I've been hearing complaints about how my dialogue is kinda hard to follow, so i'm just gonna lay down the rules i'm gonna follow from now on. If it's two people talking, the the dialogue will go back and forth. One person talks then another does, When the " " ends it's now gonna be the other person talking. When in groups of +2 however, i will do the traditional style of making small paragraphs. Please note that if it's obviously just two people talking, I might use the traditional form as well.
5 days, 9 hours and 11 minutes later
"Morning Mae, how'd you sleep?" Said Bea, sitting at the kitchen table, legs crossed sipping coffee. "Meh, alright, did Erik Leave yet?" Said Mae. "Yea, he left a while ago, took his car." Eh it's alright, I know how to get to the resort from the path. You gonna finish that bowl of cereal?" says Mae, pointing to the soggy bowl of cereal Bea was eating about 15 minutes ago. "Uhh no… why don't you just pour a non lumpy bowl?" Said Bea. Mae reached over to Bea's bowl and grabbed it and started to dig in. "I like it lumpy. I don't know why it just tastes good." Said Mae. "Umm….Ok? Hey look i'm leaving in an hour or so if you wanna take a ride with me then." Said Bea. "Nah, I kinda wanna take the path. Only seen it when it's been sunny, not when it's been snowing. Wanna see what it looks like now." Said Mae. "Well, alright then. See you there I suppose." Said Bea, getting up and walking to the bathroom. "See ya!" Hollered Mae. She then proceeded to grab her coat, gloves and boots before heading outside.
It didn't take her long to reach the path, just a quick walk around the lake to reach its entry point. She walked slowly, taking in her surroundings. Last night it had lightly snowed, a relief to the constant sun they had been experiencing. A good three inches fell, covering the forest in a white blanket. Even as she walked more was falling, not too heavy but just enough where she could safely say if it kept up they might open for the season early. For a long time the only sounds where the crunch of snow under her feet, her calm breathing and the occasional crow. As she closed in on the resort she spotted a lone Deer staring at her. It was a female, not a Buck. What was she doing so far away from her herd? The two just stood there for a while, staring at eachother till something scared off the Doe. Soon, she came up upon "The stumping lands" as gang called it. It used to be a part of the forest but was chopped down for the lumber and it was supposed to be used as the building area for a new warehouse containing ski resort equipment for the surrounding resorts. But apparently they forgot to rent a stump remover so until next summer the stumps will stay. About five minutes later Mae came up upon the garage. She could see Sasha refueling the Snowcats
"Morning Sasha!" called out Mae. "Oh Mae! Good morning! Could you do me a favor and help me quickly? Just hop in the cab and i'll tell you what to do!" Said Sasha. She then moved to the back of the Snowcat and opened up the engine cover. Mae hurried over and hopped in the cab and called out; "Alright Sasha, What do you want me to do?". "Alright, so do you see that little screen that says "Power level" on it? I am going to try and instal a new generator in the Cat so I need to know if it works or not. Just tell me if it changes." Called out Sasha. "Can do!" Replied Mae. She looked around the cab. To her it looked as complicated as a fighter plane cockpit. "So Sasha...Uhh what got you into mechanics slash "Snowcating" huh?" Said Mae.
"Well when I was a child the Soviet Union collapsed. My Father was involved in some… how do you say "highly illegal arms dealings"? Well it turned out the government had a LOT of spare tanks, helicopters, trucks, guns, missiles and much more. They also had a very large debt they had to pay, so they sold a lot of it to my father who then sold it to others. Well one day I come home from school and a T-80 was parked in the front of our mansion. My father had wanted to test drive it. He told me to get in and we drove around the town in a massive fucking tank! Oh you should have seen the look on the cop that stopped us face. He threatened to arrest him, but my father bribed him out so it was fine. That or he had a hit ordered on the cop. I forget which. Is this not the funniest thing you have heard?" Said Sasha, now laughing. "Anyway, from that day forward I was obsessed with big machines." Finished Sasha.
