Lavenrunz
11-01-2005, 10:48
OOC: This is a thread I am doing about a day in the life of ordinary citizens in Lavenrunz. If people wish they are welcome to do stuff in the thread but please keep within this theme.
IC:
Morning in Zwoll came with a soft hazy fog that was dappled with spots of sunshine and had a surreal sense to it, especially in the wee hours, when most of those people up were either working at the docks, driving mail trucks or were members of the Reichspolizei.
Marti Gluck woke up and checked her alarm clock, groaning when she saw that it was just minutes before it would go off. She rose, switching it off, and yawned. Her feet hit the rug but she felt a faint chill--with oil prices so high her parents had been shutting the heat down at night and even with good insulation the house was cold in wintertime. Thank God they didn't live down south or it would have been really freezing! Wearing her nightshirt, she felt the air kiss her bare legs as she went into the hall and to the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth. She could hear her parents quietly talking in their room, and knew her younger brother, still in high school, would be sound asleep still.
Brr. She looked at the shower apprehensively. It was never quite hot enough, not if your idea of seriously getting clean was a sauna or a nearly boiling hot tub, and she did not relish shivering after, but nevertheless she ran the water, seeing steam rising immediately. She stripped off her nightshirt, and ruefully glanced in the mirror at how gooseflesh was rising on her arms, her nipples felt like bullets. It was a quick scrub and rinse, towel and hurry to her room to get her clothing on.
Her mother was coming down in her robe and slippers as she was munching on a last bit of toast. Mother and daughter rather resembled one another: fair haired, compact, round hipped and firm bosomed, with light blue eyes. The crow's feet near those of the older woman were all that gave away her age. "Just toast again?" her mother said disapprovingly.
"Mother, I'll be late if I sit down for a full breakfast. Anyway, I'm getting too fat!" she protested, as she wiped her mouth and rose to put her dish in the sink.
"I don't know how you kids do it these days...no chocolate, no sausages..." she shook her head as though it saddened her but was not worth much discussion.
"Bye Mama" said Marti, forestalling further talk, kissing her mother on the cheek and dashing out the door.
She managed to catch up to her bus, hoping to be early, and got a seat to herself. Reading the advertisements inside, she saw one that was a recruiting poster for the Imperial Navy and felt thoughtful. There was an add for Porkwiches, showing a delicious looking thick chunk of maple smoked pork on a toasted bun. A lovely looking add for Kreft cigarettes, showing a beautiful woman lighting up as a handsome man held an expensive looking lighter. She sighed, because the price of Kreft was going up along with everything else; she really only pretended to smoke them like most of her friends, keeping a few neat and clean packs which she put hand rolled ones into.
It was easy for her to slip into a daydream about her boyfriend--ideally fiance--Erich Reiner, who was in the Imperial Navy. He came from a family with less money and had opted to take his good grades and become a radio operator; he was so clever, already a petty officer on his ship. Thinking of his warm smile, his long hands holding hers, his merry blue eyes made her imagine it was him, in that handsome suit, lighting a cigarette for her and the aromatic smoke wafting gently around them.
But then she heard the bus driver call out the next stop and realized her own was just another away. Quickly she re-buttoned her coat and got ready and soon swung off the bus and began to walk the final block to the Imperial Polytechnical College where she was studying chemistry. On the way she admired a mural from the art students' union which showed the city itself and was titled "A New Dawn for Zwoll", showing the glitter of tall modern buildings among the stone and brick of the earlier age. A leather coated Reichspolizei officer nodded to her, smiling as she passed. He looked a bit red cheeked from the winter's cold and she said sympathetically, "Do you get off duty soon officer?"
"Yes, fraulein, I do." he replied. "Thank heaven! I don't suppose you'd meet an officer of the Crown for a bite of pastry and kaffee mit schlag, hm?" he had a charming way with him, a mischief that reminded her of Erich, and that made her blush.
"No, I'm sorry, just being friendly. I have a boyfriend in the Navy, and anyway I'm on my way to class." she said, pointing to the brick and limestone facade of the College.
