Short summary:
Weirdness in Lawndale continues (set after the Daria
episode 揇epth takes a holiday?
Daria (and associated
characters and locations) is copyright ?1997-2000 MTV Networks.
This story is copyright ?2002 by Bacner (olgak531@rogers.com) and has been written for personal enjoyment. No infringement of the above rights is intended.
The day that the FC later called 揟he Day of Fashion Infamy?or TDFI, and Daria and Jane and quite a few others called 揳 hoot? started as a long, lazy, April Break day. Jane was at Casa Lane, sketching the more particularly spectacular effects of air pollution in the upper layers of the atmosphere, and Daria was privately wondering in her own room, whether or not the atmosphere at the Lane house got too polluted.
And where was the rest of Daria抯 family? Why, the answer to that question Daria neither knew nor cared-
揔u-Winn, are you sure that there抯 nobody home but your geeky cousin??/p>
-all right, now that was just wishful thinking. The older Morgendorffers were at their corresponding places of work, and Daria抯 younger sister, Quinn, was holding a Fashion Club court downstairs, to Daria抯 greater irritancy. 揥hy can抰 the earth just open-up and swallow them whole??she grumbled.
揋ee, Ku-Winn, it was so not nice of you to invite us home and not have anything to eat,?Sandi said sarcastically.
換uinn is sorry, Sandi, aren抰 you??Stacy squeaked, looking like she wanted the earth to open whole and swallow both Quinn and her.
揘o food?that抯 right?no food ?no fat!?Tiffany added.
Sandi, who was preparing to speak herself, choked on whatever she wanted to say to Quinn, and instead turned to Tiffany with a compact mirror in her hand. 揟iffany, look! A reflective surface! Run along and play with it for a while!?/p>
揙oh! Shiny!?Tiffany spoke, fiddling with the mirror like a monkey. 揌ey! A solar speckle!?she said excitedly.
Quinn stared. 揌ow long she was like that??she asked Stacy.
揝houldn抰 her parents be told, or something??/p>
揂bsolutely not,?Sandi re-attached herself to the conversation. 揥e got your lack of food to discuss.?/p>
揃ut Sandi, we wouldn't eat it anyways!?Stacy protested.
揟hat抯 the point! Ku-Winn was supposed to have the food so that we didn't eat it and demonstrated our will-power!?/p>
揟o who??Quinn asked, curious, but keeping half an eye on Tiffany and Tiffany抯 new toy.
揢m?how about that geeky cousin of yours??Sandi finally said. 揝he looks like she could use a few good tips from Tiffany! She抯, like, too fat for height, or something!?/p>
搮Or something!?came from downstairs, and Daria groaned. Ye gods, didn抰 this quartet shut-up? Well, maybe it was more of a trio, since Tiffany tended to speak about eight to ten words on an hour, and at least four of them would be 揂m I too fat???or something along similar lines. But the others ?God ?they never shut-up!
Daria looked thoughtful, and looked at the wall. The latter just not-stared back, as walls are wont to do, because that抯 what they are, even ones with the name of 慣homas?written on them. 揙n one hand,?Daria started to speak to 慣homas? 搕his is my sister and her friends downstairs and at least one of them is may be mentally deficient. On the other hand ?I really don抰 want to hear what they抮e talking about, either. So-?Not waiting for 慣homas?reply, Daria walked over to the door into her room and closed it.
揟hat抯 better!?she said. 揘ow nobody is going to bother me in my domain!?Then she looked around her room, and added, more quietly. 揗aybe I should invade somebody else抯 domain instead.?/p>
Back at Casa Lane, Jane Lane was getting increasingly aggravated. 揘o, no, and that抯 not right at all!?she exclaimed, angrily, stomping around her room like a crazed rhino.
揌ey Janey, what抯 up??her brother Trent appeared in the door-way, looking half-asleep, even though it was closer to noon than to sunrise proper by now.
揇on't you have a nap sometime around now??Jane grouchily snapped.
