After Samantha Twist fulfilled her role as Town Chancellor and arranged a "protection" detail for Julia and Franz Eidlemann until they left for Seattle in the morning, she leaned back in her desk chair and smiled. Despite all the hassles she faced since moving to Moon Lake, Martha Anderson was coming into her own as both a very capable woman and a sister werecat.
And modest too. Martha truly doesn't know how beautiful she is, but I can understand her concern. All those women at the school? Could be from being the new kit on the block, or maybe it's the double dose of werecat Frances and I gave her inducting Martha.* Either way, we're both proud of her, and seriously looking forward to our "us" time tomorrow night.
MEANWHILE...
Karen Yuletide awoke from a beautiful dream of being happily married to Peter Talbot, as a career anthropomorphic animal film maker and mother of their two kits Peter Junior and Jennifer, named after her best friend and (currently with her fiance) dorm mate Jenny Harper. She yawned and stretched, wondering how she'd look as a were-lioness, but that was a question that would hopefully be answered in the future as Karen prepared for another day of classes.
Since meeting the handsome werelion, Karen was surprised not only at how quickly she had fallen in love, but that she now had the fur fetish that accompanied most of her life now under control. It's amazing what you can do in love, she thought, heading to her first class of the day.**
The computer course was the one she was most looking forward to. Although Karen preferred traditional, hand drawn animation; as a future film maker, she realized that computer animated films were here to stay, so was learning all she could now as a prerequisite to the more advanced classes that featured Computer Generated Imagery production in the semesters to come.
After that and World History 101, it was time to meet Peter in the Student Center for lunch.
She still had two more classes later that afternoon, but Karen knew her biggest challenges still laid ahead. Dinner with the Talbot family that night, and meeting all of Peter's uncles tomorrow.
Since it was a small event and there was so much outside help to begin with, like the Skulk providing the catering, the planning for Jenny's wedding next weekend was going well, with the only real problem being dealing with the Harper family when they came to stop the wedding.***
As Karen entered the main dining area of the Student Union Commissary, she saw a couple standing near one of the drawings that decorated the space. The man was taking photos of the picture with his cellphone.
"Can I help you?" asked Karen, approaching the couple.
"No," said Ben Twist. "I just wanted to take a couple of snaps of my mother's work."
"You're mother is... Elizabeth Franklin?" she asked, after looking at the credit placard near the framed drawing.
"Was," replied Ben. "This and the drawing The Duality of Life near the Art department are the only known works that survive her," he added, before giving Karen a brief recap of his personal history. Ben was careful not to use the W (were) word around her, since a discrete sniff revealed Ms. Yuletide was a normal.
"I've seen that one. Nice work," agreed Karen, before introductions were made.
"So. Are you going to follow in your mother's footsteps and be an artist too after you graduate high school?" wondered Karen.
"It's possible. Your career counselor Mrs. Johnson and my girlfriend both think I have talent," replied Ben, while putting an arm around Kenya, "but until now, I've always thought of art more as a way to relax and unwind at the end of the day."
"It can be. Yet art can be so much more. It can move and inspire people, like your mother's work has with you today," pointed out Karen. "I don't suppose you have a portfolio with you?"
"Just the photos I showed Mrs. Johnson," said Ben, before he started scrolling through them for Karen, explaining that he did them from memory and feelings, not poses or photographs.
"WOW!" exclaimed Karen after viewing them. "You are VERY talented. I'm planning a career in animation myself and when I get that far, I'd hire you on the spot. If you have a few minutes, would you like to know more about the art programs here from an actual art student's perspective?"
Ben looked at Kenya, who nodded her head in agreement, knowing that an opportunity like this may not come along again, and Ben seemed on the fence about choosing art as a major.
The three of them were about to sit down when Karen started waving to someone in the distance and said, "My boyfriend's here."
Ben and Kenya turned to look at a tall, brown haired man approach them.
"Sorry I'm late. That economics test was a killer, but I think I passed it with a pretty decent grade," he said, while giving Karen a quick kiss.
As Karen introduced Peter Talbot, Ben couldn't help but stare. This woman is dating the guy most weres refer to as The Lion Prince?
___________________________________________
*WAAAY back during the "Martha's Big Night" trilogy of episodes that concluded with "It's Martha's time to purrrr".
**Long story short, it's actually Jenny Harper's doing as a potential mystic healer.
***Scheduled for October 31 and future episodes of this thread.—tmw.