I like writing. Helps me to express myself.
Disclaimer: Dragonriders of Pern belongs respectively to Anne McCaffrey (b. 1 April 1926 - 21 November 2011) and her son Todd.
Weird meets Weirder
Kelly nearly had a hard time pronouncing his name as Alex had.
"G-G'ten..." she stammered, totally unsure how to spell such a name. G'ten chuckled.
"I notice many people here have trouble pronouncing my name," he said. "My previous name before I'd Impressed was perhaps much easier to pronounce."
Kelly blinked, not at all understanding what this man was talking about. Impressed? Impressed what, a woman? And what did he mean by his name before
he'd "impressed"? In the state and place he is in right now, one could hardly say that he's the impressionable sort. Granted, his mannerisms and
speech,though heavily accented, were very well-mannered indeed, but any person could have good mannerisms and still have some kind of mental problem
with them. Kelly decided that she would have to be careful around this person for the next two and a half weeks.
"And what, may I ask, was your name before you'd um...Impressed?" she asked cautiously.
"Ganten," he said, simply.
"Ganten," she repeated, writing the name down. "Ganten from...where did you say you were from?"
"Benden Weyr. And if you could, please, I would much prefer my dragon name."
Kelly looked up at him, her confusion evident, for now this man has just crossed from weird, to bizarre. Dragon name? Benden Weyr? What is this, King Arthur
and the Knights of the Round Table?! She started to have doubts if she would make it through this assignment or not. Surely, he can't be serious about what
he is telling her now. Kelly chewed on her lower lip as she tapped her pen on the notepad, nervous about asking him any other questions. If she makes it
through the next couple of weeks, this will be an interesting story indeed!
"I understand that you have a hard time believing my credibility," he said apologetically, noticing her discomfort. "I do apologize for causing you confusion."
"Um, no trouble at all," Kelly said, smiling. "I should be the one apologizing for my reactions. It's just that this is all a little...much to take in, you know?"
G'ten chuckled softly. "I understand completely," he said. "Please, do continue."
Kelly felt oddly at ease talking to him. There was something about him that stole away any lingering nervousness that she had when she first arrived at the
institution. As they talked, she couldn't help but wonder if this man was actually mentally ill, or just delusional in a weird sort of way. Perhaps he hit his head
and is suffering from some crazy kind of memory loss. But he seemed so sincere that she had a hard time believing that as well.
"So, I'll assume your dragon name is G'ten?" she asked, writing it down, and wondering if she was spelling it correctly.
"Yes. Um..." he looked at the paper she was writing on. "You forgot the contraction mark."
"Contraction mark?"
"Yes, right here." He pointed to the place between the "G" and the "T" where it was supposed to go. Kelly looked where he pointed.
"An apostrophe is supposed to go there?" She studied the name. "Makes sense, I guess," she added, making the correction. Now it was G'ten's turn to be
confused.
"What is an...'a-poss-tra-fee'?" he asked, never having heard the word before.
"An apostrophe? Your contraction mark, to say the least. It's what we call it here in America."
"I see," G'ten said with a satisfied grunt. "I have heard the word 'America' before. Alex Fields was kind enough to to tell me that it is the continent I am on now."
"Good on him," Kelly said, sarcastically. "So where exactly is Benden weer...how do you spell 'weer'?"
"W-E-Y-R."
"Thank you. Where is that located?"
"On the Northern Continent of Pern."
"Pern," Kelly said, thoughtfully, as she wrote the name down. "Never heard of that place before. And what continent is Pern located next to?" At this, G'ten
laughed. Kelly looked at him, wondering what she said wrong.
"Forgive me," he said, grinning. "I should have mentioned that Pern is not an island or place of any sort on Earth. Pern is actually the planet I come from."
