My Mind is Made Up

© 2014 Mr. David R. Dorrycott

Chapter Five

Dinner was a simple meal, though more than enough of the simple food was available to fill everyone’s stomach with good food left over. I had to admit that I was shocked by the amount of food, why it was a weeks worth to a family of this size in my time, one could get obese eating this much all the time. Once again I shook myself mentally, my time was now, not the future where I had been born and raised. I was Heather Rose Baker, a farmers third daughter now, not John Jupiter Glendale, Purdue University Physics Grad Student. Life was going to be complicated for some time and the first thing I needed to do is get a High School education (again) then figure out what kind of job I could get. Farming was right out, at least without a lot of advances first.

Once dinner was over I helped clear the table as best as my still weak body would allow, though I wasn’t allowed to help wash or dry the dishes. “Not yet” mother said, “Not until you are back in school.” So I placed my school books on the now cleared and cleaned dining table, then pulled out the worksheet that had come with them.

‘You have to be kidding me’ I thought as I read, this was all third grade subjects, why Heather wasn’t even being exposed to Algebra, much less the higher maths. ‘Well, best to get it over with’ I decided. History was rough, because I wasn’t at all good with that subject, but everything else was a breeze. Still I managed to get the work done, apparently much faster than Heather had ever done so before as Charollett grabbed my worksheets and started going over them. With nothing left to do I tackled the History text, might as well learn what I was expected to know was my reasoning.

“Everything is right” Charollett announced, looking at me as though I had grown a second head. “How?”

Looking up from the History text I met my sister’s gaze. “I don’t know” I lied. “Everything just seems clear now.”

“Clear?” Charollett repeated. “Heather, if I didn’t know you as well as I do, if I hadn’t watched you do the work I’d swear tha Mary did it. Mrs. Martin isn’t gonna believe this.”

“I know” I admitted. “Still sis, if she want’s to test me I’ll be happy to take any test in front of her.”

Charollett shook her head in disbelief, laying the hand written pages down beside me. Looking at those pages I wondered if the typewriter was invented yet in this reality, I couldn’t remember. I realized that if it had, becoming a Secretary would probability be my best option for getting out of my current future. Like most Grad students I was a darn good typist, and though a manual typewriter would be rough getting used too still it could be done. Having a steady, paying job would also let me move away, though keeping touch would be very important.

When mother touched my shoulder it pulled me out of the history book, I had barely started looking up when she informed me that it was well past my bedtime. Looking at the book I realized with dismay that I had almost finished it, school was going to be really boring if this was an example. I was used to going through a great deal more data than this in a month, though I would admit to anyone that reading a printed book was a lot easier on the eyes than reading a display screen. Closing my book I gathered the rest and placed them on a small table meant for school materials and went to bed. Eventually I fell asleep though I was still wondering how I was going to make any impact on this world.