To her surprise, Trent nodded wisely and walked over to her bed, yawning so hard, that Jane expected his jawbones to unhinge like a snake抯. That fascination caused a delay of a realization in Jane抯 brain, that on her bed lay several draft canvasses, left to dry-
SPLAT! 揨zzz!?
Jane抯 mouth formed an 慜? For several minutes Jane tried to say something, anything, that would convey as to how she felt at that moment and failed to accomplish this even by a long shot.
Finally, after several moments of impersonating a fish out of water, Jane gave up, turned around in a military style and walked out of her room and out of the house, going in no particular direction.
At that point in time, Jane Lane really wished that Upchuck with his 揊eisty!?get-up line would be around. She would really enjoy tearing him apart.
And so, whilst Jane Lane has started on her March of Doom down the Lawndale streets, Stacy Rowe was experiencing a totally different feeling, one that was as familiar to her, as frustration was for Jane, and aggravation to Daria. It was panic. Stacy Rowe was afraid because Sandi and Quinn were fighting, and Tiffany?was, well, Tiffany ?not a good state-of-matter to be, as even Stacy would agree.
Then again, the Morgendorffer living room downstairs seemed to be cutting pretty close to Tiffany-verse from Stacy抯 P.O.V at least. As it has been mentioned before, Sandi and Quinn were fighting verbally, Sandi doing her 損rimadonna?routine, and Quinn using logic. If this was fighting, Sandi would be swinging big blows, and Quinn would be jabbing short ones. And since both girls were (obviously) in the same weight category, neither party did much damage to each other, not even to their respective egos ?after all, this was a lazy day, slightly foggy and misty and damp, but otherwise quite okay. And thus, if the fourth FC member was anybody but Stacy Rowe, the 搈eek mouse?of the FC, nothing would抳e happened that was going to happen in the future.
But this was Stacy Rowe the 揝caredy-Cat? and so, quite naturally (or unnaturally, this was the Fashion Club, after all, the almost-epitome of all that was sick and sad in this world, at least according to Daria and Jane), she was becoming almost as scared as a hobbit locked in a same cave with a dragon ?or at least an horde of goblins. Consequently, of course, she panicked. True, it wasn抰 a loud type of panic, the same type that a chicken experiences when a farmer goes after it with an axe in his hand, intent of making serving it with noodles as a side-dish, but a quiet one, which meant that she was merely breathing heavily into one of sofa cushions, looking at the other three with wide eyes. But because in the school of LH only Brittany Taylor the head-cheerleader had actually bigger eyes than Stacy, nobody noticed it.
Stacy looked-on?Tiffany Blum-Deckler was trying to catch the solar speckles that appeared due to some angles between her compact mirror and the sun outside. It was hopeless, of course, for as soon as Tiffany got either between the sun and the mirror, or the mirror and whatever shiny surface that the mirror 慴roadcasted?the sun抯 reflection, the speckle would vanish from existence, but that was okay. Tiffany didn't get it.
Meanwhile, Sandi Griffin and Quinn Morgendorffer had lost too much steam to continue talking. They just sat in opposite corners, and glared. 慜h my God!?this caused Stacy to think. 慡andi and Quinn just may decide to disintegrate the Fashion Club right then and there! They're so upset at each other, and Tiffany doesn抰 help matters much either ?I got to do something! Hey! Maybe Quinn抯 parents do have some food! I'll go and check it out!?/p>
匓oth Quinn and Sandi were pretty surprised when Stacy Rowe got off the sofa and ran into the kitchen. Sandi opened her mouth to comment, but-
揌ey! The spot is getting warm!?Tiffany spoke suddenly. During her hunt for the 慹lusive?solar speckle she had somehow figured-out that the speckle, the mirror, and the sun are connected somehow ?in a stationary arrangement (even though Tiffany didn't even know the word 慡tationary?, and so if the mirror doesn't move (even Tiffany knew that sun didn't move ?the planet earth did), the solar speckle stayed in the same place. And so, she established the mirror in one place, assured that the speckle stayed in one and the same place ?a spot on the Morgendorffers?floor carpet ?and began to lunge at it, hopelessly and without any results, for the reasons given above. Since it was Tiffany though, she didn抰 grow discouraged.