"Ah!" he said, nodding. "Clever one, eh? I'm sure someday you'll be working somewhere important and I'll be guarding it!"
This was flattery, since really she would be glad and lucky to have a good job with the government or a corporation, but she laughed and and said, "God willing, yes. Good day, officer."
She managed to make it in and avoided the crush that would come a mere fifteen minutes later, getting to the lab and managing a bit of time to study before the class, knowing that the labs she would be doing would be mind bogglingly tough. Work work work!
Marti had decided to specialize in waste management, which was unromantic but very important, and not well understood outside those who had specialized in it. Accordingly, she found herself in one of the old patched up MOPP suits (headgear off but a breathing mask on) up to her waders in sewage. She managed to pass her lab but felt very much under pressure and not happy in the old fashioned suit which seemed designed by a sadist to be hot and unyielding.
After getting cleaned up, she had lunch with friends. By now she was so used to her advanced lab work that it was all in a day for her, and she munched on a meat pie while they chatted about the latest movies, which teachers sucked and which didn't--though you never dared say so to their faces! She smiled at the Xikuangese working behind the lunch counter when she went up for dessert. The idea of working a retail position was unimaginable--no Lavenrunzian would do such a thing. At the same time, an ex-boyfriend who had later went nuts and joined the White Eagles had told her that foreigners were buying up a lot of the merchandising jobs in Lavenrunz because Lavenrunzians were too proud to do anything but work for the government, serve in the military, work in a factory or on a farm. That seemed weird but now that he mentioned it...she was getting used to seeing foreign faces behind counters all the time.
During lunch, there was an interruption from the public television in the ceiling's corner, which announced that the Chancellor of Lavenrunz had been sworn in. She applauded with others: Hans Schlabel was such a hero, and looked so dashing with his eyepatch. Reverently they listened to the Empress' speech. Her friend Hermann remarked,
"You know what? Schlabel is just like us. He was born to an ordinary family, not a title among them, and now he's running the Government. Imagine!"
Marti's eyes widened. She wanted instinctively to deny it but she did imagine.
What if she wasn't just going to be a tech all her life, but might actually accomplish something amazing?
She thought of the painting the artists' union had done. And she smiled and bit into her meat pie.
IC:
Morning in Zwoll came with a soft hazy fog that was dappled with spots of sunshine and had a surreal sense to it, especially in the wee hours, when most of those people up were either working at the docks, driving mail trucks or were members of the Reichspolizei.
Marti Gluck woke up and checked her alarm clock, groaning when she saw that it was just minutes before it would go off. She rose, switching it off, and yawned. Her feet hit the rug but she felt a faint chill--with oil prices so high her parents had been shutting the heat down at night and even with good insulation the house was cold in wintertime. Thank God they didn't live down south or it would have been really freezing! Wearing her nightshirt, she felt the air kiss her bare legs as she went into the hall and to the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth. She could hear her parents quietly talking in their room, and knew her younger brother, still in high school, would be sound asleep still.
Brr. She looked at the shower apprehensively. It was never quite hot enough, not if your idea of seriously getting clean was a sauna or a nearly boiling hot tub, and she did not relish shivering after, but nevertheless she ran the water, seeing steam rising immediately. She stripped off her nightshirt, and ruefully glanced in the mirror at how gooseflesh was rising on her arms, her nipples felt like bullets. It was a quick scrub and rinse, towel and hurry to her room to get her clothing on.
Her mother was coming down in her robe and slippers as she was munching on a last bit of toast. Mother and daughter rather resembled one another: fair haired, compact, round hipped and firm bosomed, with light blue eyes. The crow's feet near those of the older woman were all that gave away her age. "Just toast again?" her mother said disapprovingly.
"Mother, I'll be late if I sit down for a full breakfast. Anyway, I'm getting too fat!" she protested, as she wiped her mouth and rose to put her dish in the sink.
"I don't know how you kids do it these days...no chocolate, no sausages..." she shook her head as though it saddened her but was not worth much discussion.
"Bye Mama" said Marti, forestalling further talk, kissing her mother on the cheek and dashing out the door.