Kelly's face went blank. Now things have taken an even weirder turn, and she was getting even more confused. She kept trying to tell herself that this was the
reason that this man was in the institution to begin with, having come up with something so crazy as being from a different planet. But try as she might, she
couldn't wrap her head around that concept. It was odd, considering that she'd heard of cases like this, where a delusional man or woman would fashion
themselves to have come from a different planet, or having time traveled, only to have their claims proven false. Most of them had the most outrageous look
about their faces, as if something had repeatedly scared them out of their wits. Plus, their hair would be quite unkempt, their eyes wide and wild, and they
would be shown on the television screen in a straight jacket screaming at the camera about the end of the world, or some other strange event that was
supposed to happen. The man sitting before her had no such features; rather, he was well groomed for someone in a mental hospital. His hair, which was
amazingly dark considering his age, was combed and slicked back, his eyes were normal, and he wasn't screaming. He sat patiently at the other end of the
small table, a light, sincere smile on his lips. Kelly set her pen on the table along with her notepad. She stopped the recording device, and tapped her finger on
the table, as if contemplating something. G'ten looked on, not saying anything. At length, Kelly turned her head towards Alex, who was discreetly watching
from a distance.
"Um, could you please excuse me?" she asked.
"Please, do take your time," he said. The man was patience itself. Kelly rose from the table and made her way over to Alex.
"Something wrong?" he asked, noticing the perplexed look on her face.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked in a low voice. He rose, and she led him towards the wall, away from the other orderlies.
"What's up?"
Kelly took a deep breath. "This...has to be the strangest person I have ever met," she said slowly. Alex looked around the area.
"...You do realize where you are, right?" he asked.
"Oh, I am fully aware of where I am. It's just that there is something different about him. Something...I don't know. He just seems to absolutely believe
everything that he is telling me right now."
"Wait until he tells you about his 'dragon'," Alex said with a grin. Kelly looked at him.
"Does he believe that fairies and elves exist, too?" she asked, sarcastically.
"Maybe. Wouldn't surprise me in the least."
"Where did you say he was picked up from?"
"Central Park, after two in the morning."
"What exactly was he doing there?"
Alex shrugged."Beats me. You should probably ask him..." he looked at his watch. "ooh, later."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"They have a therapy session in the next ten minutes, and all visitors must be gone at that time."
"That was fast!" Kelly exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "I just got here!"
"Sorry, Kel. Rules are rules. Perhaps you should try getting here a little earlier."
"Come on, Alex! It's not my fault that my alarm didn't wake me up on time this morning."
Alex quirked an eyebrow. "Really, Kel?" he said. "Anyway, try to make it between nine-thirty and ten. That should be plenty of time for this interview stuff."
"Yeah, yeah," Kelly sighed as she went back to the table to gather her things. "I'm sorry, Gan- er, G'ten. We have to cut our meeting short, because of the
therapy session you are about to have."
"I understand completely," he said, rising from the table. "not that I'd be in much of a hurry to attend those meetings. By the Egg, if they don't ask the
strangest questions!" He gave her a good-natured grin, to show his light-heartedness to the slight acerbic way he mentioned the therapy session. The tone
didn't escape Kelly, but she wondered about his "by the Egg" statement.
"By the Egg?" she asked, incredulously.
G'ten chuckled. "It's kind of a general statement we have on Pern, usually to express our disappointment about something. I'm sure you have words to
express disappointment here on Earth?"
Kelly decided against arguing the fact that he's an Earthling himself, just a delusional one. Again, she reminded herself that this was the reason that he was
here now.
"Yes, we do," she said, deciding to play along with his claims. "We say things like 'oh great!' or 'rats!'. They vary in one form or other. Some of the bolder people
here on...Earth-" she felt awkward saying it "-resort to using swearing and foul language to express disappointment."
"Much like a Masterfisherman and his apprentices," he said, chuckling again. Before Kelly could ask what a Masterfisherman was, he continued on. "They tend
to have a knack for using the most colorful words when fishing and sailing, especially when they miss a catch, or lose a line. I remember helping out at
Half-Circle Sea Hold during a particularly nasty storm, where-"
"I'm sorry, G'ten, Kelly," Alex said in a quiet manner, appearing seemingly out of nowhere next to Kelly. He gave her a curt nod and quickly turned his head
towards G'ten. "but your time is up, and you have to be in the therapy session in five minutes."
