DragonStory

Higher Education

© James_Nightmare
All Rights Reserved

Life in DeepBeech was a small and simple kind. Edward was a high school graduate who was getting ready to head off to college. Nothing ever happened to him. He was just your average teen but what he was about to get involved in would change more than he could have ever imagine.
The sun shone in the clear blue sky. Its delicate little rays broke through a window and on to the face of a sleeping bundle. Edward felt the heat from the rays on his face that signaled morning and groaned, " Morning already..."
He turned over under the covers and tried to drift back into his sleeping state, but that didn't last very long. A bang and a knock outside his door and in walked a middle aged woman with reddish blonde hair that flowed to her shoulders. She had on a short sleeve shirt and a new looking pair of blue jeans.
"Up...Now", She said as she walked over to the bed and jabbed at the covers with her right index finger.
A small groan came from under the covers. "No"
She poked again but this time with more force. "Yes Eddie. Now or you'll be late for registration."
"Mom...", He groaned, " The registration is online and it doesn't open until ten thirty."
"It's ten after right now so get up. I won't have you missing it. Get up and on your laptop now. This is your future."
Eddie slowly pulled back the covers only to see his mother giving him a glare, one he only sees when he is annoying her or he is just about to be in serious trouble. Quickly he threw back his covers and shot up, past his mom to the bathroom. As he closed the door he heard his mom yell, " Please use soap."
Eddie Finished his shower and got dressed. Slowly he made his way down to the kitchen.
"Happy now", He asked as he sat down at the kitchen table.
"Yes. You actually look decent", She laughed as she set down a plate of freshly cooked bacon and eggs. Eddie dug in and devoured everything and then took his plate to the sick then roamed his way into the living room to grab his laptop, then opened it and went to his registration site.
"Ok here we go.... What should I....Oh this looks good," he exclaimed as he clicked on a class and selected the register button. After another half an hour, he had finally finished and closed his laptop.
As he did his mom appeared around the corner with a bottle of water.
" Here sweetie. So what did you sign up for?" She said as she sat down beside him grabbing the laptop, opening it. She perused the class and mumbled," English....mmhmm, a math of course.... Wait. Eddie what is this?" She had seen a class on his schedule that was particularly an oddity for her and even Eddie. "Dragon studies and Effects on World History? What nonsense is this."
"Mom not now. It's just a class. It sounds good and it's always nice to have another person's perspective on history and the world we live in. Didn't you always tell me to seek more knowledge and go after things that interested me?"
"Well yea...but..."
" Well that's what I'm doing Mom. Please understand that."
" I just don't see the point in all that nonsense. Seems like such a waste of your time, so much more you could do with your education then learn about some fantasy theories and god knows what else."
Eddie sighed and looked at the floor. His mother had never been one for things she didn't have favor for. He had been raised not as strict as his grandfather had raised his mother but she had been pretty rough most of his life. He wasn't aloud to stray from his set path. Books, movies, pictures and anything that his mother thought wasn't right for him was banned in the household even to the point that she had to check his friends for anything she disapproved of. Eddie hadn't known anything else when he was growing up but after awhile and he got to his teen years his friends grew exponentially, as did his interests. When he was 13, his mother caught him with a very popular book telling of wizards, magic, and all sorts of mythical creatures. Needless to say his mother went nuts and, after asking multiple times, found out he had gotten it from a friend he went to school with then called the boy's mother and let her know of her disapproval toward the child's decision to let Eddie borrow it. Eddie was punished yet he still snuck books in the house or read them at school and anywhere he could find time.
As tough as she was, after awhile she calmed down and let him start to make decisions. She had come to realize that the more she forbid him from things his friends were doing the more he wanted to so she allowed him some breathing room. Their relationship got a little better as time wore on and she stopped badgering him even more to the point that he did what he wanted but for some reason this class he had chosen had set her off again.
"Mom..just let it go. I'll take the class and I promise if it turns to be nothing but nonsense I'll drop it. Okay?", he said as he looked back at her.
His mother shook her head in frustration. She didn't want some college professor teaching her son some crackpot theories about something that was nothing more than a figment of imagination but what choice did she have, Eddie was going to do it whether she liked it or not so regretfully she shook her head and agreed.