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    True Friends
    True Friends
    True Friends
    Ebook196 pages2 hours

    True Friends

    By Robert Collins

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    About this ebook

    It’s the fall of 1983. David Chalmers is a high school senior who hangs around with a group of fellow science-fiction fans, but feels few attachments to them. Alison Hughes runs with the popular crowd, but she’s as smart as she is pretty, and wonders if they’re becoming predictable.

    Over the course of a few weeks events will cause David and Alison to think about what it means to be friends. Are friends just people you spend time with? What does it mean when you’re someone’s friend? Why should any of that be important?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert Collins
    Release dateAug 30, 2011
    ISBN9781466043442
    True Friends
    Author

    Robert Collins

    Two people with different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities met at a European and Balkan music and dance ensemble named Koroyar and their lives became intertwined, combining their gifts to continue exploring life as an avenue of creative expression. Robert Collins has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, and has been an educator in the Los Angeles area for thirty years. He studied writing with Joan Oppenheimer in San Diego, with Cork Millner privately, and also in the Santa Barbara Writer's Conferences. Elizabeth Herrera Sabido, at the age of sixteen years, began working as a secretary at the Secretaria de Industria y Comercio in Mexico City where she was born, then she was an educator for twenty-six years, and a teacher of international dance for The Los Angeles Unified School District. She has also studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is a Reiki Master Teacher. Attracted by the Unknown, the Forces of the Universe, and the human psyche, during their lives they have studied several different philosophies. Elizabeth has been involved with various religions, Asian studies, and Gnosticism with SamaelAun Weor, and Robert has explored spiritual healing practices in Mexico, and studied with Carlos Castaneda's Cleargreen and Tensegrity. Elizabeth and Robert start their day at four-thirty in the morning. They enjoy playing volleyball and tennis, and in the afternoons play music, alternating between seven different instruments each. Their philosophy of Personal Evolution has led them to explore over 110 countries between the two of them such as Japan, Nepal, Egypt, Bosnia- Herzegovina, the Philippines, Turkey,Russia, etc.

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      Book preview

      True Friends - Robert Collins

      TRUE FRIENDS

      by

      Robert Collins

      Ebook Edition

      Copyright © 2011 by Robert Collins

      License Notes, eBook edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Author’s Introduction

      One

      Two

      Three

      Four

      Five

      Six

      Seven

      Eight

      Nine

      Ten

      Eleven

      Twelve

      Thirteen

      Fourteen

      Fifteen

      Sixteen

      About the Author

      Author’s Introduction

      This story is fiction. I say this because, although some of the characters were inspired by real people, the events by a few things that really happened, and the realizations about friendship by actual realizations I had, this story is not autobiography. Reality might have had a hand in getting this story out of my head and onto the page, but it’s just a story. It’s all made up.

      Except for the stuff about that Doctor Who episode, The Horns of Nimon. It’s really that bad. That, if nothing else, is absolutely true.

      One last thing: towards the end of the lip-sync contest, a certain song is referred to. The law keeps me from printing the lyrics in this novel. I suggest you search for them yourself and keep them handy.

      One

      David yawned. It wasn’t voluntary; he’d had a long and busy day. But he was losing interest in the game. He wanted something compelling to happen, something fresh and challenging. The odds were mounting against the defeat of boredom.

      If these guys weren’t my friends, David mused, I probably wouldn’t be wasting my time here.

      Here was the living room of the Reinhart home. Aside from being fairly cramped, the room was ordinary for a suburban home in a bedroom community near the city of Wichita, Kansas. The town itself hadn’t always been a suburb. It was originally a self-contained small community. As Wichita spread out after World War Two, many of the small communities around it turned into suburbs of the city.

      The Reinhart home was one of many built during the suburban boom in the community during the Sixties and early Seventies. The furniture and carpets inside the home had been brightly colored. They were the shocking new thing in the Seventies. Now in the first half of the Eighties, they had become badly-aging old stuff, their colors fading or in the process of being replaced by a more subdued style.

      Yet, as David had noted once or twice before, the louder colors almost fit in with the idea of the living room being a place for the game his friends played.

      The particular game that David was losing interest in on that particular night was a fantasy role-playing game, one of a handful in the new genre of role-playing games. The game was simple enough: the players took the roles of standard fantasy characters; the referee, or dungeon master, told the players what their characters encountered; and the players would tell the D-M how their characters would respond to the situation. The players became heroes in their own adventures. They saved nations from ruin, found artifacts to make their characters or their allies powerful, and occasionally rescued maidens fair and otherwise from fates worse than death.

