Tsomis left his dormitory and walked across the tree-lined street. The sky was blue and clear. A strong wind whipped the leaves off the ground, looking like swirling dancers across the hard-packed sidewalk. The trees themselves were dressed in their autumnal regalia. The leaves wore the brightest of oranges, the strongest of yellows, and dusty reds that reminded Tsomis of the orange dust outside the valley. The leaves clung to the branches, looking ready to drop at a moment’s notice. Their moisture long since sucked from their bodies leaving the leaves colored and crispy.

Tsomis walked the street in what would look to others as a diagonal pattern. He aimed his feet for the largest pile of leaves to stomp on as he passed. The satisfying crunch as the leaves broke into thousands of pieces was worth the extra time and distance. He carried his four school books tied together with a leather strap, swinging the books as he stomped from leaf pile to leaf pile. The hand-bound books, passed down through generations within his family, did not take the swinging well. They creaked and threatened to drop a yellowed page onto the sidewalk.

It was still early in the morning and a few people were on the street. Tsomis approached a couple that walked in the opposite direction. The woman was dressed in a formal morning dress, holding a white laced umbrella to protect herself from the morning sun, which had not yet made it over the eastern mountains. A young gentleman walked next to her, holding her elbow slightly as she walked. They walked without looking at each other, staring out in front of them, as if their formal progression was going to bring them someplace. Behind them was a smaller fellow that carried a large chest on his back. His skin was stained with orange dust. Once the orange dust soaked into the skin, it was impossible to wash out. It identified him as a tent person.

Tsomis stood aside to let them pass. He took off his cap and gave them a small bow before continuing on his way. He wondered briefly what was in the chest. He imagined they were newlyweds, heading on their first picnic or perhaps a shopping trip downtown after spending their first night together. He wondered if that would one day be him and Amy Lee, heading down the street after their first days as a married couple. He could imagine himself quite happy with her, with her ways. He thought of this for a while, forgetting to direct his walk to the closest piles of leaves.

He imagined himself to be free to take those trips at his leisure when he finished with his schooling. He doubted he would have the time. Lawyers spend most of their time in court, and he imagined he would be spending his time there as well, arguing over the legal realities of the valley. He could not wait for the opportunity to prove himself with the other jurists. He envisioned large bound books, the print carefully lettered and set, with his name along the spine. It would be his decisions, or perhaps his briefs, or his laws. That it has taken the two years to get through the schooling before he could change the world was worrisome. He liked studying the rules, but sometimes wished they did not apply to him in certain circumstances.

In front of each house were varying sized piles of leaves. Tsomis could tell that the piles had been neat only a short time before. The gardeners must have been working late into the night. He searched down the street for the wagons that would collect the leaves for burning but did not see or hear the rumble of the wooden wheels. The valley workers were sometimes unreliable. He checked his pocket watch. They should have been here a while. It was rule breakers like this that Tsomis could not abide. There were laws in place for a reason, and there were timetables that he expected the people to follow. Not for the first time, he vowed that when he was in power, he would ensure that these rules were followed. He knew he was ethical, he knew he always followed rules. He could think of no reason why those rules should not be followed. For this he could not forgive these people.

But it was late. The day was an election day. Today would decide the fate of the council and the prime minister. They had been running unopposed for a few years. That changed this year as a new body was running for the parliament. It was time for a change, was how they positioned themselves to the nobles. The nobles did not always believe in change. They lived comfortable lives, and could not imagine why they should threaten change. There was also the rumblings of equal rights that have worked through the valley.

Tsomis laughed at the thought. To think that the dusted ones deserved an equal say in the world of their betters. He knew it was ridiculous. He had heard at a salon on the previous day the thought that perhaps the elves would want a vote in the election as well. That was equally ludicrous, as it made no sense to give them a say in a body that had almost no authority over them and their caves. They elect their own council and only live by the human’s laws when they are in their territory. It had worked for hundreds of years. They also provided the prophet to choose the king. Hat system had worked for so long that it made no sense to threaten the system.

Tsomis let the thought out of his mind. He needed to concentrate on this day of days. Today he would finish his lessons and enjoy the sunlight and the day of elections.

He arrived at school early and noticed an elf waiting outside the schoolhouse. She was dressed in a white robe with a golden belt around her waist. Her hair was golden and down to the small of her back. There were fewer elves in the valley these days. They spent most of their time in the caves outside of the valley.

