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| Strangers in a Strange School; let's face it, Utah is weird | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 10 2016, 09:13 PM (430 Views) | |
| Genya | Feb 10 2016, 09:13 PM Post #1 |
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Graveyard Duck
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The sun rose to a particularly peaceful day, especially when compared to the recent gas explosion chaos. Classes would be resuming today, and all of the custodial staff were heading in early to make sure everything was ready for the returning students. Hallways were mopped, door hinges were greased, whiteboards and chalkboards alike were cleaned, and rolls of toilet paper were filled. There wasn't much trash to take care of, but it was tended to just the same. Mara Cavanagh, one of the custodians (and a student to boot) was just finishing up in the library. There had been some complaints of odd smells, but he couldn't sniff any out, and his nose could be particularly sensitive. While he couldn't do anything about that, he could dust and wash the windows. On occasion, he wondered if he was put on dust and window duty because, at six-foot-four, he had the reach to get just about everywhere. Probably, he thought, but I don't mind. Mara went about his work quickly and quietly, cleaning his way from the back of the library up to the front in a practiced, efficient route. A brief check of his watch told him that there was plenty of time to finish, put the cleaning supplies away, and get ready for class. To that end, Mara spritzed some glass cleaner on a window and picked up a fresh cleaning cloth to wipe the window down. |
| Valkyrja | Mar 7 2016, 12:10 AM Post #2 |
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Fact Cat
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The school would be pretty empty for a while. The buses had gone out to collect the students, but most of them wouldn't be back for a long time, and not all of the entrances were unlocked. Most of the students who could walk or drive would be taking the opportunity to sleep in and arrive closer to the official start time. However, there would always be a few early birds. Solinda Leavitt (Soli to her friends) was one of them. Her standard morning routine was to apply sunscreen and go over to the school as soon as it was feasible, then go for a quick run and hit the showers before class. She was about a quarter mile into her run when she noticed another student approaching the field. She slowed to a jog. "I wasn't expecting to see you this early," she commented as her friend Ken Mochizuki drew into talking distance. "Mm, yeah, it was hard leaving my comfy bed, but our router is on the fritz." He flopped down on the grass by the track and pulled out his phone. "You know me: if I go without internet for an hour, I'll probably die." "Uh huh." Solinda seemed skeptical, but she sat down next to him. "How's she doing?" "Hm?" Ken turned and stared for a moment while he processed her words. "Oh, yeah. She seems to be doing fine. Kind of hard to tell, really. I guess we'll know if she goes full monster mode, but up until then, I-" "I can hear you, you know." Ken's phone commented dryly. "Hi, Euryale," Solinda greeted. "How are you doing?" "Fairly well. I'm looking forward to the school year." "What are you most looking forward to?" "It's an excellent opportunity to learn new things." "That's vague," Ken commented. "You're going to want to be more specific or people won't think you're genuine." "I'll keep that in mind if the teacher calls on me," Euryale said with what sounded like a laugh. Ken gave Soli a look as though to say 'See?' Then his attention turned (with a mixture of curiosity and a surprise) at a point just over her shoulder and a few yards away. Soli followed his gaze, but it was just trees and chain-link fencing. "Hey, are you okay?" Ken blinked, and his eyes unfocused. "Euryale, can you search 'Antigonish' for me?" "Antigonish, Nova Scotia is-" "Second result, please." "Antigonish. Poem. Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today, I wish, I wish he'd go away..." "I wish, I wish he'd go away," Ken echoed. Soli was baffled. "What the flip is that supposed to mean?" She paused. "Are you hallucinating or something?" "Kinda?" Ken answered. "Not just me, though. You know how I run a news aggregation website for local events?" "Yeah." Soli knew that she couldn't always ask Ken directly what was going on in the area, but she sure could ask his software. "We've been getting reports of mass hallucinations all over town. Most of the victims seem to be teenagers, though there isn't enough info yet to say whether they have anything else in common. The first recorded incident happened last Friday night around the same time of that gas explosion, and the first hospitalization was late Tuesday morning, so just about 20 hours ago." "But why?" Did it have something to do with that gas explosion? Or was it something else entirely? "Nobody knows," Ken shrugged. "Or if they do, they're keeping it to themselves. Naturally, we're getting a lot of commentary from people with some really nice tinfoil hats. I've asked them to send in pictures." Soli dug her phone out of her pocket and deftly tapped the screen. "You're pulling my leg." "Well, yeah, I can't really go insulting the userbase like that," Ken laughed. "I have a product to sell." "No, I mean about this whole thing." Soli turned her phone towards Ken, showing him the front page of his own website. "Where's this story of yours?" Ken opened his mouth. Then, he closed his mouth. Then, he rummaged around in his backpack. "And here I am, all out of tin," he muttered. |
| Genya | Aug 7 2016, 11:15 PM Post #3 |
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Graveyard Duck
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Ken and Solinda weren't the only early birds at school. A lightly-tanned girl with purple-streaked black hair tamed by way of a loose ponytail was snapping photos of the clouds. She brushed some dust off her faded blue jeans as she got off her back and stood. The ground there wasn't really comfy at all, but she'd jut had to get that cloud from that angle. It wasn't long before she was wandering the grounds and photographing familiar sights: the horizon just beyond the parking lot, athletic fields from under the bleachers, the school itself with the sunlight peeking above the roof just-so. Why, she had even been lucky enough to catch a student running, then talking to her friend. Candid shots were the best! Elise yawned. Today was going to be rough, but she'd power through. In defiance of her parent's orders, Elise had snuck out late the other night to go photograph the gas explosion in-progress, and again for aftermath photos. Her sleep schedule had taken a heck of a hit from it all, but the photos! It had been her first taste of disaster photography. Elise hadn't liked it all that much, but she never would have known if she hadn't tried it. The micro-SD card with all those pictures was safely tucked away at home. The one she had in now held photos taken today, mostly from the school but a few of skylines and city wildlife from her walk over. "I should probably go inside," she said to herself, "Or at least near the doors." Elise turned off her camera before tucking it away in a case she'd extracted from her backpack. She pulled an orange can of soda out from a mesh pocket on the side of her bag and popped it open to sip on her way back to the front doors. |