"Oh...Ha ha ha…" Said Mae nervously. "Hey uh Sasha, the meter is at 150, is that good?" Said Mae. "Oh perfect! That means I installed it correctly! Ok thank you for help Mae, you go now. Have good day!" Said Sasha. Mae quickly hopped out and headed to the control room.
Mae walked into the control room. It was pretty small, but that was fine for the resort, as not much needed monitoring. It was mainly comprised of a small round table with chairs, a massive computer system, a counter with a coffee machine, microwave and some snacks and drinks Erik bought. Ah yes, Erik. Erik was a German toucan, with a faint, yet noticeable accent. He was in charge of the "control" part of the control room. It was his job to stay and monitor the lifts, power system, transformers, snow blowers, groom team, terrain park and much more from the room. He would also do some hands-on work if needed. He had set up an elaborate computer system, with six monitors, each reading out data about the resort to help him. Erik was currently under the desk which the computer layed under. "Oh, hey Mae! Just gimme one sec, trying to fix this one cord…" Said Erik, followed by all the screens going black. "Uh, I think you made it worse... you might wanna see for yourself." Said Mae. Erik popped out and looked at his work. "Well...Shit. Eh, I can fix that later. Anyway, we should get to work. Our main goal for the day is to test out the lift's control booths. At the top and bottom of the lifts is a control booth, each one can control how fast the lift is going, and perform an emergency stop if needed. So, we will be testing out each booth to make sure they're all in functional order. I'll control the ones at the bottom, you at the top. You'll take the first lift we test up and from there move onto the next and so forth. Now I know that might sound a little confusing, but trust me, It's pretty easy once you actually do it." Said Erik. "Alright.. I guess, you ready?" said Mae, still not entirely sure what to do. "Yup! Let's roll!" said Erik, as he walked towards the door, followed behind by Mae.
The two headed for the first lift, it was a two seater. It led up to the west slopes, which was at the very west of the resort. These were dubbed the "hard" slopes because of the terrain and steep slopes. In reality, the terrain was "hard" because apparently they rarely groom it, it's risky because the snow-cats can sometimes drift down the sides on the west slopes if it's too icey according to Sasha. She also told Mae about the time where one hit an ice patch and slid down and hit a tree. The tree hit the fuel tank on the thing, and it exploded. Luckily, no one was injured, and apparently some of the remains of the snowcat are still there, because no one bothered to really clean up the smaller bits. "Alright, just take a seat, i'll start her up." Said Erik.
"Hey, can I hop on? Im headed up as well. Oh, also which way to the warehouse again?" Said Bea, walking over.
"Sure! Just hop on. Once you get up just head east till you spot the warehouse, you cannot miss it." Said Erik.
The two sat down on the lift, and Mae gave the thumbs up to Erik, who was sitting in the small control room for the lift. Soon, with a long whir of the lifts motor powering up, the duo started to ascend up the slopes. After a couple minutes of silence, Mae turned to Bea and said "Hey Bea, Sasha told me the craziest thing when I helped her earlier today. She said that when she was a kid, her and her dad drove some tank around her town and like, killed a cop or something, Isn't that cool!?" "Oh uh.., She already told me, like a while ago." Said Bea. "Wait what? Why'd she tell you?" Said Mae. "We were playing Never Have I Ever one night, and she said "Never have I ever NOT drove a Tank.", she is pretty damn crazy." Said Bea. "Huh, I didn't know you and Sasha hit it off so well, playing middle school gossip games and such." Said Mae. "I don't know, I guess I have a knack for becoming friends with people who are pretty much the opposite of me." Said Bea.
As she finished speaking, the lift suddenly came to a stand still. Almost as soon as it did, Mae's walkie talkie came to life. "Uhh yea, smokes pouring out of one transformers, it happens every year though, i'll have it fixed in no time, Erik out." said Erik over the walkie talkie. "What do you mean "It happens every year" huh?" Said Mae, followed by static. "What was all that about?" Said Bea. "well we're gonna be stuck here for a while, let's hope Erik knows how to fix a motor." said Mae. "Eh it's fine. Getting paid by the hour, not the effort." Said Bea.