揟iffany honey,?spoke Sandi, completely uninterested in Tiffany抯 pastimes. 揧ou interrupted me again.?/p>
揑'm sorry Sandi ?you抮e not fat,?Tiffany said.
Quinn blinked and stared at the other two, forgetting about Stacy for the moment. At this moment in time, Sandi抯 face looked nothing more than a rather overripe tomato. 揟iffany,?she began to say, but unfortunately she was interrupted now by Stacy, who also overheard Tiffany抯 latest niblet of wisdom (as far as Tiffany抯 sayings went, that is), and reacted in her usual wont ?completely off the mark.
揢h Sandi, what Tiffany said you shouldn抰 worry about your weight, she didn't mean that she thought that you should be fatter ?eep!?/p>
That 揺ep?resulted because Sandi gave Stacy a 憀ook?that she had inherited from her mother. That look, executed by Linda Griffin, could even stop fights-slash-rambles of Sam and Chris Griffin, Sandi抯 younger brothers, who had much more backbone than Stacy, who, upon seeing the look from her friend and FC superior, fainted altogether, luckily ?or not so ?not breaking the yellowish bottle she was holding in her hand.
揗aybe Daria is right ?maybe our house needs to have a better ventilation,?Jane muttered. 揑 am no longer as angry as I was before ?at Trent or at my muse. Still, I don't think I will paint again anytime soon; I mean, facing the exasperation of-?/p>
揥hoa there girl, slow down!?spoke another female voice.
Jane whirled, around, startled, and stared. 揢h, who are you??she finally said.
揑, Jane, am your muse.?/p>
It would be an extreme unfairness to say that Jane Lane the unflappable girl was so shocked, that she fell flat on her ass. No, it was merely that a smooth pebble, slickened further by some residue morning dew was caught under Jane抯 foot, causing her to lose balance and fall flat on her ass all the same. But?the latter version is much nicer to the Jane抯 ego and self-respect, so let抯 stick with it, okay?
So, at any rate, there Jane was, sitting flat on the grass which was still wet and cold from residual morning dew, staring at a girl whose make-up was seemingly done by Picasso, and her clothing was done by-God-knows-who. In other words ?this was Jane Lane抯 art taste gone square. In other words ?Jane Lane was awed, and that was an understatement to the least. 揗y?muse??Jane finally said, unaware that the clothing on her lower body was now soaked to the skin.
揧up.?/p>
揧e gods, those art fumes have gotten to me by now!.. Why are you here??
揟o take a walk with you, and talk with you about in what direction in art are you going to??/p>
Jane slowly got-up. 揟his is not going to be fun, is it??she quietly said.
揑 don抰 know ?but let抯 find-out!?/p>
揂ll right,?spoke Daria Morgendorffer, approaching the bedroom of her sister Quinn. 揗aybe I should抳e called Jane instead of naming my floor David and my other walls Frank, Liz and Marc, but this as an ounce of prevention to counter the pound of cure is too bizarre!?She looked around. 揟hen again, I抦 having an intelligent discussion with myself. This is much more uncomfortable, thank you very much!?She shook her head. 揂nd I抦 arguing with myself, also. This settles it ?I抦 going in!?/p>
The first realization that hit Daria抯 neural centre ?aka the Brain ?was 慞ink? Quinn抯 whole room was pink. Also cherry, crimson, red, cerise, and so forth, and so on. 揗onochrome much??Daria whispered darkly under her nose, after her senses finally kicked-in their auxiliary emergency repair energy jousts ?and Daria needed. Quinn抯 whole room reminded her of a blazing bonfire or the innards of an exploding volcano ?so full of hot colour and energy her sister抯 room was. 揌mm,?Daria scratched her head. 揥asn't Jane once quoting one of her sisters, abut how a person抯 taste in colours reflect a person抯 state of psyche?.. Mmm, Quinn maybe my sister, but I think I'll settle with the idea that I'm the bizarre one in the family right now. And speaking of right now, what other treasures this 慍ave-of-40-thieves?wannabe has to offer??Daria paused. 揂nd God ?I really need a life.?/p>
Absent-mindedly, Daria waved her arm around and hit a button. A built-in closet door opened, and Daria抯 eyes widened. 揙h God!?she had only time to say before she fainted.
