The Change of the Seasons: Teacher's Pet

Chapter 1
Prologue

Chapter Description: As our plot is set into motion, so too are the conspiracies of bitter old men.

[size=2]This is a fantasy grounded in reality

Within the mountainous walls that surround Old Lake Valley flow the waters of New Springs. Awe-inspiring and all-powerful, the magical spring water that pours out of the valley’s mountains and caves stretches itself across the enclosed landscape. Through its touch or consumption, the lives of those it chooses are remade forever anew. By its will:

A young, unsure man in college was sent back to elementary school.

A livid, immature boy was given the strength and resolve to rise to the challenge of adulthood.

A bitter, aging mother was rejuvenated and turned into a pubescent young girl once more.

A regretful, nostalgic teenager without a prospect in the world was rewound into a preteen girl.

With its almighty influence, comes absolute foreknowledge, and things that are in the wrong are set right. Ambitious girls are progressed into determined women and controlling parents are regressed into complacent children. Its power is eternal, but guided and ultimately bound by the Change of The Seasons. For like clockwork, when the season changes inside the valley, so too do the fates of those that reside within it.

But while New Springs changes those it wills, there are others that wish to change New Springs itself. A simple role reversal between two loving families has now given those that covet it the opportunity to reshape the entire world from its foundations. Families will be rewritten, livelihoods will be undone, and marriages will be annulled. Those working towards this disarray see only the positives from the chaos: a stronger family, a grounded meritocracy, and above all a blossoming of true love; liberated from the disease known as aging.

But perhaps they are wrong.

Deep into the cavernous depths of Old Lake Valley, near the source of the magical water that is known as New Springs. Three bitter old men sit around a triangular conference table, excessively out of place in the ancient sanctuary that surrounded them. They wore business suits appropriate for the executive positions they occupied in life but with colorful, mismatched tints more fitting for clowns.

They were not in a joking mood.

“That damnable upstart of a child!” The oldest of the three roared, sending his long white beard into a fury. “This travesty is entirely your son’s fault!”

The second oldest man across from him recoiled, shuffling his grey beard that was once a vibrant brown. “I criticized my son just as you all did! He has done nothing to warrant suspicion since the conclusion of the summer case. I daresay that we should continue exercising our patience with New Springs. Surely it will deal with her heretic experimentations soon.”

“No I don’t believe it will.” Proclaimed the youngest of the men as he pinched his own trim beard, a checkered color of black and white. “New Springs would have acted long ago if it actually felt threatened by the upstart. I’m beginning to think that it is calling upon us to solve this problem ourselves.”

“We have little options to deal with her.” The grey beard man said. “We allowed the traitor to escape our grasp last time. We should act immediately and seize her assets. Deny her the comfortable lifestyle she has arrogated from her parents. That should be enough.”

“Don’t be naive!” The white beard man lectured. “The Assembly will override any executive action taken against one of their own. Besides, we should consider the majority of them enthralled by her witchery. She has gotten the traitor’s son all but admitted into their ranks.”

“Indeed.” The checkered beard man joined in, “The First Generation will be unreservedly outraged should we move against the upstart and the traitor’s son. Their popularity cannot be denied at this point.”

“Popularity is the concern of children.” The grey beard man spewed. “The First Generation should very well know better.”

“And perhaps they will learn that lesson again.” The checkered beard man reassured. “You never know what the seasons will bring.”

The white beard man turned his accusations towards the checkered beard man. “Your delusions to experience the days of our forefathers in this valley are just as dangerous as the upstart’s heresies in acting outside it.”

“Please.” The checkered beard man retorted. “I know my place and responsibilities here as dictated by New Springs.”

“As true as the seasons change,” The grey beard man interjected, “But your fascination with the rumors surrounding the upstart are beginning to border upon the levels of fetishization you once held towards the traitor’s foiled plans.”

“Indeed.” The checkered beard man admitted. “I know the dreams of the upstart well. It is precisely why we must act quickly before it is too late.” He said as he ruffled his beard. “If only we could indubitably prove to the upstart the falsehood of her worldwide vision. She would certainly be useful were she to swear her loyalty to us, and perhaps something much more.” He said with an almost wistful tone.

“A showcase then.” The white beard man suggested. “A controlled event of sorts. To prove to the upstart the familial dismay and societal upheaval that will inevitably sprout from her so called dream for the world.”

“I assume you already have a suitable location in mind?” The grey beard man inquired.

“I can easily make the arrangements.” The white beard man claimed. “We need but appropriate the upstart’s formula.”

The grey beard man nodded in agreement. “We could use the time she wastes obsessing and micromanaging the aftermath to better prepare ourselves. Gather allies and secure resources. So we can properly contain the upstart should she continue these false ambitions of hers.”

“Then it is decided.” The checkered beard man spoke for them all. “Gentlemen, I will not lie to you. I share the upstart’s revelation of a Great Change. A heralding so powerful as to undo the cancer of Globalism that has infested this valley. To rejuvenate the old and bring an eternal youth to the adults within. Giving a blessed childhood to our loyal laborers and an innocent infancy to the defiant apostates. New Springs will soon affirm our faith by making that glorious dream into an actuality beyond imagination. Just as surely as the seasons change; we will rule over this paradise of a valley not as mere men, but as divinely ordained kings!”

The three old men, not so bitter now, raised their glasses of sparking water in cheers. With the click of their glasses, they signaled their conspiracy into motion.

The following is the story of two females. An overstressed teacher by the name of Elizabeth Baxter and her distressed student Becky Brownwood.

Both share admirable intentions as well as pitiable faults of character. They are soulmates, inexplicably tied together through parallel paths. Their destinies, along with the destinies of their colleagues, classmates, and clans will be forever altered when one season shifts into another.

Thus approaches the season of autumn, known as fall to the inhabitants of our setting. It is the season of declining temperatures which brings the slow, gentle death of Mother Nature. But the humans of this valley, of this country, of western civilization, know it for another reason: the bemoaning of those who must return to school. [/size]