      Shane Reinhart was the D-M for this game, as always. He sat on an easy chair against one wall of the living room. David and the other players sat on the floor in front of Shane. David had decided the arrangement served two purposes. First, it put Shane above the rest. As far as the characters were concerned, he was God. He took the role of the characters enemies, of non-player characters who helped the players’ characters, and determined the fate of all. It was only right that Shane should get a chair and the others the floor.

      The other purpose was entirely practical. The players needed only a single sheet of paper to play. That character sheet listed the character’s skills, abilities, and equipment. Shane needed sheets for all the non-player characters, and that required space. Shane also had to have maps, charts, rule books, and the adventure book. Furthermore, the game wouldn’t be fun if the players could find out what Shane was planning. He needed the space and the elevation to carry out his duty as D-M.

      For a game of imagination, David had once observed, there’s an awful lot of paperwork.

      The players’ seating on the floor represented another sort of hierarchy. Sitting closest to Shane was Barry Guinn. His character was the elf warrior Ironwood, and leader of the group of characters. He was a senior, like David and Shane, but had a soft face that made him appear younger. He had a trim runner’s body, but refused to try out for track. I don’t want to be jock, was all he’d ever say when asked why. Barry preferred to stick to his role as the platoon sergeant following Shane’s leadership.

      Sitting next to Barry was fair-haired and husky Jack Hopkins. He was a junior, and Barry’s oldest friend. The two were neighbors, and occasionally partners in crime. Jack’s character was the dwarf warrior Torin. Tonight the main difference between him and Barry was that he wore an REO Speedwagon t-shirt, while Barry wore a faded Marvel Comics tee.

      Alongside Jack was Shane’s sister Meg. She was a junior like Jack, and eagerly tagged along with her brother and his friends. She was slender, and between David’s average height and Shane’s tall height. David thought she was somewhat attractive. Or she would be, if she didn’t always wear baggy black shirts, hadn’t died her hair a vivid shade of red, and cropped it severely short. She played an elf mage called Shandra.

      Behind Meg was the youngest member of the group, Ray Ellerby. Ray was a sophomore, the shortest person in the room, and the newest member of the group. He’d moved to the area this year, and had joined the friends through David. His character was called Quickfingers, and was a human thief.

      David’s spot was next to Ray, at the most distance possible from Shane and his throne. He played a human bard named Darius. David had dreams of being a writer, so the character he chose fit him pretty much like the characters matched part or all of the other players’ personalities. His character served two purposes for the group of adventurers. First, as a bard Darius could read, so that allowed him to read signs, maps, and non-magical books. Second, as a bard Darius had skills at dealing with non-player characters such as being able to negotiate with them.

      As it was, his character was merely following the other characters. David was starting to see a pattern to what happened within the game. The group would come across some bad guys, they’d fight, defeat them, then move on to the next point of confrontation. David’s character was left to read the group’s map, and gather intelligence on defeating some monster from whatever book they came across.

      It also hadn’t taken him long to notice that the others played a cliché character of one sort or another. He once wondered if it was worth it to point out this fact. One session had convinced him that it wasn’t. So he played along, and his interest waned.

      Jack’s booming voice briefly shocked David out of his boredom. Y’know, we’ve been searching these ruins all night. I'm starting to wonder if someone hasn’t sent us on a wild goose chase.

      Ray frowned, slightly confused. Why would Shane send us out here...?

      No, dummy, Crassus!

      Oh. Sorry.

      Crassus was the name of the elf king that had sent their adventurers on this particular quest. Jack and Barry, to some degree following Shane’s lead, made an effort to remain as much in character during the game as was possible. Meg happily went along, Ray struggled, and David kept up a halfhearted effort. Of course, he had noticed that occasionally Jack or Barry would break character, and neither one of them would say anything to the other unless absolutely necessary. The thought was one more distraction for David.

      Jack turned to Shane. Ignore him. He’s young and inexperienced. So, Torin’s checked the small room. Has he seen anything?

      Shane shook his head solemnly. Torin has found nothing of value. His usually expressive face was bland. All that you’ve discovered is more broken bits of wood and rock.

      Jack shrugged. Then I’ll rejoin the others in the hall.

      Shane turned to Barry. Okay, Ironwood, where to next?