揑s she dead??Tiffany briefly stopped hunting for the speckles. That wouldn抰 be important, if one doesn抰 keep in mind Tiffany抯 rather bizarre attention span and its?rather narrow angle of sight: as long as anything is in it, Tiffany will have it in an endless re-run of her rather small memory; but if it gets out of there, Tiffany will forget about it, if not altogether, then for a long while. And sometimes it抯 not as harmless as it may seem?/p>
揘o Tiffany, she抯 not dead, she has fainted,?Sandi spoke-up crossly. 揟ry to be even a bit observant, why don't you??/p>
揥hat is she holding, then??Tiffany pressed-on.
揑 think it抯 some sort of a fruit juice,?Quinn said, shrugging. 揑 think some friends of my parents?from college send those things over to them every once in a while. I think Daria once tried it and claimed to have holidays staying-over in her room, or something.?/p>
揜eally??Sandi said, getting the bottle open, and a smell spread through the air ?a warm, pungent smell, smell of grapes growing and fermenting right on the vine, of figs ripening on trees, of swarthy men gathering dates of really tall palms?In short, it was a very interesting smell, especially to four high school girls who have all-too-many-free-time on their hands. 揌olidays, eh??Sandi spoke with a weird-yet-thoughtful expression on her face. 揥ell now Ku-Winn, do you think that we should try it??/p>
揇o bees buzz in the Lawndale Park??Quinn replied rather snappishly. 揥ant me to get glasses??/p>
揘ah, my aunt Vicki can drink cognac right from the bottle抯 neck, and so can I,?Sandi said more confidently than she felt.
揟his is why you抮e the FC扴 president,?Quinn replied. 揥ho will be the first??/p>
Sandi抯 face formed a rather malicious and nasty-looking smirk. 揙h Tiffany!..?/p>
Trent Lane opened his eyes ?his front hurt. 揢h! Did I fell asleep or something Janey? Janey?..?No answer went back. 揌mm?Must抳e gone-out or something. Oh well. Can get a whiz without needing her,?Trent muttered and went to the bathroom of the Casa Lane, still clutching his guitar, in a manner similar to Peanuts?Linus holding his blanket, only without the thumb in his mouth.
It must be pointed-out at that point that the Lanes of Lawndale didn抰 fare all that good in matters of mirrors. The only actual mirror, made out of glass, not a bowlful of water or an odd-job made out of some bronze (done by Amanda Lane during her Oriental phase), was on a medical cabinet in the same bathroom into which Trent Lane, still more than just half-sleepy, was going into. Consequently, that mirror was located nearer to the ceiling than to the floor, and thus was position around Trent抯 upper torso and face, both of which (plus his pants) were now coloured in paint that Trent had 慴orrowed?from Jane抯 painted drafts that lay on her bed. And so, when Trent Lane turned-on the bathroom抯 light (a single, small, very lonely, dim light bulb glowing vaguely in the ceiling), what Trent saw was his reflection ?but what he actually thought (as a male musician you couldn't count on Trent to remember such unimportant things as mirrors) he saw was a Papuan in full war paint, with wildly dishevelled hair, and with eyes blood-shot from some inner anger.
揋ah!?the musician bellowed bravely, swinging his guitar as some sort of a club. If the blow had landed on the mirror, it would抳e shattered it. However, Trent miscalculated and the blow slammed into the cabinet抯 side, jarring its?door open, which immediately swung, due to the residue force of Trent抯 wild blow.