G'ten merely grunted, but he obeyed as he gave his good-bye to Kelly.
"Until we meet again, Kelly Simms," he said, giving her a noble bow before he joined the other patients filing out of the room, ushered by another orderly. Alex
turned to Kelly.
"Got over here just in time," he said, with a light grin. "It sounds like he was about to go on another one of his monologues about dragons burning string
falling from the sky. I never knew balls of yarn would be so dangerous." He chuckled a little.
"He seems to really believe everything that he's saying," Kelly said as she followed Alex out of the day room.
"Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Alex stopped to close the door, and press the combination to lock the door. They began walking down the now empty hallways
back to the entrance of the building. An orderly walked past them, rolling the wheelchair with the old Native American woman that sat outside in it. She was
sleep, with her mouth partially open, and Kelly could hear her short breaths of air as they passed by.
"Try not to get drawn into some of the things he may talk about," Alex said outside of the building. "They make for good story-telling and all, and some of what
he's said recently is interesting to listen to, but you and I both know that whatever he's talking about doesn't exist."
"I may be weird, but I'm not gullible," Kelly said as she fiddled with the chain and lock on her bicycle. She straightened her backpack on her back as she got on
the bicycle. "I'll be back tomorrow, at an earlier time."
"We open at eight, just to let you know," he said with a grin. "What are you doing this evening?"
"Me and Hiro are going dancing at The Rift."
"They opened that place already? When?"
"Tuesday, last week. I wanted to go to the grand opening, but I couldn't leave the house without finishing my homework. Took all evening, too."
"Let me know how it is. I might want to show up one day."
"I heard it's nice; it's one of the few clubs geared towards teens. No drinking, no drugs. None of the whacked-out things that other clubs like to try to offer
teenagers to draw them in. I'll tell you about it tomorrow."
"Alright. I have to get back inside, before dad comes looking for me. I have some stuff to clean anyway."
"Okay, see you later then." They waved to each other as Kelly took off on her bicycle.
"Pretty big, for a teen club," Hiroki said, as he and Kelly approached the entrance to the long and tall building. The music was muffled by the closed glass
double doors, but was still loud nonetheless. They could see lights of varying colors flashing everywhere, and people in the middle of the dance floor going
nuts. A long line of teens, some dressed quite eccentric, stood outside the door, waiting to get in. Some of the teens were dressed as if they were going to a
Goth party; others had hair dyed various colors, and clothes to match. One kid in particular had a hairstyle that much resembled a giant blond eraser, as it was
made to stick up straight on his head. His clothes, all black and leather, complete with gloves and boots, gave the impression that he just got out of a biking
club, and did nothing to help him blend in with the crowd, though seemingly nobody minded him. Kelly carefully kept her jokes to herself as she and Hiroki got in
line. They weren't overly dressed like the others; in fact, they were pretty normal compared to them. Kelly had on a white skin shirt with a red glittering heart
on the chest, blue hip hugging jeans with white frills around the pockets on the rear, and white shoes. Her mom insisted on her wearing a dress, but Kelly
fervently let her that it wasn't a formal occasion. Hiroki had on a blue Vans shirt, black baggy jeans, and black shoes. His usually shoulder length hair was
pulled back into a ponytail with a blue rubber band. He looked ahead, noticing that there were other "norms" entering the building by showing their ID's. He
checked his wallet to make sure he had his, as Kelly did the same. The security guard at the door carefully checked the ID's as the teens went in. Eraser-head
reached into his hair and pulled out his ID, showing it to the guard and smiling widely at his annoyed expression.
"Tell me he didn't just pull his ID out of his hair..." Hiroki said, shaking his head and grinning ruefully.
