It was a warm summer morning in Appaloosa Plains and Julius Cardwell couldn‘t wait to begin the next chapter in his life.
He had worked so hard for this—daily morning jogs when he would have liked to sleep in, studying the dull law books on top of schoolwork, taking classes on weekends—but it had all paid off in the end. Tomorrow he was going to start his career at the Appaloosa Plains Police Department.
"That‘s great," Icarus said once again, "I‘m so proud of you."
Julius knew his dad‘s words were sincere, despite the unconvincing thumbs-up he punctuated them with. Yet Julius also knew that his dad would be equally proud if Julius decided to drop everything tomorrow and went off to ‚find himself‘, as his sister was planning on doing. Some may have found that thought comforting, but it left a bitter taste in Julius‘ mouth.
*
After several hours in a stuffy room in city hall, with what had seemed like the entirety of the town populace in attendance, the graduation ceremony finally came to an end. The Cardwell family stepped out into the sunlight, welcoming the fresh air.
Handing out the high school diplomas hadn‘t taken nearly as long as the award ceremony, a long-standing tradition in most Simnation schools. The students nominated each other for awards ranging from "Most Popular" to "Most Likely to Burn Down Their Own House" and everyone got one. It was utterly meaningless, but Julius had known that his dad was going to make a big deal of his award from the moment it was announced.
Julius reminded himself that his father meant well, but he’d heard all of this before. His patience was wearing thin. "I already have a job," he said slowly, trying, but failing, to hide his annoyance.
"Of course," Icarus nodded, "But you still have other options."
Julius gritted his teeth.
Jodie diffused the situation by shoving a gift-wrapped box at Julius, smiling brightly. "So you don’t forget me, since you’re so bent on not coming to uni with me," she said.
As quickly as Julius‘ anger had risen, it subsided. Inside the box was a set of various framed family photos and Julius found himself swallowing back tears. He managed a simple, "Thanks," but later that day Jodie would see how Julius had carefully placed each one of the photos in his bedroom.
Two of Ralph‘s children, the twins Trey and Rosalind, had also been in today’s graduating class. Rosalind excused herself right after the ceremony, but Trey accompanied the Cardwell household to the summer festival.
Julius and Trey started off with a friendly game of shooting hoops that soon turned fiercely competitive. After Julius‘ blowout victory, Trey immediately challenged him to a hot dog eating contest.
At first it looked like neither of the fresh graduates was going to win: Armando Hennessey, sporting a designer tracksuit, came out of the gate with an impressive pace, practically inhaling one hot dog after another. But then, for no apparent reason, he forfeited and walked away.
The next one to tap out was Trey, who ran off to convulsively empty the contents of his stomach.
Julius, however, wasn‘t content with beating Trey. Wesley Chandra was the only remaining competitor, a dark horse who had maintained a slow but steady pace since the beginning of the contest.
The two were head to head for a while, but the finale was anticlimactic: both of them simultaneously decided that a win wasn‘t worth the inevitable aftermath and walked away. Appaloosa Plains‘ annual hot dog eating contest ended without a clear winner.
The true champion, as it turned out, was Trey Riffin‘s stomach. He still had space for a snow cone.
Over the next few hours everyone took turns turns on the rickety roller coaster.
The Cardwells spent the rest of the afternoon on the roller skating rink, with varying levels of success.
Julius, usually confident in his athletic abilities, wobbled on unsteady legs while his sister effortlessly glided and spun around the rink. "How are you doing this," he whined at her as she zipped by.
Jodie grinned. "With style!"
Later Jodie held her dad‘s hands in an effort to keep him from falling while she taught him how to spin.
"Do you think Julius will be okay," she asked him. At Icarus‘ questioning look, she added, "It‘s kind of dangerous, being a cop, isn‘t it? And he‘s not the best at keeping himself out of trouble."
Icarus grimaced. He had never been a pushy parent, but he did wish his son would have chosen a career path with a little less potential for danger. He told Jodie what he had been telling himself, "Oh, he’ll be fine. This is a small town. Nothing ever happens here."
Moments later, the pair found themselves flat on the ground.
***
Julius was up bright and early the next morning. He‘d been so concerned with being on time that he‘d arrived an hour before he was supposed to, leaving him time to ponder.
The Appaloosa Plains Police Department—APPD for short—was a relatively small department. It didn‘t even have its own building, instead occupying a wing of the town‘s civic center. Julius had been here just the day before, collecting his high school diploma, but today the brick building looked grand and imposing.
He had anticipated this moment for so long, imagining how it would feel, but nothing had prepared him for this. The freshly pressed uniform was stiff and a lot bulkier than he’d expected. His brand new shoes felt too tight and the matching leather belt squeaked with every move. Julius found himself sweating in the summer sun, wondering how obvious his discomfort was to onlookers.
As he lifted his cap to wipe the sweat off his forehead, Julius looked up at the plaque above the door. Sunlight gleamed off the APPD emblem, with their motto emblazoned beneath, "Pride - Integrity - Guardians of Simnation."
Julius straightened his back and entered.
After the receptionist ushered Julius through a series of gray corridors, he found himself in an equally gray shared office space. He was greeted by the smell of stale coffee and the sounds of clacking keyboards and ringing phones.
Finding the chief was easy enough. Hers was the only private office, and it stood in stark contrast to the sea of gray desks outside. Chief Darnell sat in a leather chair at a stately wooden desk, backed by tall bookshelves. The remaining walls were adorned with framed newspaper articles and accolades.
"You must be the new recruit," The chief smiled and got up. "Cardwell, was it?"
Unsure of the correct procedure, Julius opted for a salute. "Julius Cardwell, reporting for duty."
Chief Darnell raised an eyebrow.
"Cute, is that the new rookie?" said a deep voice from behind. Julius dropped his arm and turned to see the source of the booming voice: a burly middle-aged officer had just entered, bearing a wide grin.
"Ah, Doug, good timing," Chief Darnell smiled. Turning back to Julius, she said, "Sergeant Bedlington here will be your field training officer. Doug, show him around, will you?"
"Yes, ma‘am," Sergeant Bedlington gave a salute. Then both he and the chief guffawed.
Julius scowled as he followed a still chuckling Sergeant Bedlington out of the chief’s office.
After a brief tour of the premises during which Julius remained mostly silent, Bedlington announced, "Okay, rookie, it‘s time to you out there. We‘re on patrol duty today. Don’t worry, I‘ll teach you everything you need to know."
"I suppose the first lesson is that we don‘t salute the chief," Julius mumbled grudgingly.
Bedlington, incorrigibly affable, laughed. "It‘s alright kid, we‘ve all had a first day. You‘ll get your chance to impress the chief sooner or later."
__________
This chapter took FOREVER to write. I have most of this generation mapped out, with roughly planned scenes which I‘m sorting into chapters as I go along. I took most of the staged screenshots I need and a lot of the conflict scenes are already written. But this exposition/inbetween stuff is sooo hard.