揌urk!?the opened door hit Trent directly in the right side of his face (keep in mind that the Lanes?bathroom was rather small), and Trent promptly fell down and out ?like a rock, that is.
揝o uh, what do you want to talk about??Jane Lane, the younger sister of Trent asked her muse. At least, she supposed that if was her muse. That theory was supported by the fact that no person ?no matter how insane ?would dress into something that looked like an exploded ?either fruit salad or a macaw parrot.
揥hy Jane, your art, of course!?the muse said, swinging her arm. Jane, however, didn't notice that; her attention was too occupied with the sight of the muse抯 sleeve, very loose and transparent, swinging through the air. 揌ey! You're not paying attention!?/p>
揝orry,?Jane said petulantly. 揃ut can you change into some other clothing get-up. Seeing you alone makes me want to start creating wildly, and down with everything else ?starting rodents and ending with other countries.?/p>
揌ow 慴out leather pants and a corsage to match??the muse suggested.
Jane exhaled through her teeth. Sharply. 揓ust start talking already!?she said.
揂s you wish.?/p>
There was a pause. 揥ell??Jane said, feeling that that was rather anticlimactic.
揕ook in the water.?/p>
Jane looked. 揑 see nothing but ripples.
揟ry to look harder, would you??the muse suggested.
Jane did. And she didn抰 like what she saw.
The room was messy to the extreme ?mayhaps even more
messier than Trent抯, even though that was hardly possible, and it wasn抰 Trent抯
either. There were no signs of music sheets or instruments, but there
were plenty of artworks ?if you could call them that. Rather, they were some
sorts of expressions of shapes and colours, bizarre and abstract to the max.
And then there was a figure standing in the middle of
this exploded cornucopia of mess and colour ?a very thin figure, almost naked
save for some smock and a beret all dappled and drappled. A figure, who was
swinging a pint-brush ?wildly. A figure, who suddenly turned-around and
stared at the 慠eal?Jane Lane with blood-shot eyes stuck in an almost
skull-like face?of the same Jane.
The vision ended.
Stacy Rowe was falling ?or rather, she was pushed. She was pushed down through some deep dark tunnel by Sandi Griffin抯 medusa-like stare and she felt so alone ?or was she?
揥hat抯 going-on here??she heard a voice of Sandi Griffin, and suddenly there was a burst of yellow light, and then-
There was everything.
揢f, where are we??Quinn Morgendorffer exhaled.
揋ood point,?Sandi agreed. 揟iffany, Stacy ?you two here??/p>
揧eah,?Stacy nodded. 揃oth of us are here.?/p>
揋ood. Then here抯 where??/p>
揢h, Sandi ?I think we抮e still here, here being the Morgendorffers?living room,?Stacy bubbled.
揂ll right, this is weird,?Quinn blinked. 揑f here抯 our living room, then where抯 the bottle? And the compact mirror with which Tiffany was playing??/p>
揟iffany??Sandi said in a warning tone, 搚ou didn't break it and forget about it did you??After all, there were precedents?/p>
But Tiffany shook her head. 揘o.?/p>
揂nd then there抯 some other, different stuff,?Quinn continued. 揓ust look around, you guys: everything looks different, yellowier, older ?you savvy??/p>
揅ome on Quinn, that must be the drink talking,?Sandi said uncomfortably. 揑抦 sure that this is just a trick of the light, that everything looks the colour of really old newspapers.?/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Is it??/p>
The four girls whirled around. 揥ho said that??Sandi demanded. 揝how yourself.?/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Gladly.?And out of thin air appeared?a biggest, most unpleasant-looking rattlesnake that Quinn Morgendorffer had ever seen! And she used to live in Highland, Texas!
揥ho or what are you??Sandi, meanwhile, insisted. 揧ou're not a snake ?snake can't talk!?/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>I am the shadows in
the night,
I am the darkness
against the light.
I am the lonely day
when friends aren抰 near.
I am frustration. I am fear,?the snake hissed.
揊ear? Humph! You don't look so scary!?Sandi insisted.
