This is a piece of Flash Fiction. The topic: A teenage girl gets a letter from George Mason University.
Professor Bob
Rosemary bounced through the door, simultaneously kicking off her vans and throwing her backpack against the couch. She didn’t notice that her giant chapstick fell out and rolled under the big, puffy chair her dad used to sit in before he crossed over.
“Rosemary, you have a letter on the table.”
“Mom, geez, you know I hate being called Rosemary! Gah…why do you have to call me that? Everybody calls me Rosie, you know that.”
“Rosemary is your name. It was good enough for your grandma, and it is good enough for you.”
“Well…duh!”
Mom put down the parsley she was chopping up to garnish the evening meal and walked over to the dining room table.
“I noticed it was from a university, but I didn’t pay much attention. Which one is it now? What school is trying to steal my little girl.”
Rosie tried to remain calm; this was bad, really bad. “George Mason mom, well actually it is not officially called George Mason mom, it is just George Mason. I think I’ll go upstairs and research this school. Do I have a little time before dinner?”
“Yes, but first, exactly where is this George Mason University located? I don’t know how many times I have told you that you aren’t going to school far away from home.”
Rosie pursed her lips as her back muscles tightened. “It is in Fairfax, Virginia, all right ` It is just outside of D.C. Guh, do I have some time before we eat or not?”
“A little time is all. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
Rosie ran upstairs to the computer room – buttons pressed, switches flipped, levers pulled…and (most importantly) the door locked. Rosie concentrated her gaze at the correct spot as her right eye was scanned. She then reached between two bookcases and touched the wall in the specified pattern to open the portal. The cylindrical staging platform opened up and began glowing steady neon green. Rosie put on her helmet, adjusted her goggles, took a deep breath, and headed in.
Total silence. That was always the thing that bothered her most. It was eerie. She stood for a few seconds as wispy particles appeared seemingly out of nowhere to form the bust of a figure, a very familiar one.
“Rosemary, good…you got the letter. I wasn’t sure the teleportation had worked properly.”
“Well…duh. Of course, I got the letter. If I hadn’t gotten it, we wouldn’t be talking now, would we? What is going on?”
The conjured figure, a sage-like older man (you would never believe how old!) winced as he told her that perdition was upon them. “Rosie, they got out, they escaped. My last experiment went very, very wrong. You and I both know where they are going. I sent out a communique to all the others, they have all checked in and are on their way. You understand exactly what I am saying, right?”
“Uh-huh. And I also know this must be really bad if you couldn’t just send a message directly to me. I don’t want to ask, but why did you have to zap a letter into the mailbox? What’s that all about?”
The old man saw the look in her eyes. He didn’t want to tell her that they were totally compromised, that a data hack and a simple case of blackmail had exposed nearly everything. “Now listen Rosie, stay right where you are. You are not to leave your house, and even if they show up on your front porch, you are not to engage them. Do you understand me? That is an order. If they come, you are to initiate a complete lockdown of the premises. If they somehow get through, you are to get your mom and immediately come to the portal, OK?” He looked at her and knew it had been a mistake to warn her, he should have just sent someone to collect her. Had he been thinking clearly, there are a lot of things he would have done differently.
Rosie stood at the portal, her hands on her hips. She leaned slightly to the left and shook her head slowly back and forth.
“Rosie, please listen, there isn’t much time…” Rosie cut him off and skipped away from the portal. She was about to get her battery packs and ammunition when her mom’s voice came through on the communication panel. “Rosie, there is a group of people on the porch asking for you. What is going on, are these new friends of yours? I certainly didn’t make enough food to feed all those people.”
Rosie looked out a window and saw the group milling around on the front porch and driveway. “Hey mom, can you come up here for a minute?”
“What is going on? Is something wrong?”
“Of course not, I just need your opinion on an outfit. I am trying to impress one of the boys out there. He is a new kid, and all the girls like him.”
As mom walked through the door, Rosie quickly wrapped her arms around her, lifted her up, and pushed her into the mechanism. Risking psychosis by getting into the portal unprepared was better than staying and facing the mob. Easy choice. As soon as mom was locked in and protected, Rosie did one of those teenage girl waves and then went to the closet for her duffle bag full of ammo. She threw it on the table and then quickly moved across the room to open a hidden compartment to reveal a silver case, one full of weapons. She got all the arms locked and loaded, gave her mom a quick glance, and initiated the transport sequence. You’ll make it. No worries. As her mom phased out of existence, she holstered her weapons and headed downstairs.
Author’s note: If you do a little research, you will find that there is a famous professor at George Mason University who is trying to create life in the laboratory. Sister, you don’t know the half of it.
