Temporal Exploring 101 - First Transit

I.1 Prologue: First Temporal Assignment

"So what happens if you don't stick to the rules?" I inquired, my curiosity piqued.

"If you break a rule, expect to get your butt spanked," Karen cheerfully told me. "It used to be as simple as that at these places."

The two of us were sitting at a corner table in the ITP's central cafeteria, nursing our cappuccinos.

Karen was two years my senior, which meant that she had successfully completed several temporal  assignments already. Including, as I had heard, a half-year stint at a mid-twentieth-century boarding school. Since that was precisely the kind of place and time where I was about to be sent on my First Temporal Assignment, I was willing to squeeze her for any bit of valuable information that I could get out of her.

I frowned. "I wasn't aware that they still disciplined students that way, at the time."

I must have sounded a bit taken aback, for she gave me a curious look. "What type of discipline did you think they'd use?"

"Uh, demerits? Like, a deduction of House Points, or whatever."

Karen grinned. "We are not talking about Hogwarts here. Haven't you talked to your Temporal Instructor yet, about the specifics of your assignment? You know, to take care of cultural immersion and all that."

"I have an appointment with Sara Jenkins tomorrow," I replied. "I suppose that's when I will learn about all those details. So far, I only know that I will be a student at a British boarding school for girls, St. Albert's, in the mid-1960s."

"It's your first assignment, huh?" Karen smiled at me. "Are you nervous?"

"Perhaps a little bit. Well, more than just a bit, actually," I amended.

"There is no need to be nervous. I am sure you are going to do fine."

"Well, I hope you are right." I took another sip from my mug. "Say, did you ever get  spanked, yourself, at that school?"

"Well yes, it happened a few times. It's kind of hard to completely avoid that, you know."

"I see." I was not sure how I felt about that.

It must have shown on my face somehow, for Karen hastened to reassure me. "Don't worry about it too much, Cathy. You'll find that it's not such a big deal, really. And trust me, you are going to love the 1960s. It's a magical time period. You know, as in the magic of a new beginning. Young people were convinced they could change the world, back then, and they actually went and did just that, so ..." She broke off and laughed. "I'd give a lot for the chance to go there again, on my next assignment."

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A / N :  Thank you for reading this very short prologue to Temporal Exploring 101 - First Transit.

Generally the length of chapters will vary between about 800 and 2000 words. This is intentionally so. If you prefer larger chapter sizes of a few thousand words or so, you may want to check out my story once a week to read three new chapters.

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