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Oh I don抰??the snake smiled. ?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Well, let me show you your future - the future of the Fashion Club!?and it maniacally laughed.
揃ring it on!?/p>
And so, while Jane was having an eye-opening experience and the FC were about to confront Fear, what was Daria doing? Well, Daria opened her eyes, and realized that she was in Hell. Wherever she looked, all was red, or crimson, or scarlet, or ruby, or burgundy, or cherry, and so on, and so forth. 揟his is either Hell or innards of a volcano before it goes all Pompey on the neighbourhood,?Daria muttered. 揧o! Who抯 owning this joint? Show-up!?/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>There抯 no need to shout - I抦 here!?spoke a voice.
Daria whirled around. And stared.
The creature that appeared looked like a cross between a human mannequin and an Oriental dragon. Its?skin shone like lacquer wood, and it was composed of two colours: red and black. 揂nd what, or who, are you??Daria said slowly.
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>I
am the monster under the bed.
I
am all the worries inside your head.
I
am every drop of every tear.
I am the fever. I am fear.?/p>
Daria frowned. 揊ear, hah? Wait a second ?you mean you抮e the anthropomorphic personification of it, yeah??/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>What if I am??Fear looked confused. ?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>What is it to you, then??/p>
Daria smirked. 揝ee, I once had to deal with a whole bunch of such personifications ?only they were holidays. Luckily for me, a couple of friends joined me on that trip ?as in alcohol-induced, that抯 it. It means that mom and dad received another bottle of fermented cactus juice and it抯 been open厰 Daria trailed-off. 換uinn! I've got to talk to her.?/p>
Fear ?whether real or hallucinogenic jumped between Daria and the doorway. ?span style='font-family: OldEnglish'>I don't think so missy, you抣l still have to confront me!?/p>
揙h yeah??Daria frowned. 揥e're going to see about that!?/p>
Feeling braver that she looked, Daria charged.
BOOM!
揈esh!?Jane Lane shook her head, banishing the last vestiges of the vision from her eyes. 揑s this supposed to be me, turning recluse and completely art-driven??/p>
揧es. Jane, extreme amount of art never did anybody good.?/p>
揝o what you抮e saying? Should I abandon art altogether??/p>
The muse rolled her eyes. 揟ake another look.?And this time Jane wasn抰 distracted by the sleeve ?she looked in the ripples right away.
揗om, dad do we have to visit
your aunt??the kids whined. Jane idly observed that both kids had black hair
and neither had glasses, though what that had to do with vision she sure as
Hell didn't know. What she noticed though, that the vision showed the anteroom
of a house that somehow seemed familiar ?oh yes, Jane had seen it when the
annual Lane reunion was hold at aunt Bernice抯. So what?
揝ister!?the man yelled, and Jane couldn't quite see him or recognize his voice, though the latter seemed familiar. 揥e're here! Say high to your kids.?o:p>
揌ey kids,?and a stocky, average, somewhat unpleasant-looking woman appeared in the doorway. The woman resembled aunt Bernice but was somewhat younger, her hair was somewhat blacker. 揝ay hello to your auntie Jane.?o:p>
揢h! Where am I??Daria grumbled, rubbing her forehead. 揥hat did I do ?run into the wall??She looked around. 揢h, maybe I did. What is this place, anyways? Oh yeah ?Quinn抯 room.?
Daria paused, remembering. 揥ell, the pain cleared-away all the hallucinations, but this ?hey, do I smell smoke? Quinn!?
Daria quickly ?though unsteadily ?got on up on her feet and ran downstairs, suddenly very concerned for her sister抯, and her sister抯 friends, welfare.