"Hate to tell you, but he did," Kelly said with a laugh.
"That's what I was hoping you wouldn't tell me." He wrapped his arms around Kelly's waist from behind her and kissed her cheek.
Once inside the club, it was hard to hear any voices. The inside was considerably large; the dance floor in the middle accommodated much of the gathered
crowd, with lights that somehow flashed various colors as everyone danced around on it. The coloration of the entire place was blacklight blue, which gave a
neon effect to everyone's clothes, especially to those wearing white. Flashes of laser lights danced across the walls, adding much flavor to the atmosphere.
The bar, for all intents and purposes as being designed to resemble one, didn't have the neon effect; instead, it had a plain green backdrop, so the bar tender
was easily seen, and bottles of drinks lining the shelves which, upon closer inspection, didn't include alcohol of any sort. Kelly and Hiroki made their way
through the crowd, Hiroki jumping around like a giant fish in time with the music. Kelly's laugh was drowned out by the noise, and she playfully slapped his arm.
He grinned at her. Noticing the restrooms afar off in one side of the club, Kelly tugged on his arm to get his attention. Mouthing the words she wanted to say,
and pointing towards the restrooms, Hiroki quickly understood what she meant, and nodded his head. They gave each other a kiss, and she made her way
towards that section of the club.
Typical womanly thing, he thought, smiling as he watched her go to the restroom. He turned towards the bar and made his way there. His eyes widened a little
at the choices of drinks: Water, soda, fruit juice—anything non-alcoholic was there. Of course, given the fact that it's a club geared towards teens, it's to be
expected. It was noticeably more audible there, since the bar tender had to hear everyone that came up. He got two bottles of water for himself and Kelly
when she came out of the restroom, and turned in his seat to watch people dance.
Kelly checked herself in the mirror, applying what little makeup she had, which was just a stick of lipstick. She didn't like wearing makeup much, and when she
did it was barely noticeable. She applied the lipstick lightly, then checked the rest of her body, straightening her clothes and hair. As she did this, she thought
about Ganten, or G'ten, as he wanted to call himself. It was hard to believe that with his mannerisms that he was placed in a mental institution. Of course,
being a regular John Doe, where else were they going to put him? The cops couldn't very well keep him in jail; he hadn't done anything wrong, per se. Besides,
what name would they book him under? It escaped her mind to ask him for a last name. She'll have to remember to ask him tomorrow. Kelly couldn't quite
explain it, but there was just something about G'ten, from the way he handled himself to his speech, that suggested to her that he was telling the truth, which
is absurd since she'd never heard of a planet called Pern, and most likely a majority of people had never heard of it. But he was definitely not American, that's
for sure. His accent was something reminiscent of European, albeit a different dialect. Kelly had to admit that he did have a nice smile, and she found herself
smiling just by thinking about it. Somehow, his smile was infectious.
I'd better get back to Hiro, she thought, tucking her lipstick away. She found him leaning on the bar, a bottle of water in his hand. Sneaking around so she wasn't
in his peripheral, she had the satisfaction of startling him with a kiss on his cheek. He stuck his tongue out at her as she laughed, and gave her the bottle of
water. Mouthing a thank you, she opened it and took a long pull at it. Hiroki had already downed his in one breath. He watched her as she drank, smiling the
whole time.
"What?" she asked, noticing him staring.
"You're cute," he said, still smiling.
"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes and finishing off the bottle. She threw it away in the can next to the bar, and she and Hiroki made their way to the dance
floor to do the very thing they came there for, to dance.
Much later, as Hiroki walked Kelly home, they kept a general conversation going, in particular, Kelly's weird assignment.
"So how is the assignment going so far?" he asked.
"It's...rather interesting," she said, chuckling a little. "The person I'm interviewing is a patient the cops brought in a week ago from Central Park. Alex was
telling me that he had some clothes that looked to be from the medieval ages. I'd say that he was playing one of those online RPGs too much. You ever heard
of a planet called Pern?"
