Ren, the History Major Fox in the Future
#8 of Slices of Life
A Slice of Life written for tenpoundpen
The Slice of Life is a commission experiment aimed at capturing a glimpse of someone's character in action. The idea is to see if a quality piece of writing can be made in a short length of time, and if someone would be amenable to paying for such a thing. They involve four prompts, ten minutes of writing, and five to ten additional minutes of finalization.
The prompts for this story were
Name: Ren
Species: Fox
Descriptor: University student, history major
Setting: University colony on a peaceful planet in a peaceful part of the galaxy
Ren, the History Major Fox in the Future By Finn Panther
Sure, some classes were easier than others. And sure, some books were a little bit more difficult to read. But this? This was something else entirely. ''A Concise History of Revetzgald, his Regime, and the First Colony,'' written by Professor Higgin.
Sure, if by ''concise'' you mean one thousand pages of sludge.
But Ren wasn't bitter or anything. It's just that the first summation of the semester was due tomorrow, and he hadn't been able to get through three pages of this beast, let alone three chapters. It isn't that the subject matter was dull. Hell, the first colony had a lot of interesting history behind it. But the book, on the other hand, was another matter entirely.
Ren leaned back in his chair and wished desperately that he had brought something else, anything else, to distract him. He should have brought his tablet, or at least his communicator. The temptation to put down this terrible book was-
No! Ren shook his head back to the present and buried his muzzle back in the textbook. He had to get to work, he had a paper to write! Talk about getting a rocky start to the year. He felt his ears wilt and he didn't bother to perk them back up. Sure it was important to control your features in most contexts. But right now he just couldn't be bothered to care. The library was empty, and besides, what did he care if he was broadcasting his frustration to any furre who glanced his way? It was college. Everybody was frustrated.
The notepad Ren had brought stayed for the most part empty of notes, and when he did take notes they mostly involved rewriting really wordy statements down into one or two words. What, was it translated across seven different dialects before it got to him? He made a very conscious effort to blitz out a least a few pages of notes, and when he finally had half a page written he huffed in frustration, leaning once again away from the table.
If this book kills my interest in history then I swear to God- Hello!
A stocky wolf had just came through the doors. Ren hadn't seen him before, but that was nothing unusual. It was a new semester, plenty of new students, and besides, the campus was HUGE. It was a university colony for heaven's sake. And it isn't like there was anything particularly special about this wolf. Eye candy was a dime a dozen - with so many species, and so densely packed? You'd be guaranteed to find a real looker in just about every hallway
It's just that this one was rather opportune. Now Ren had something else to focus on besides his textbook. What was the wolf's name? What was his major? Ren kept thinking about the muscled jock-type even after he turned a corner to cruise down one of the isles. Was he single, was he gay? Would he be interested in someone like-
NO! Dammit, Ren! Once again he shook himself back to reality. At this pace he would fail the class for sure. First time in history that he'd fail a history class, too. He refused to accept that, and buried his head once again. Another page of notes. If he could just get down another page of notes...
... another half page of notes. Good enough!
Ren sighed heavily and rested his head on the table. He'd get through this, he'd get through for certain! But he figured that he deserved a break, and his thoughts returned to that wolf he saw earlier. Ren cast a glance but he was nowhere to be seen. Still, he didn't let that stop him from daydreaming. Just for a little bit, though, before he jumped back into the dullest sludge he had ever-
''Excuse me.''
Ren yelped and nearly jumped out of his fur when someone came up behind him. He turned and couldn't mask his surprise at seeing the wolf behind him.
''Oh, uh, uh... hi.''
The wolf seemed concerned. ''Oh, I didn't mean to startle you, I just-''
''No, no, it's fine. You didn't startle me.''
What? Really? Like he's going to buy that.
The wolf didn't seem to hear Ren as he peered over his shoulder, and made a half grin as he gleamed the title from the top of the page.
''Great, it looks like you've got the same class that I do. You beat me to the last book on the shelf, too. I always make a habit of waiting to buy my textbooks - some classes don't even use them. Go figure that I land a class with the strictest professor I've ever seen.''
Ren nodded, partially in agreement, but mostly because he couldn't think of anything to say. The wolf waited for a response for a moment, and when Ren didn't say anything then he said,
''Do you mind if we share the book for a little bit? I haven't done any reading. I'm so boned for the assignment tomorrow.''
Ren gulped and still wasn't certain what to do, so he simply said ''sure'' and gestured for the wolf to pull up a seat next to him.
Great, Ren thought. Now I'll NEVER get any work done.