厯Bring it on!?Sandi had yelled and the world exploded in rain of tongues of yellowish flame. And the rain fell, the four FC girls changed?/p>
揥hat has happened??Stacy asked, suddenly feeling confused. 揑 don抰 feel different, guys?Guys? Guys? Guys?! Where are you???/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Somewhere else,?the girl then heard the hiss of Fear. ?span style='font-family: OldEnglish'>The Fashion Club is no more - it fallen apart! You all went your separate paths and forgot about each other; except for Tiffany, who抯 quite another story. How抯 that for Happily-Ever-After, hmm??/p>
揘o!?Stacy yelled very loudly. 揘o!!?/p>
揌ey, where am I??Quinn looked around. 揟his is weird. This is so weird. This is Daria抯 room ?what does it have to do with me??She paused. 揥ait a second, something抯 wrong. Why does Daria has my smiling-face pillow nailed to the wall, and why her photo has her hair dyed厰
Quinn抯 voice trailed-off. That was no photo. That was mirror. And staring from the mirror was a tad perkier, a tad slimmer, and a tad less stocky image of Daria with somewhat reddish hair. 揟hat can抰 be me,?Quinn shook her head stubbornly. 揑'm not a socially-skilled, mentally retarded version of my sister!?/p>
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Is抰 so??Quinn heard Fear抯 voice hiss. ?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Blood is thicker than water, and as for DNA... your sister may become you, but you may become your sister! Isn't it ironic??/p>
揂aah!?
揙uch, my head! I think I've landed on something hard!?Sandi Griffin groaned. An echoing groan came from some distance away from her. 揥ho抯 there??/p>
揝andi??/p>
揟iffany??the other girl抯 voice sounded different, but Sandi couldn't figure out how ?the place was now even dimlier lit than before, and there were no signs of either Quinn or Stacy. 揥hat抯 going on? Wait, you couldn't know-?/p>
And then the chamber lit-up, and Sandi and Tiffany saw each other, reflected in a mirror.
Sandi saw Tiffany first: a chubby, overweight woman with slightly blurred facial features. Tiffany抯 eyes looked especially small in her face that resembled a well-oiled pancake. Sandi smirked ?and then saw her older self, a woman with hair tied in a horse-tail, her own features ?both facial and bodily ?large again, though nowhere as bad as Tiffany抯, but large all the same.
?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>That is your futures,?Sandi heard Fear hiss. ?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>Two overweight housewives with no skills and no careers. What do you say now, Sandi Griffin? Who's laughing now??/p>
Tiffany did. 揧ou're funny,?she said to her reflection. 揥ho are you??/p>
揑t抯 yourself, Tiffany,?Sandi snapped ?and so did the right-hand reflection. 揑t抯 your own future!?/p>
Tiffany fainted.
揙kay, now I'm confused,?Jane turned to the muse. 揥hat is your point exactly??/p>
揗y point exactly ?gods, sometimes you can be so dense ?that you should learn to moderate, girl, your art and your life!?/p>
揑 do! I'm a straight C student!?/p>
揂nd you think you抮e going to succeed in life with it??/p>
揧ou're not saying that I should be like Allison, sleeping with whoever she needs to get advanced in the world??/p>
揓ane! Listen to me: what do you do: live to paint, or paint to live??/p>
揑sn't it kind of similar? Option one makes painting the only worthwhile pastime in my life. Option two makes painting the only reason for me to live.?Jane paused. 揋ot to admit, neither sounds that great an option.?/p>
揟hen perhaps you should put your painting aside and concentrate on other topics ?like turning that C average to a B??the muse suggested.
揧ou know??Jane frowned. 揊or a muse you抮e pretty discouraging.?/p>
揧ou know,?the muse said back, 揻or somebody quite intelligent, you can be so self-destructive.?/p>
揂ren't artists supposed to be self-destructive??/p>
揂ren't you supposed to have your own identity??/p>
Jane froze, looking as if somebody stuffed a working tazer stick up her arse. 揕et抯 try again,?she said. 揧ou're?worried that I might destroy my life for art??/p>
揧es.?/p>
揃ut?it抯 want I want to do!?/p>
揃ut is it the right thing to do??/p>
Jane froze. 揧ou haven抰 been talking to Daria, have you??/p>
揘o, I've been talking to her muse ?she got one of her own: a writer, not an artist, but a good girl all the same.?/p>
揗m. Got to meet her one day.?/p>
揘ot if you抣l be dead or so wrapped-up in art,?the muse said.