| Valkyrja | May 28 2017, 07:50 AM Post #4 |
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Fact Cat
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"Hey, Elise," a boy's voice greeted not far from the door. The source of the voice was a boy a year or two older than Elise who was sitting on one of the benches near the entrance with a stack of paper sitting next to him. Mark (or Ethan -- he had vacillated quite a bit on what he wanted to be called but seemed to have settled on Mark recently) was the current principal's son, so he often came to school early with something to do. He got bored easily, so it was debatable whether this free time helped or hurt with his attention issues. Anyway, either he had spent a couple mornings pouring over the class roster or his memory really was that good, because he seemed to know everyone in school, even students that he had only spoken to once. |
| Genya | Jun 2 2017, 08:20 PM Post #5 |
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Graveyard Duck
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Elise perked up when she heard her name called, turning to see who had said it. When she saw Mark, she smiled and waved at him. "Hi," Elise said as she walked over. "You came early today too, huh?" |
| Valkyrja | Jun 2 2017, 09:04 PM Post #6 |
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Fact Cat
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"No, I swear it's never happened to me before," he chuckled. He drew a line on the paper on the top of the stack and brought his mirth back under control. "Didn't really expect anyone else to be here this early." He thought about it a bit. "Heck, I wasn't really expecting anyone to show up with everything that's going on. I told Mom that she should cancel school, but if she listened to me, we'd probably never come back from summer break. ...Speaking of which, how have things been?" |
| Genya | Jun 3 2017, 10:10 PM Post #7 |
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Graveyard Duck
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The joke went right over Elise's head. "They've been okay, nothing exciting," she replied as she took a seat next to Mark. "How about you?" |
| Valkyrja | Jun 3 2017, 10:42 PM Post #8 |
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Fact Cat
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"Ah, yeah, same." He shook his head and crumpled up the paper he had been working on. "Really weird dreams about robots and chupacabras, but life itself has been normal. Ish. Normal-ish." |
| Genya | Jun 9 2017, 08:12 PM Post #9 |
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Graveyard Duck
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Elise wasn't sure where to go on that. Comment about the dreams? Say that normal-ish is good? Maybe change the subject? Yeah, yeah that might work. She took a sip of her soda before pointing to the papers next to Mark. "Whatcha working on?" |
| Valkyrja | Jun 9 2017, 10:37 PM Post #10 |
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Fact Cat
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"Oh, uh, just killing time, I guess." Maybe he was reluctant to talk about whatever it was, or maybe he caught something in his peripheral vision, but either way, Mark's gaze fixed on something out in the parking lot. "Is that a police car parked next to a hearse?" It was. "It's very kind of you to accompany me this far, Lieutenant, but I think I can manage on my own." The man in the black suit stated flatly. "Trust me, if it were up to me alone, this would be going differently." Lieutenant Price was a fairly average looking man in his thirties. He had brown hair, a closely trimmed beard, and light brown eyes. He was a little on the tall side with a healthy build but an unpleasantly pale complexion. Desk work in an interior office might be to blame for it, though it might have been just as much lack of sleep or improper diet. Nonetheless, the man in the black suit deduced that the lieutenant was most definitely not a vampire. "I'm sure." It was hard to tell whether or not he was being sarcastic. "Captain Mitchell just wants to make sure that this situation is handled delicately, seeing as school children are involved and all." |
| Genya | Jun 9 2017, 10:47 PM Post #11 |
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Graveyard Duck
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The soda and papers were quickly forgotten as Elise made for her camera. She'd certainly seen cop cars and hearses, but together? Not unless the cops were escorting a funeral procession. Oh, and she didn't recognize the guy in black. Actually, she didn't recognize either of the men, now that she thought about it. Oh well. Click! |
| Valkyrja | Jun 20 2017, 07:44 PM Post #12 |
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Fact Cat
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The man in black turned and stared directly into the viewfinder. "We should probably get moving." "I agree." The two men made their way towards the doors. The man in the black suit didn't say a word as he passed, but he stared at Elise and at Mark before averting his gaze and focusing on a spot nearby. "Oh, morning, lieutenant," Mark greeted. Price seemed surprised and confused to be recognized. "Uh, morning." Both men entered the building, and Mark watched their backs as they went in. |
| Genya | Jun 21 2017, 08:42 PM Post #13 |
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Graveyard Duck
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"Creepy," Elise thought as she watched the men enter the school. Well, not the one Mark recognized. The man in black? Yeah, just a bit. Elise's feathers weren't ruffled much at all, though; Aspen Bough was a weird town, and she knew it. She shrugged it off and started talking to Mark again. "You know that guy," Elise asked, subtly gesturing to Lieutenant Price. |
| Valkyrja | Jun 21 2017, 08:48 PM Post #14 |
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Fact Cat
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"Yeah," Mark nodded. "He's my former next-door-neighbors' father's coworker." Was he serious? |
| Genya | Jun 24 2017, 05:36 PM Post #15 |
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Graveyard Duck
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Whether or not Mark was serious, Elise believed him. People tended to know the families living near them, and it only made sense that they'd eventually bump into or hear about extended social circles. That, or she was just very trusting. "So, any idea what they're doing here?" |
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