postcards from the winning team

November 2086.

#1: strong enough to put hair on your chest


Nathan Lind was in Catalina this month for business, so he popped in to visit his sister and the kids. After much begging and pleading, and pleading and begging, Aurora finally agreed to let him take Zach to the Humor & Hijinks convention. She had worried it was too late on a school night and too adult for a little boy.

"Can I have some?" Zach pointed toward a glowing purple fountain.

"I think this is juice," Nate said. "Pretty sure, but you never know. Hey, how old are you now? Ten?"

"Almost nine," Zach said.

"Close enough!"



Zach took his glass of 'probably juice' to the bar and drank it like a man.

—

#2: chemistry experiments

When Sarah first saw the freshman class roster at Sierra Nova University, one name looked somewhat familiar. Fiona McCullough. Sarah didn't know Fiona personally, and they never went to the same high school, but if you grew up in Lake County, you would have heard the rumors about Fiona McCullough. Being the only two new female students here, it was looking like Fiona would be her roommate if nobody else applied.

She mentioned this to her sister, Lucy, who heard from Dallas that you absolutely positively do not want to room with Fiona. Dallas said, "You never met my cousin. Trust me, you don't want to meet her. She's evil."

"Don't get your panties in a twist," she said to her dear brother-in-law. "How evil can a teenage girl really be?"


But it all came to nothing, anyway, because then Sarah heard from her own long lost cousin, Melissa.


Quiet, awkward little Melissa Fortney was coming back from a year abroad in France. It was fun, she said, but a little lonely. She had to transfer her credits somewhere, so Sarah persuaded her to come here! And they both requested each other as roommates. Problem avoided!


Melissa's half of the room.


Sarah's half.


They finally met the infamous Fiona McCullough on campus once classes started. Some other poor soul must have ended up being her roommate, but it wasn't Sarah and it wasn't Melissa, and for that they were glad.

Was she scary? Perhaps not. 'Evil mastermind' might have been a stretch. But they found Fiona absolutely insufferable so far in every other way. What an awful girl. She was just simply annoying.


Although they could safely avoid her in their bedrooms, everywhere else on campus was fair game for Fiona to be, and Fiona often left them all in a trail of misery and annoyance.


Like when she handed you the wrong solvent in chemistry class and your solution spilled all over your desk. Sarah knew chemistry like the back of her hand. She aced chemistry in high school. What could have gone wrong?

Then she heard a soft chuckle across the way.

"You just trusted me," she gloated. "How very interesting. Very interesting, indeed."

Maybe there was something to the rumors. Fiona had a way of smiling, while objectively being very pretty, that felt like the icy cold daggers of pure death plunging into your soul.


Fiona expected that her brilliance would far exceed these stupid college classes. But the world worked the way it worked, and Fiona also knew that she needed a solid cover for her experiments. She wasn't stupid—the law wouldn't allow her to seduce the entire human population to do her bidding and just get away with it. Brainwashing and psychological slavery were very much illegal last she checked. So this psychology degree and a license to practice would be the perfect cover. Doctor-patient confidentiality would work in her favor, and the rest was cake.

It also wouldn’t hurt her to learn a little more in the process if these imbecile professors could manage to teach her anything that she didn't already know.

She was bored though. She had big plans and she wanted to get started now, but she didn't have the means or the freedom. She had homework to do, for crying out loud! She never had to do her own homework in high school. Homework was so boring! There was always some pretty but brainless boy who would do it for her. So she set out to make some "friends."

"I have a proposition for you," she said to Andre. "You’re very handsome and I know that you find me beautiful. I’ll sleep with you if you'll participate in a little experiment. What do you say? Your place? Wanna invite me over?"

"Uh, no thanks," Andre said. "That sounds weird."

Huh, how interesting. Fiona had never been told no before. How maddening. How different. She would have to try something else.

She didn't know what yet. But she did learn a nifty new trick. Picking locks! How utterly basic—she felt like a common street thug!—and yet it was also strangely exhilarating! 

They had a new Education Minister now, and she came to campus to hear of Ms. Sylvester’s plans for the university. Ms. Sylvester promised a state-of-the-art gymnasium before the end of the year, and everyone was excited to see it completed. They even had Marc Hall, Olympic diver, to guest lecture this year.


Along with the gymnasium, they also installed this giant climbing contraption.


With his dedication to master this machine, Selena feared that Luis wouldn't make it to graduation. Even if only because he was an economics major and not an athletics major.

—

#3: check your child's folder for this year's project fair assignment


(The nicer bunch of the McCullough family, at home, working on some homework. Things have been very quiet here since Fiona went off to college.)

Project fair assignments were sent home this November. Every student, grades K-12, will have one project to complete by April. These projects will count toward third quarter final grades. Contact your child's teacher if you have any questions.