“Are you looking for someone?” Tsomis asked as he approached the elf. Tsomis had arrived early at school as usual. He enjoyed getting there before the rush of students. He liked to settle in and review his day’s work, go through the statutes and decisions that his professors would discuss during the day. He usually waited in the library, resting on the leather upholstered furniture with a mug of coffee to start the morning right.

The elf turned and looked at Tsomis. She had large green eyes that complimented her thin golden hair. She was small even for an elf, barely coming up to the middle of Tsomis’s chest. Tsomis was not a large man, and he enjoyed spending time with elves for this reason. He did not have much opportunity these days. Only the prophet was seen regularly. The elves did position guards throughout the valley, but they seemed more ceremonial these days. They had less effect on the order of the valley and more on emphasizing that the elves still had a say in the daily happenings in the valley. Tsomis did not think they did anymore. He was convinced that the days of the elves was coming to a close. There was a reason that they were not around anymore. He was comfortable with this change, and he welcomed the humans managing and choosing their own leaders.

What he thought was shared by most of the people in the valley. The days of trusting the valley to the ineptitude of the current king, chosen by the elven leader were long past. Tsomis believed in a future that was not decided by the elven will.

Sandra looked to the young boy holding the books. He was not bad looking for a human. He was shorter than most of the other human men she had seen and had floppy hair that covered his ears. When he spoke, he opened his mouth wide so she could see his brilliant white teeth. She was taken with the musicality in his voice. Most humans sounded like sandpaper when compared to the voices of the elves. Here was a boy with a deeper understanding of the music of speech.

“I have a meeting with the dean,” Sandra said to the boy. “I expected him to be here by now. I don’t mind waiting, however. I know sometimes promptness is lost upon people when they have important things to do during the day.”

“The dean is a very prompt man,” Tsomis said. “I doubt he would keep you waiting. He has the most excellent of manners.” Tsomis left off his next thought. The elves were not known for their manners .If anything, they spoke their minds and never worried about the social niceties and norms that kept polite society on the proper narrow path.

“Have you rang the bell to call him?” Tsomis asked.

“Of course,” Sandra said. “Many times.”

“And the servants have not answered?” Tsomis said, speaking more to himself. “That is most unusual.” Tsomis walked over to the oversized wooden doors that led into the school building. He pulled on the rope that hung next to the door and listened as the bell range. He pulled three times before letting go of the rope. The bell rang a few more times as it echoed through the halls. Tsomis had not realized how hard he had pulled the rope until the sound reverberated.

Tsomis waited for the servant to answer the bell. It was strange for Tsomis to have to wait outside. “Something must have happened for nobody to be answering,” Tsomis said to the elf. “Today they were to administer the exams. They might be preparing for that down stairs.

“That makes sense,” Sandra said. “I am Sandra, by the way. Since we will be waiting together, I thought I would introduce myself.”

“I apologize for the oversight,” Tsomis said. “I am Tsomis Manger. I am a third year student here.”

“It is good to meet you Tsomis Manger,” Sandra said with a smile. She held out her small hand and Tsomis leaned over and brought it up and to him.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Tsomis said. Tsomis saw a cuteness he had not seen in her when he first saw her. If she was not an elf, and if he was not so infatuated with Penelope, he thought there was a chance he could see beyond her orange tinted skin. He told himself that he was not a racist in that way. He could see beyond the class divides the broke the humans up, and both extension the elves into those of the servant classes. That she was not human was the bigger issue with him, he told himself. He could not get beyond that divide. Had there ever been a baby born of the two races? In all of the history and books he had read throughout his academic career, he could not remember such a time.

“What are you studying, Tsomis,” Sandra asked. She leaned toward him when he spoke and she looked like she really wanted to listen. He had seen other elves in the past, and they always seemed to be moving rapidly. Either physically moving or mentally moving from idea to idea, faster than any human could follow. It was one of the reasons that he found the elves so off-setting. They seemed to be living in a different world. He knew that they made up in their short lives for the years they would not have that the humans did.

“I will happily tell you over coffee if I could be so bold,” Tsomis said. He was more curious what she was doing here, and he wanted to take the opportunity to find out.

Word count: 2,008 (16,736)

Words remaining: 33,264

With the presidential election (go Obama!) and an incredibly busy day at work (not to mention wanting to save an hour to wind down with, yes, video games), I only managed to eke out my word goal for the day. There’s a downward trend in my count. Putting the words to paper was not painful today. The story moved slowly in a direction (with still little in the way of plot). I’ll take what I can get, however.