaned sleepily against it. "What time is it?"
"7am," said Kathy.
"What day?"
"Monday."
"What month?"
"You're stalling," said Kathy.
"I'm not!" Daina lied. "It's just on certain
Mondays in January, I'm not allowed to go to class in the morning. It's against
my religion. I'm a Protestant and I'm...uh, protesting this outrage."
"Well, I'm a Baptist and unless you wanna be baptized
in an ice cold bucket of holy water, you better get moving."
"Dag, man, that's raw," said Daina, shaking her
head in disappointment. "I never thought you'd do your best friend like
that." She shuffled out of bed, blankets and all, to the closet area of
the room, then yanked out a hooded sweatshirt with a turtleneck and jeans.
Slinging them over her shoulder, she trudged back to bed and stared morosely at
the clock.
"Do I have anything due today?" she asked.
"Calculus homework," said Kathy, going to her desk
and gathering her books together. "Story for English class."
"Yeah, there is that," said Daina, closing
her eyes.
"You should probably print it." Kathy suggested.
Daina, who was drifting back into dreamland, didn't answer. "Like, now?"
Kathy added forcefully.
"I heard you," Daina muttered. She crawled over to
the other side of the bed and turned on her computer and printer. After
fiddling with the two for a moment, adjusting one and typing information into
the other, the printer began to groan and slowly crank out printed sheets.
Having spent a whole 5 minutes in the cold, Daina was already feeling abused.
She hurried back into her blankets and Kathy asked,
"So what'd you write about?"
"I made up some stuff on my own this time. Christine gets
attacked by this sorceress who kidnaps her to make Robin fight. Robin goes to
fry the snot outta this chick, but can't because she's supposed to be taking a
self-imposed vow of pacifism. I go and save the kid while Robin breaks her vow
and kick magic butt. All this while Target and Bullet take Nina and Nicky out
for their first hunting trip. The kids hate it and they come back."
"Easy way to get them out of the picture for a while,
huh?" Kathy smiled.
"Hey, why complicate issues by killing people off
unnecessarily?" Daina replied. "Just send them off on a hunting
trip." She paused for a moment, then added, "Do you think anybody'll
notice we're using the same characters for our stories?"
"How could they? We're not in the same class,"
Kathy replied. "Besides, it's not like we're copying each other. We're
just using the same world from my Dungeons & Dragons game and expanding on
it a little. You write things the way you see it happen and I write the way I
do. Christine and those guys are your own characters, anyway."
"You make it sound so simple," said Daina. "I
just don't want Dr. Freyoh to think the characters I made up are actually yours
or vice versa."
"I don't think Dr. Freyoh or anybody else is actually
gonna care," said Kathy. "Now quit hangin' around and get
ready, 'cause I gotta go."
"I'm not stopping you."
"Yes, you are. Your class is at the same time mine is,
so there's no way in the world you can tell me you can get there on time by
leaving after me."
"Yes, there is. Your class is across the quad. My class
is practically next door. Not only that, but I'm faster than you and offer less
wind resistance."
Kathy looked at her friend for a moment, then sighed deeply.
"I hate it when you get technical."
"I know," Daina grinned. Kathy gave her a frown
and the grin disappeared immediately. "I swear I will not skip this
class."
"You better not," Kathy threatened, as she
put her coat on and started to leave.
"I won't." Daina promised.
"I mean it!"
"I won't."
"I'm serious!"
"I won't, already, sheez!" The two
exchanged glances, Daina's one of slightly tainted honesty and Kathy's one of
routinely experienced skepticism. "I only do this every Monday,"
Daina began.
"Every weekday," Kathy corrected. "Don't be
in bed when I get back," she added, "or else."
"Or else what?" Daina asked, regretting having
fallen into the "or else" trap. But Kathy was so creative with her
abuse.
"Or else I'll have Dove make you her personal slave in
the next quest you go on," said she, referring to their nightly D & D game.
"That is, after I jack you up against the wall in real life."
"Y'know, I never knew how serious you'd take me when I
told you to do whatever it takes to get me to go to class this semester,"
said Daina submissively. Kathy gave a ominous chuckle.
"So, are you up?"
"I'm up."
"You're awake?"
"I'm awake."
"You're going to class?"
"I'm awake." Kathy gave her a look. "I'm just
kiddin', I'm goin' to class."
"Really?"
"Really."
The door had barely closed before Daina's eyes did. She dropped
her head back on the pillow again. "Oh-yeah," said she. "I'm up.
I'm awake. And I'm goin' to class." She paused for a moment, then dozed
off saying, "I'm about to walk in the door right now..."