She managed to catch up to her bus, hoping to be early, and got a seat to herself. Reading the advertisements inside, she saw one that was a recruiting poster for the Imperial Navy and felt thoughtful. There was an add for Porkwiches, showing a delicious looking thick chunk of maple smoked pork on a toasted bun. A lovely looking add for Kreft cigarettes, showing a beautiful woman lighting up as a handsome man held an expensive looking lighter. She sighed, because the price of Kreft was going up along with everything else; she really only pretended to smoke them like most of her friends, keeping a few neat and clean packs which she put hand rolled ones into.
It was easy for her to slip into a daydream about her boyfriend--ideally fiance--Erich Reiner, who was in the Imperial Navy. He came from a family with less money and had opted to take his good grades and become a radio operator; he was so clever, already a petty officer on his ship. Thinking of his warm smile, his long hands holding hers, his merry blue eyes made her imagine it was him, in that handsome suit, lighting a cigarette for her and the aromatic smoke wafting gently around them.
But then she heard the bus driver call out the next stop and realized her own was just another away. Quickly she re-buttoned her coat and got ready and soon swung off the bus and began to walk the final block to the Imperial Polytechnical College where she was studying chemistry. On the way she admired a mural from the art students' union which showed the city itself and was titled "A New Dawn for Zwoll", showing the glitter of tall modern buildings among the stone and brick of the earlier age. A leather coated Reichspolizei officer nodded to her, smiling as she passed. He looked a bit red cheeked from the winter's cold and she said sympathetically, "Do you get off duty soon officer?"
"Yes, fraulein, I do." he replied. "Thank heaven! I don't suppose you'd meet an officer of the Crown for a bite of pastry and kaffee mit schlag, hm?" he had a charming way with him, a mischief that reminded her of Erich, and that made her blush.
"No, I'm sorry, just being friendly. I have a boyfriend in the Navy, and anyway I'm on my way to class." she said, pointing to the brick and limestone facade of the College.
"Ah!" he said, nodding. "Clever one, eh? I'm sure someday you'll be working somewhere important and I'll be guarding it!"
This was flattery, since really she would be glad and lucky to have a good job with the government or a corporation, but she laughed and and said, "God willing, yes. Good day, officer."
She managed to make it in and avoided the crush that would come a mere fifteen minutes later, getting to the lab and managing a bit of time to study before the class, knowing that the labs she would be doing would be mind bogglingly tough. Work work work!
Marti had decided to specialize in waste management, which was unromantic but very important, and not well understood outside those who had specialized in it. Accordingly, she found herself in one of the old patched up MOPP suits (headgear off but a breathing mask on) up to her waders in sewage. She managed to pass her lab but felt very much under pressure and not happy in the old fashioned suit which seemed designed by a sadist to be hot and unyielding.
After getting cleaned up, she had lunch with friends. By now she was so used to her advanced lab work that it was all in a day for her, and she munched on a meat pie while they chatted about the latest movies, which teachers sucked and which didn't--though you never dared say so to their faces! She smiled at the Xikuangese working behind the lunch counter when she went up for dessert. The idea of working a retail position was unimaginable--no Lavenrunzian would do such a thing. At the same time, an ex-boyfriend who had later went nuts and joined the White Eagles had told her that foreigners were buying up a lot of the merchandising jobs in Lavenrunz because Lavenrunzians were too proud to do anything but work for the government, serve in the military, work in a factory or on a farm. That seemed weird but now that he mentioned it...she was getting used to seeing foreign faces behind counters all the time.
During lunch, there was an interruption from the public television in the ceiling's corner, which announced that the Chancellor of Lavenrunz had been sworn in. She applauded with others: Hans Schlabel was such a hero, and looked so dashing with his eyepatch. Reverently they listened to the Empress' speech. Her friend Hermann remarked,
"You know what? Schlabel is just like us. He was born to an ordinary family, not a title among them, and now he's running the Government. Imagine!"
Marti's eyes widened. She wanted instinctively to deny it but she did imagine.
What if she wasn't just going to be a tech all her life, but might actually accomplish something amazing?
She thought of the painting the artists' union had done. And she smiled and bit into her meat pie.