The two sat there for a while. Not really saying anything till Bea spoke up. "Hey Mae, i've been meaning to tell you this, I just never really had the time." Said Bea. "Huh? What is it?" Said Mae. "You uh...You know Sasha is a lesbian right? And that sometimes she just starts randomly flirting with people?" Said Bea. "Wait what?! ...First of all, where the hell did that come from?! Second of all, how do you know this?!" Said Mae. "It was when we were playing Never Have I Ever, like the children we are, when she said she never was straight….She felt really bad after I looked at her funny after she said that. I mean, she does not look like a lesbian to me. To make her feel better I told her I used to be a lesbian, but that hardly he-" Said Bea, before being cut off by Mae.
"YOU WERE A LESBIAN!? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN!?" Said Mae. "Didn't I already tell you this? That one night when I drove you home after that summer party?" Said Bea. "I WAS ASLEEP! I didn't remember shit!" replied Mae.
"I was like 15 and I discovered all the different types of "adult videos" The internet had to offer, I had a lesbian phase but it lasted for like, a week until Phil Swift asked me out. We like, made out a few weeks later and then I was straight as a whistle" said Bea.
"Why didn't you tell me? Also I dont think thats the right phrase." said Mae. "Well, you never asked. Also it's not like I had a crush on you." Said Bea.
Once off, she tried to radio Erik again. He picked up this time and the two finished checking each lift. Each worked perfectly fine, and so did each of the control booths, with the only exception being the massive 6 man rapid-accent one that Erik said he would have to call in a guy who specialized in the type of lift to fix it.
"Huh, I didn't expect us to go so quick. Alright well I guess you're free to go Mae, I'm going to see if I can't go and fix the computer back in the control room.
"Isn't fixing stuff Andrew's job or something?" Said Mae
"Good point, alright i'm gonna go find Andrew and make this his problem. Hey I would go check on Ray If you have a second, I can smell french onion soup, he's probably cooking up a test batch. Go see if you can get some "samples" for the fridge back home. Oh, and make sure you try some yourself!" Said Erik before walking off back to the control room.
Mae started to head towards the main lodge. It was separated into three areas, up front near the parking lot was the ticket booth where lift tickets where sold. Once you bought your tickets, you would head down a long hallway towards the ski area. On the left side of the hallway was the doors to the cafeteria and on the right was doors to the rental area. The hallway itself was technically also a bridge as it crossed over a small creek. The floor also had small holes in it, for bits of snow stuck to ski-boots to fall into, and then into the creek. Mae headed left, and saw the cafeteria for the first time. It was composed in a rectangular fashion, with massive glass windows facing the mountain, and was very open and tall. It was full of tables and chairs for guests to eat at, and at the end was the actual cafeteria where guests could buy food. Mae headed over to the cafeteria. It was pretty much a glorified buffay, with signs for all types of food. Mae walked into the area that had a big "Staff only" sign above it and came upon the main cooking area where Ray stood facing a stove, stirring something that smelled wonderful.
Ray was a tall as hell Doberman with a thick French accent. Mae had no idea why such a muscular, mysterious, talented, Er "respectable person" would be working here.
"Hey Ray, what ya cooking?" Said Mae, peaking over his shoulder.
"Oh, Mae! I didn't hear you come in! Well, I planned on making 'tree cheese Bouillabaisse soup, but because of lack of herbs, I just settled for French onion." Said Ray.
"Well, It smells awesome, can I have a taste? Said Mae.
"Uh, sure! Here, allow me!" Said Ray, getting a ladle out and filling it with soup. He then poured it in a pre prepared bowl with bread in it. He then sprinkled some cheese on top and placed it in an oven to cook.
"So uh, How long that gonna take?" Said Mae, clearly impatient.
"About say 10 minutes, I make sure to slow cook to get all the flavors to steep in." Said Ray, taking a seat in a chair he brought over, and pushing one over for Mae.
"So uh, I was asked to "Liberate" some soup for the good of the people, are you willing to comply or do we have to call in the KGB?" Said Mae, in an absolutely atrocious Russian accent.