      Barry paused to think. Well, we’ve pretty well searched through the upper floors. I guess we’re going to head back to the stairwell and start on the underground area. We’re bound to turn up something down there.

      A big pile of gold coins would be nice, Jack said to no one in particular.

      Or jewels, Ray added.

      Right. And if we have to kill some goblins to get it, so much the better.

      A fairly impure thought popped into David’s head. He hadn’t quite intended to give it voice. It just came out. That sort of thing could be interpreted as racially-motivated looting. Hardly sounds noble to me.

      Hey, our cause is just, Barry shot back, and the goblins are our enemies. And yours, unless Darius is up to something.

      Darius just thinks there ought to be a better way to save the elves.

      Well, I don’t, and I’m in charge.

      Yeah, Jack added. He slipped into his dwarf warrior voice. So behave yourself, human.

      Whatever.

      Shane waited before continuing. You’ve come to the end of the corridor, and you see a large door.

      It’s always a door, David muttered.

      Shane’s sister Meg spoke up. I’m holding my torch to the door. Do I see anything?

      Shane lowered his deep voice. You see an large,... His tall frame bent down. ...grinning,...iron... He paused, then rasped, ...skull. Gasps and gulps popped out around the living room. Even David would have admitted that Shane had him going.

      Is there a knob on the door? Barry asked.

      Yes.

      Barry turned to Ray. Quickfingers, open it.

      You open it, Ray said. I’ve lost way too many characters opening doors.

      David spoke up. Let me try it. Darius hasn’t done much of anything tonight.

      Barry shook his head vigorously. No. Quickfingers is our thief. It’s his job to open doors.

      Give the lad a break.

      No! Barry looked at Ray. He waved towards Shane. Get to it.

      All right.

      David kept his tongue in check. His mind kept on going, however. Barry, like himself, was a senior, while Ray was a sophomore. Barry wasn’t much taller than Ray, but tall enough. Even if he wanted to defy Barry, he wouldn’t be able to resist.

      There wasn’t anything that David or Ray could do. At least, not without disrupting the game session. Good role-playing demanded that everyone follow the leader. David kept his mouth shut.

      Okay, Ray said, I’m picking the lock.

      It gives easily, Shane told him. The door creaks open a hair.

      Ray looked to the others. Warriors first.

      Wait! Meg said. Do I detect any magic coming from the room?

      Shane consulted his sheets of paper. He glanced down a chart he kept out of the player’s view. Having found what he wanted, he picked up three dice and handed them to her. Roll.

      She rolled. A smile crept onto her face when she saw the result. Five.

      Hm. Okay, Shandra, you sense a powerful object is somewhere in the room, and the auras of five beings.

      Barry announced that his character was drawing his bow. Jack announced that Torin was drawing his battle-axe. Ray said his would draw two knives, and Meg said Shandra was getting one knife ready. David didn’t say anything, nor did he have to. His character always carried a staff, and it didn’t take much to get a staff or the person who carried it ready for battle.

      Jack then added, Torin steps forward, and pushes the door open with his sword.

      Shane let out a long creak, imitating an ancient door swinging open. He suddenly hissed, Who dares?

      What’s on the other side?

      Five goblins, scimitars at the ready.

      David was just about speak, but Barry snapped, Goblins, are you foes of the great Queen Lysendra?

      We hate all elves! Shane replied in his goblin voice.

      Oh, swell, David said. I was going to try to con them. Typical, he thought, absolutely typical. Why try anything sneaky? After all, we are so heavily armed.

      Shane waved an imaginary weapon over his head and cried, Die, wood scum! He shifted some papers around and told them, in a more normal voice, The goblins charge at you.

      Standard deployment, boss? Jack asked Barry. Barry nodded. Okay, then, let’s knock ‘em down!

      David hadn’t been to very many gaming sessions with his friends over the last year, but he had been to enough to notice an unusual fact. Gaming a hand-to-hand battle in a role-playing game was many times duller than the most minor of fistfights could ever be.

      The combat sequence was an involved process. It would start with the player with the fastest character. He would announce what his character planned to do, either attack or defend, adding whatever specifics the player needed to add. The DM would consult his charts to make certain that such an action would be legal under the rules, if the action was something truly unusual. If it was legal, or if it was a normal combat action, the player would roll three six-sided dice. The DM would roll his own dice. The player would then learn if his character had succeeded or failed. Then the first player would wait while the next player took action. This continued until all the players were finished, at which point the DM would play out the attacks of the characters’ foes.

      And yet, many

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