Jane sighed. 揂ll right. You抳e proved your point. I'll go and talk to Daria about changing my lifestyle.?/p>
揧ou do that,?the muse said. 揑t抣l be much better for you.?Then ?she vanished.
Jane was left alone on the bridge over the Lawndale stream (a tributary of the Merrimack river) that ran through the town.
揟hat was weird,?she shook her head.
Then she heard the sirens of Lawndale抯 fire department. Curious, she followed their sound.
揓ane???/p>
揇aria???
揥hat has happened here??/p>
揜emember when your folks sent our folks a bottle of that fermented cactus juice??/p>
揙h yeah! Me and you and Trent drunk it up and had to deal with a whole island full of holidays, that we did!?/p>
揧eah. This time it was my sister and her fashion cronies.?/p>
揂nd the fire trucks??/p>
揇o you remember that trick with sun and magnifying glass that Ms. Barch demonstrated in the science class??/p>
揑f you point ?or aim ?solar heat at one point ?that consists of something that is flammable ?it抣l go whoosh. So?.. Oh!?/p>
揧eah, 慜h!?A compact mirror 憌armed-up?a patch on our carpet, and it started smoking. If it wasn't for me dismantling the whole thing and getting everyone into fresh air outside ?who knows what would抳e happened!?/p>
揧es, fresh air,?Jane nodded wisely. 揑t抯 a very good thing. Speaking of it, Daria, can you tutor me for a change of our social table? I had?a revelation, sort-of.?/p>
Daria arched an eyebrow. 揝omething I should be aware of??
揕et抯 just say that maybe I've inhaling paint fumes. Or something. But back to this tutoring thing. Will you do it??/p>
揥hy not??/p>
Quinn Morgendorffer opened her eyes. 揥hat has happened??/p>
揝moke and alcohol poisoning young lady, that抯 what!?Helen Morgendorffer, Quinn抯 mother, spoke sternly. 揌ow could you and your friends drink something that you didn't know what it was? It- It could抳e been rat poison, or paint remover or something!?/p>
揗om, I've got to call-?/p>
揧ou抮e going to call no one, young lady, simply because they're all as sick as you.?/p>
揃ut mom, you see, there was Fear, and-?/p>
揊ear? I'll show you fear!?Helen Morgendorffer raged. 揧oung lady, you抮e grounded! For a week!?/p>
揃ut mom!?/p>
揘o buts! As long as you stay in this house recovering from your poisoning, you might as well suffer! And no friends over ?certainly not that Tiffany idiot! She almost started a fire, understood?!?/p>
揧es, mom.?/p>
Later, during the evening, Daria visited her sister. 揇aria, about today抯,?Quinn began.
揧ou didn抰 do anything embarrassing,?Daria said.
揙h! Whew!.. How抎 you knew I was going to ask you about that??/p>
揌ad a similar experience too,?Daria shrugged. 揥ith Jane and Trent along for the ride. You got lucky. And Quinn??/p>
揧eah??/p>
揥hat抯 with the pink setting??/p>
揑 like pink,?Quinn said defensively. 揧ou got a problem with that??/p>
揘o,?Daria shook her head. 揂ny other questions??/p>
揘?Y?N?Daria, did you hear anything just now??/p>
揌ah? You heard something??/p>
Actually, Quinn did. She heard ?or thought she heard ?a semi-familiar hiss by now: ?span style='font-family: OldEnglish'>I'm not a friend. I am fear. I'll be back,?but that was ridiculous. Fear wasn't real, it had been just a combination of strange alcohol and smoke.
Quinn shook her head. 揘o. Good night Daria.?/p>
揋ood night Quinn.?/p>
Daria left and Quinn fell asleep, and neither saw how in the shadows of Quinn抯 dressing table something re-hissed ?span style='font-family:OldEnglish'>I'm not a friend. I am fear. I'll be back,?and vanished.
The
End?