"Oh no officer, I planned on taking these back to the house for us to eat for dinner anyhow. No need to take me to the gulag." Jokingly replied Ray, Pouring the soup into a large tupperware container.
"Oh my god yes, if this is like that one time you cooked those French-French fries, this is gonna make me go into food ecstasy." Said Mae, rubbing her stomach.
"That was poutine, and it is not french. Well, kinda." Said Ray.
The timer on the oven went off, and Ray took out the bowl of soup, the cheese was right at that point where if cooked any longer it would have started to bubble. Mae greedily started to devour it.
"Holy crap, this is awesome!" Said Mae.
"Thank you! Anyway, I should be getting this stuff home, it doesn't last well not refrigerated, i'll see you at the house!". Replied Ray, starting to pack up all of his stuff.
"Alright! See ya!" chirped Mae.
Soon Ray left, and Mae took her food over to the second level dining area to eat, and get a better view of the mountain. Just a quick look before she headed home.
Mae sat down on top of a table that faced the mountain. The snow stopped a while ago and the sky was crimson red. While not massive, the mountain was long, like a fold in the earth instead of a pinch. The snow that had finally settled created not a blanket but a sheet of snow. More would be added to it as it got colder. Mae finished eating and walked downstairs, checked in with Sasha who said she was gonna be late, and started back on the path.
Along the way home, she tripped on something. She got up and examined just what it was. To her surprise, it was a massive bullet. Half a foot long and silver with a gold streak going down it. What type of gun would fire such a massive bullet? And more importantly what the hell was it supposed to kill? Elephants? As she started to walk again, she pondered this. I mean, sure maybe it could be used to hunt bears, but they're not a lot of those around here. Also, the gun that fired it must have been the size of a dude. Like a little rocket launcher maybe. That or the bullet is a prop of some type. Yea, probably just a prop. Well, whatever it is, it's mine now thought Mae.
Mae finally reached the house, it was dark now, but the houses bright lights kinda illuminated the area. She walked in, said hi to everyone and took yet another bowl of french onion soup Ray brought home and microwaved it for dinner. She sat down on the couch with Toby and Talis and watched some Malloy and Gabo.
"Hey Malloy!"
"Yea Garbo!"
"Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Antarctica?"
"You went to Antarctica? For what, to learn suit design from penguins?"
*Laugh track*
"No silly! I went down as a tourist! I wanted to explore the unknown!"
"A tourist! How much did that trip cost ya?"
"More then you'll ever make!"
*Laugh track*
"We make the same amount of money! Unless you and one of those penguins had an affair!"
*Loud laugh track*
"That's a whoppa!"
"Join us next week as me and Malloy train a child milita!"
Mae finished up her food and went down stairs, apparently Talis got the hot tub running. She Walked down and found Ray and Sasha sitting in the tub together. Mae instantly blushed at the sight of a shirtless Ray, and wondered just how the hell Sasha can be so confident around him. Unless...were they dating? And Bea was full of shit? That or Ray knows and is not awkward around her.
"Mae! Is good to see you! Will you be joining us?" Said Sasha.
"Uh, nah. I'm about to pass out. I'll see you guys in the morning." Said Mae. She then walked up stairs, then upstairs again and into her room. She got undressed and got into bed.
Mae just lied down on her bed, staring out the window. Soon, the resort would be opening, and this new life Mae had chosen to live would be starting up, for real this time. She could see the snow outside, falling again, much harder now. The white contrasted with the blackness of night. Mae felt afraid, but not super scared, an odd feeling. She was afraid of a repeat of college, the shapes reforming, tearing at her soul once more. But inside her heart, she knew something was different this time. Sure, she had Bea but this time she also had potential friends. Friends that wouldn't require some awkward introduction. Friends that would be at least semi permanent. It was a whole new chapter, and as she drifted off to sleep, something in her mind told her this was gonna be the semi normal not dead end life she hoped for. Right before she finally closed her eyes, She could have sworn she saw someone looking in through her window...