—

#4: dollar signs in her eyes


Years after she got herself knocked up three times in less than three years and trashed her acting career, Bell found herself, surprisingly, not at all disappointed with the course her life had taken. In another life, she may have become an award-winning actress. Or, if not award-winning, famous at least. Very famous and very rich. But that wasn't the hand Bell was dealt.

This was good, too. Bell found that she was good at business. Who knew? Well, deep down, she must have known that she always loved money. The acting experience came in handy when she needed to rave about these exotic places that she'd never even been to before. "Granite Falls? It's fabulous! Mystical! Unforgettable!"

Hell if she knew whether Granite Falls was mystical or not, but the pictures were pretty enough.

This season's big boost came thanks to the deal she struck with her uncle. He just opened a new resort out in California, and Bell has been happy to give his business a little push if it means taking a little commission for herself. The travel agency has been so busy she couldn't even keep up with the sales. She had to hire her first real employees this month.


She was doing so well, in fact, that she decided to kick Cameron out of the larger, nicer studio and push him upstairs. He really had all the space he needed for his photography upstairs, anyway. They both knew who the breadwinner of this duo was.

The larger studio was well lit and roomy. Good, because she was beginning to feel claustrophobic in the tiny room next door.

Bell had three children under five now, and she hadn't ever thought for a second about childcare until she needed care for her own children. They looked around locally and came up with nothing. But what they did have was a lot of empty space between the old studio Bell just moved out of and some old storage rooms. If she couldn’t find the childcare she wanted elsewhere, why not bring the childcare here?

(lot tour)

She hired two great former stay-at-home moms to help out. Everyone had background checks, licensing passed, and they were ready to go!



After Bell's Bright Horizons and Cameron's Bright Expressions, they would call this new business venture, Bright Futures.

Yes, they did. It was very cheesy, she knew, but Bell was a saleswoman and she knew what worked. The local parents ate it right up and she had two new families on membership before the end of the first week.

She and Cameron were building quite the little business empire together. She looked forward to their own very bright future!

—

#5: the practice round



Blair and Amy are still newlywed enough to celebrate their wedding anniversary in months. Five months, to be exact, which was all the reason they need to make it a date night.

Date nights are easy to do when you're twenty and childless. 

Of course, 'childless' is not something they want to be for much longer. 

But they both know better. Mostly. Perhaps sometimes Amy hesitates a little before taking that birth control pill, or perhaps Blair wonders, "It wouldn't be so bad if it happened." Amy wouldn't be disappointed if it just happened, either, but they both know it's not part of the official plan right now. Amy has two years of nursing school left, and they also wanted to save up a down payment for a real house. They only have about $300 saved so far, give or take a little because that new gaming console came out and Blair just had to have it! 

But their apartment is comfortable and cute. They like their landlord, they're in a nice neighborhood, and they could totally fit a crib in here somewhere if they needed to. 

Blair always wanted to buy one of these family pin boards. He enjoyed making their weekly schedules, grocery shopping lists, and he tried to imagine what kind of curfew he might set for someday teenagers. He really couldn't wait.

Maybe it wasn't time for all of that just yet, but a little practice never hurt anyone.

—

#6: by the book




Eleven months after their son moved to Copper Hill, Cynthia and Robert finally closed on a new home of their own. They were heartbroken to leave the old home where they spent over thirty years of their lives, but they knew it was time to move on. They weren't downsizing exactly—there was perhaps even more room here—but the property values out in the countryside were much more affordable, which left them with a nice nest egg for their fast-approaching retirement.

Once they moved in their things and hung up some pictures, it started to feel like home again. It was a cozy two-bedroom ranch, with space for the grandkids to stay over and a large sprawling yard for them to run around in.

(Full tour, here.)


Justin brought the girls over on their very first night. Willow wouldn't leave without a promise that they could sleep over on the weekend.


When everything was settled, they called the realtor over to file the tax assessment.

"Wrong," Colette said. "You really should have called me sooner. This is going to be a lot more expensive now."


"What? Why?"

She just shrugged. "Them's the rules. You purchased the home as a contract build. The home was not move-in ready because you didn't have the required plumbing and fixtures. You were supposed to call for your inspection after the plumbers left for the lowest possible rate. But you moved all your furniture in, so how could I assess your lot value without furniture if your furniture is all here? You've got furniture all over the place! Then there's your demolition fee, your rebuild fee, your zoning change fee, and of course, the standard property tax deposit."

"Can't you just shave off twenty percent for the furniture? Guesstimate?"

"Guesstimate?" Colette cackled. "Ha ha ha, no."


Cynthia tried with her next. "It was a simple mistake. Must happen all the time, right? We got your name from our son. You sold him a house about last year, and he said you were very helpful."

Colette shook her head. "I don't remember who your son is, and I don't really care. Whoever he is, he must have gotten his inspections done in the right order!"

So Cynthia got out her check book.


Just so you know, if you're ever buying a home in Copper Hill, you don't want to mess with the property tax auditor!

—