A Soviet's Struggle

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The Year has passed yet again. The same routine plagued the two women - Drawing, Guitar, Prostitution, Repeat. Silsina always had the big bucks - bringing in the most cash. Mariya would just draw, like always. By now, she had drawn Amy's request and mailed it to her address; which she received money, not only from Amy, but by the friend through Amy. Mariya and Silsina had finally saved up enough money to pay for the entrance exams at Baldhardt, Mariya being the lucky age of 19 years old meant she could actually attend, and she was excited.

The two of them stood in the doorway of the office - they were past due the original register date. Mariya had gotten her GED, which she had safely stored away in her Knapsack. Silsina looked at Mariya - who was slightly panicking from under her Gasmask. "Are you ready? Cause, to be honest, I'm not."

"No." Mariya stated, looking into the doorway. She saw a woman writing something on her desk and a small handful of students getting office help. It was all in slow motion, no one paying much attention to one another.

Mariya put her paw on the door handle and pushed it downwards. The handle made a "click" sound and opened. As Mariya and Silsina stepped into the office, cool air brushed up against their hides - everyone glancing over at the two with slight confusion. The woman, who stopped writing, pushed her glasses up the bridge of her snout and folded her hands on the desk in front of her.

The two Russians walked up to the counter, Silsina leaning on the desk a little bit.

"Good morning," She paused, squinting at the Clerk's name tag neatly displayed on the desk. "Mrs. Irene Christine?"

The Clerk raised her eyebrows, surprised by the odd form of address. No one in Germany was addressed by First and Middle name.

"May I help you?" Irene asked, leaning back in her chair a little bit, her eyebrows resting back into a neutral position.

"Yes. You can, actually." Silsina stated, pointing to the registrar book on her desk. "We would like to register."

Irene smiled, sitting back in a hunched position: "Of course! I'll need your certificates. Both of them." She held out her hand, a welcoming feeling coming off of her face. Silsina looked at Mariya and chuckled slightly. Mariya blinked, then looked back at the Clerk; who waited patiently.

"About that..." Silsina said nervously, scratching the back of her head. The students behind her snickered a bit, whispering about how dumb these two were for not knowing about a certificate. "We kind of lost them."

The Clerk frowned in a sympathetic way, rolling to her Windows XP. "That's okay." She stated, logging onto the computer. "Names?"

She looked up at the two women.

"I'm Silsina Romanova." Silsina said, pointing with her thumb at Mariya: "And this is Mariya Romanova."

The Clerk began to type on her keyboard - stopping a few seconds later. She looked back up at the two women and abruptly got up.

"You said, Mariya and Silsina Romanova?"

Silsina nodded slowly, confused. Mariya gulped nervously. The Clerk walked around the desk and grabbed Mariya by the wrist, leading them both to the back where the Headmaster recided.

Irene opened the Headmaster's door, who looked up from the sudden burst of noise. "I told you to knock, Irene." He stated, watching the Clerk pull the two girls into the room. Irene glanced at the Headmaster, grinning widely. "I've found them! Call the Polizei! The Missing girls from Nömberg, they're right here!" She pointed to the women, and specifically at Mariya's Snout; who went partially crossed-eyed looking at her finger.