Trying to get in the habit of posting on this thing, so for now, that means posting the occasional Interactive Writing assignment or linking to articles that come across my RSS and tickle my fancy. Someday, I will blog like a big girl, but for now, hey, at least my page isn't empty anymore. Little background: the assignment for this piece was to take a character, a place, and an event, and use those elements as the jumping-off point for a (very) short story.
Jason Astronaut glared at his guidance counselor for a full minute before responding. “No, I have no interest in becoming a pilot, atmo or otherwise,” he said flatly.
It was always the same with these people. They pushed him to take advanced physics and engineering classes, play on the gravball team, study military history...all because his father had had the indecency to become a famous war hero. It had become fashionable soon after war's end to change one's surname to reflect one's occupation. He silently cursed that he couldn't have been born the son of a fabrication specialist. Jason Smith had a nice ring to it...He was pulled from his reverie by the counselor, who tapped her stylus on her desk and looked at him expectantly. Guiltily, he realized that he'd completely missed whatever her question had been. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked around the office, pretending to be considering an answer while furiously trying to determine what she might have asked him.
“Well, all right, what do you want to do after school?” she asked after a moment, with the air of someone used to having to repeat herself to teenagers.
He considered this, and then said, “I want to go on vacation. A real vacation, where you go someplace just for the fun of going there. I've never done that before.”
And he hadn't, either. With his father's military career, the family had moved around the System quite a bit. To Jason, travel generally meant a new house, new school, being the new kid again. He was fascinated by the idea of traveling someplace of his own choosing, of staying in a civilian hotel instead of temporary quarters on a 'Naut base, of being free to wander and explore at will. His guidance counselor smiled, nodding understandingly.
“A vacation would be nice. You know, it's not uncommon for students to take a year, or even just a few months, to travel after graduation. I have some contacts in the Belt, and also on Callisto. Maybe we can set you up with some sort of traveling internship. You could hotel hop for awhile, see the System, take some time to consider what you want your future to look like. You would have to work to cover your expenses, so it wouldn't quite be a full vacation, but I suspect you'd still have plenty of time to explore and see the sights.”
Jason considered this, then grinned. “Sign me up!”