Chapter 02: Cat Toy
Gods are fickle things. Fickle and numerous and given to flights of fancy. Or, sometimes, fits of jealousy. And then, rarely, a god will take interest in our world long enough to assert his or her or its influence on events. Demons fear when a god looks askance at their doings and humans are frail things in comparison.
Frail and pliable things.
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Sandy scanned her computer's monitor as her onscreen character huffed and chuffed, claws at the ready. Bodies lay strewn around her character's form and the semi-pixelated werewolf seemed to look for its own prey as Sandy moved it around the computer generated world. Posters of Chris Hemsworth's Thor and various fantasy representations of Norse gods lined her wall in the dark room.
"Sandy!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen. "I swear to god if you don't come to supper, I'm going to flip the breaker for your room!"
Sandy sighed and paused her game, saving it just in case something happened. Navigating through the mess of her room, she opened the door and then blinked rapidly in the suddenly light. The young girl followed the clinking of forks and knives on plates until she reached the dining room. Her father arched an eye at her while her mother glared. Sandy sat at the empty spot next to her toddler brother.
All right
, she told herself.
Time for the grilling to-
"Did you send off your applications yet?" Sandy's mother asked.
"Mom, I told you," the young woman said. "I'm not going to go to college right away. I'm going to Norway. I've been talking to some people online over there and they can let me stay with them. Real people." Her father looked over at her and Sandy added, "Nice people."
"Norway," her mother said bluntly.
"Yes," Sandy said. "We talked about it. Norway."
"Because...?" Her mother asked.
Sandy looked from her mother to her father as she chewed bites of her mother's roast. The family's tabby cat rubbed against her leg in hopes she'd drop something. The cat was insane for pot roast and the only reason it wasn't on the table right now was because it still walked funny from the last time it tried to steal a piece of the meat. Sandy kicked the cat away from her.
"Because," Sandy replied. "We're descendants of Viki-"
Sandy's mother interrupted her daughter. "Jesus help me. If you try to sell me on this stupid Viking crap again, I will cry. I will cry at the dinner table. Is that what you want? Do you want to see your mother cry into her pot roast? Will, back me up, here."
"Aw, come on," Sandy's father said. "I don't-"
"William." The older woman said.
William sighed. "Sandy, come on, your mom is right. We have some Norwegian blood from my great grandfather but that's about it. You need to be on top of your college applications or you're going to get stuck working at McDonald's. And then I won't be able to eat there anymore because I know how you cook. Don't take McDonald's away from me, Sandy. Don't. Please."
"Look," Susan's mother said. "Your father and I will be at work tomorrow and Jeremy will be at daycare. If you fill out two applications, we'll take you out to eat. That's all I'm asking. Just fill them out and we'll mail them off and go out to eat. I'm not above bribing you. Don't turn out like me. I had to marry your father so I could go back to school and we both know how that turned out."
"Hey!" William exclaimed. "You said you loved me for my eyes."
"Yes, dear. And your money. All right, Sandy?"
Sandy put her fork down on her empty plate and then sighed. "Okay. I'll fill them out. Can I go now, please?"
Standing, Sandy left as her mother called out behind her. "And don't spend the whole damn day playing that Skyworld!"
"Skyrim, mom!" Sandy yelled back. The family's cat, Darwin, darted out of her father's study as she passed. Biting back a curse, she kicked at the little cat and then yelped when it struck at her with its claws. "You little jerk! I'm bleeding!"
The young girl closed her door and sat back in her bed. She toyed with her blond hair as she daydreamed. Huge, stupidly muscled Viking men in armor with their robust women by their sides. The women held their own weapons, scowling at distant enemies. She was one of those women. Only she had no man with her. She stood alone. Tough. Fierce. A leader of the village with her long, blond hair tied in a single, thick braid. Lines of rock hard muscles stood from her book as she roared in defiance-
"Honey?" Her mom's voice called out. "I forgot to mention. I asked Brad to come over and help you with your applications."
Sandy groaned. "Brad? Seriously, mom? He's such a ... such a ... nerd."
"I don't think they call them nerd these days, honey. Anyway, he's already been accepted so he can help. Just remember, teen pregnancy is on the rise and you have to marry the man that knocked you up so don't make any...nerd babies."