Ch 01: Hopes Held High

Tory Black watched her newly formed sister as she packed her luggage. It wasn't fair.

 

"It's not fair Tammy. When do I get to go through the threshold?" Tory asked, taking a seat on her sister's bed. She watched her sister move clumsily on her new, gray paws, packing things as best she could.

 

"Maybe tomorrow, maybe never. Give it time Tory; I'm only a few minutes older than you. It shouldn't be too long."

 

"Yea but..."

 

"You're impatient." Tammy turned around, pulling the last of her stuff from her closet and stuffing it into a large pack. "That's always been your problem. I guess that's something you got from Mom."

 

"You got the body. I'd rather have that." Tory looked down at her own frame. Tan skin and muscular from working on Dad's farm since birth but she wasn't nearly as strong as Tammy had become.

 

Tammy smiled, her black nose twitching. "You got to work with what you have. You're a good looking girl, learn to flaunt it."

 

"Mom never showed me how."

 

"You seriously need Mom for everything?" She slammed the lid of her luggage case closed and threw her pack on. "Mom isn't around anymore. You need to start helping yourself."

 

"You could help me." Tory said hopefully. She beamed her best smile.

 

"Can't Sis. I've got to go find a tamer before I literally lose my mind. Go see Dad, he may not be the wisest man around but he and Mom were more or less inseparable. Maybe he can help."

 

"Yea maybe."

 

Tammy smiled again. "That's the spirit. Goodbye Sis."

 

She must have noticed how defeated her little sister looked. "I'll see you again. Super swear it."

 

Tory only gave a nod and a weak goodbye. Tammy moved to the door, turned the knob and walked out, leaving only memories and an empty room. The silence was deafening with her here and in a way Tory had never felt so alone. Only her mattress was left, she’d even taken the sheets and blankets. Tory had never felt like crying since Mom died but now she did. Deep racking sobs for the old and for the new. In the fading sunlight which filtered through a dusty window, Tory cried herself to sleep, dreaming of her sister.

 

She woke suddenly, immediately looking at her hands as she did every morning. Still human. She thought disappointedly. She was so tired of this. When is it her turn? When does she get her slice of the pie? She sighed. No reason to dwell on it and she could already smell her father’s cooking wafting through the air.

 

She left Tammy’s former room behind and trampled down the stairs into the living room. As usual her father had prepared a large banquet of food and set it out neatly on the oak table. He must have been in the kitchen still cooking up what was sure to be a fantastic batch of rolls. Tory took seat at the right of the table, leaving the head open for her father. This was the first time she’d seen only two place settings, the original four whittled down to three and finally just Tory’s and her fathers. It looked so lonely despite the massive amounts of food on the table.

 

“Hey! Good Mornin’ Buttercup. You’re up early.” Her father emerged from the kitchen archway, his sturdy arms carrying a tray of several dozen rolls. Tory noted the crumbs in his beard, meaning he’d already eaten many of them. He set the tray on the last empty spot of the table and took his seat t the head of the table.

 

“Dig in.” He smiled as he did every morning, filling his own plate with a couple servings of fish, veggies, and breads. “You gotta eat if you’re gonna grow.”

 

Tory let a small fake smile cross her lips grabbing only a small portion of food. They sat in awkward silence as father ate his food greedily and Tory poked at her food.

 

“You’re awful quiet today.” Her father said, reaching for more food. “I know you must be down but don’t tell me you let it ruin your appetite.”

 

“I just…” Tory found it hard difficult to explain. “I just want it to be my turn. Mom had her turn, Tammy’s getting hers. When’s it going to be mine?”

 

“You see that pokeball up there?”  He stopped eating long enough to point at the pokeball which was mounted on a stand at the most well lit corner of the room.

 

“Yea. It’s Mom’s. I know the story.”

 

“Well it served as more than a way of stopping her nagging.” He smiled. “It reminds me that, through all your struggles there’s always someone there to help. You’re mother helped me more than I could ever tell you. It wasn’t just about taming her, it wasn’t about battling; your mom and I honestly loved each other. We had a bond more solid than a rock and more unmovable than a mountain. She helped me and you damn well better believe there’s someone to help you.”

 

“I just want to be like them. Strong, fast and beautiful.”

 

“And horny.” Her father added without looking up from his plate.

 

“Dad.” She replied annoyed.

 

“What? I don’t get why you think it’s so great. You’re strong, fast and beautiful now and you don’t need a sleazy guy fucking your brains out every night to stay sane”

 

“You were one of those sleazy guys with Mom.” She flipped her rosy hair over her shoulder and looked at him defiantly.

 

“Damn proud of it but I still believe you need to think.”

 

“The Threshold isn’t something you think about. It’s a change, it just happens.”

 

“Fuck if it just happens. You make your choices in your life. Remember how scared you were Tammy went through it?” Tory nodded and her father continued, “Looked damn scary to me as well, buttercup. Maybe you subconsciously fear it so you’re somehow keeping your body from it. Sounds reasonable, yea?”

 

“No. I want this more than anything. It’s my life’s dream.” She shook her head, and put on her most determined face.

 

“I don’t think you do.” Her father stopped eating long enough to wipe his mouth and beard.

 

“Yes. I. Do.”

 

“No. You. Don’t.” Her father stood up, rubbing his hands off on his plaid blue shirt. “Tell you what. I have an assignment for you. Go out and see if you can find a domesticated poke’woman in town or something. See if she went through the threshold and ask her how it was. Can you do that?”

 

“I don’t want to.”

 

“If you do maybe it’ll spark your body.” He said and began clearing what was left of the food off the table.

 

Tory was reluctant but also determined. If it would help her get to the Threshold she’d ask every poke’woman the world over. She’d ask ‘em twice if she needed to.

 

“Alright.” Tory smiled and pushed away from the table, standing up fast and as dramatically as she could. “I’ll do it!”

 

“You may want to calm it down. Good luck buttercup and be back by dark.” Her father said and took the dishes into the kitchen.

 

I’m almost 19 years old and I still have a curfew. What a grand life. Tory adjusted her clothes, walked to the front door and stepped into the bright new world ahead of her.