The Mentor

Part 1: Through the Looking Glass

          Scottie dumped his backpack on the floor and threw himself on the bed. Dusty, his golden retriever, jumped up beside him on the tangle of bedding, and nuzzled Scottie's side. Scottie absentmindedly scratched the pup's head as he stared at the ceiling.
        "I hate my life, Dusty."

Arbeit Macht Frei

"Mama, where are we going?"
    "Shh, Jakob, we will be there soon. Go back to sleep, mein Liebchen. "
    The boy laid his head against his mother's breast, her heartbeat through the thin poplin making time with the clacking of the train against the tracks. He closed his droopy eyes and drifted off to sleep.
    He woke to the sounds of shouting. People were quickly untangling themselves and filing out the door. Jakob could see very little through the bodies surrounding him, and his mother tightened her grip on his tiny hand. They disembarked with the flood of humanity and walked through a large iron gate. There was writing along the top of the gate, though Jakob did not understand what it meant. Was this some work place? It didn't look like his father's watch shop. But the watch shop was boarded up now; the boy had not seen his father in over a month. Hannah tugged on Jakob's hand as they took their place in the line that wrapped around a cinderblock building. The boy shivered against the morning cold and moved closer into his mother's side.

Infandum Renovare Dolorem

(Or To Renew the Unspeakable Grief – from the Aeneid)

    Lanie shivered as she pulled her jacket tight across her chest. January in Ohio can be bitter. Frost had crystallized the grass, which crunched under her feet as she walked toward the bus stop. Each step was a little more sluggish than the one before. She didn't really dislike school; she just had an aversion to the sophomoric antics of the wild students on the school bus.
    Lanie was the only senior who rode the bus. Others either drove themselves or rode with friends. That's one of the pathetic aspects of being the new girl – very few friends yet. Her father had just retired from the military and this venture into civilian life was difficult for all of them. Saying good-bye to people is always traumatic, but within the military community it is simply a part of life. So is being new. Everybody is at one time or another, and transitions are rather fluid. Coming to rural Ohio meant trying to slip into an environment that was more like concrete; one is the "new girl" for years, not just days or weeks.