Hiroki shook his head. "Is that from a game?" he asked.
"I have absolutely no idea," she said. "He kept talking about it as if the planet actually existed."
"What did he say?" Kelly recounted her visit to the mental institution, and how she was introduced to Ganten, or G'ten, as he had wanted to be called, as it is
his dragon name.
"Dragon name?" Hiroki asked, incredulously.
"Don't ask me; he's the one with the vivid imagination" she said, shrugging. "But it's strange; despite his talk of different planets and all, he seems quite
normal compared to the other patients there."
"Looks can be deceiving, you know."
"I know."
Back at the front door to her house, Hiroki gave Kelly a kiss on the forehead in case her dad was watching from somewhere. She watched him for a bit as he
walked off, then used her key to open the door to silence and darkness in the living room—except Missy who was stretched in front of the couch. She opened
her eyes a little, gave a series of whines while thumping the floor with her tail, but made no effort to move.
"Lazy," Kelly whispered as she went over and patted the dog's neck. Missy licked at her arm, then subsided back to sleep when Kelly stopped. She made her
way to her room, barking her shin on the door jamb. She muffled her outcry as she turned on the light and closed the door. She was in the process of putting
on her nightshirt when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she said, slightly annoyed that someone else was up besides her. Her dad poked his head in the room.
"Finally made it back, huh?" he asked, coming the rest of the way into the room. "You have fun?"
"Yeah, we did," Kelly said, climbing onto the bed. "Why are you still up?"
"Why do you think I'm up? I'm doing the fatherly thing and checking on my baby girl."
Kelly smiled. "I'm seventeen, dad. I don't think I fit the bill of 'baby girl' anymore."
"Young lady, I don't care how old you get. You are still my baby girl as long as I am alive, understand?"
Kelly laughed. "Okay, dad."
"You still have that interview assignment tomorrow?"
"Yep."
"How was it today?"
"It was interesting, though we only got to the introduction phase before I got too weirded out. I got there pretty late too, so we didn't have much of an
interview."
"Well, just make sure you are careful while doing this assignment. They'll have to put me in a ward for going on a rampage on someone who did something to
my daughter."
"I'll be fine, dad. Alex is there helping me," she said, laughing again.
"That skinny ginger? What's he doing there?"
"Dad, come on, now. Seriously? He's a good friend, and he works there. His dad got him the job as an orderly."
"Wow. Maybe you should talk to his dad about getting you a job there."
"No, dad," Kelly said, her eyes widening a little. "Nonononono. I don't think I would do well there. It's enough dealing with Brian; having to take care of
someone who thinks they are a baby, and are actually older than me is a bit too much."
"And you say I'm mean for calling Alex a ginger," her dad said, grinning wryly.
"The interview is enough for me. If I can make it past this, that will be more than enough time spent at a crazy house."
"Well, as long as you are safe on this assignment, your mother and I will be fine," he said, leaning down to give Kelly a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight,
sweetie."
"Goodnight dad."
He flipped the switch for the light as he left the room and closed the door. Kelly lay there in the dark for a bit, staring at the dark ceiling. She realized that she
had been thinking about G'ten almost all day. What was it about him that caused her to think about him so much, and she'd only met him today? Perhaps it's
from the manner he carried himself, or his interesting babble about dragons and eggs on a different planet whose atmosphere had to be somewhat like
Earth's. Either way, she felt drawn towards him, despite having only one encounter.
This is going to be a very interesting interview, she thought, smiling a little before turning on to her side and going to sleep.
Sorry I took so long. Had some issues I had to deal with. On my other story, Dragon Dance, one of the characters on there is named S'len, and he rides a green
dragon. What I failed to notice was that in All the Weyrs of Pern, there is a character whose name is also S'len, and a green rider to boot! I don't know if Salen
is his real name, since he was only mentioned in the book. I found this out when I was reading the book again. Too late, though, as he is already part of the
story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Yoroshiku-ne!