published 24/06/26
=Returned=
# ~~~ TAGS ~~~
# clans: Furs
# characters: Vivienne; Dr. Marsh
# worlds: Sasija
# series: Viv's Journey
# ~~~ END TAGS ~~~

Vivienne was sitting in a large lecture hall. It was class time. But there was no teacher.
There was nothing on the giant blackboards. There was no one behind the podium, or the computer desk. The air was dead silent, and heavy enough to muffle any attempt to disturb it. Vivienne shuffled her hooves, and scratched the beard of her goatlike snout. All the rows and rows of seats were filled with animalistic faces looking around, confused, anxious. She fiddled with the hem of her dress, then pulled a textbook out of her bag to review.
After several more long minutes, the door opened. In walked one late student, followed by a fox-man in a official-looking black suit and tie. The student made their way to a seat, while the fox stepped up to the podium.
"Students." he began in a deep, sympathetic voice. "My apologies for the delay in your class getting underway. We have had a sudden change of administration following some rather exciting news. 
"As you may be familiar, this class was formerly taught by Dr. Lindsey Marsh, one of the largest names in the field of linguistics, and an author of several breakthrough papers in the effort to decode the mystic Draconic language. Over the last winter break, we received news that Dr. Marsh had passed away in the night after suffering a heart attack. This was a shock for all of us, and our campus has since been in a state of deep mourning for an excellent researcher, educator, and friend.
"However," he adjusted his tie, "we have since learned that Dr. Marsh did not suffer a heart attack on the night of January 9th, and in fact is alive and well. She reappeared on campus this morning to inform us herself, and to request reinstatement, which of course we granted. As such, I am pleased to inform you, " the fox gave an earnest, wide smile. "that she will be returning to all her duties on the faculty as of today. Please join me in welcoming back Dr. Lindsey Marsh to our school's community."
There was an explosion of cheers across the classroom. The door opened to reveal another fox, she thickly built with brown fur, dressed in a simple white cardigan and grey slacks. At her appearance, a chorus of hoots and hollers joined the mix. Many stood up. Vivienne did all of the above. The official stepped aside, and Dr. Marsh took the podium, signalling for them all to sit down. As soon as Vivienne sat down and stopped yelling, her throat tightened up in protest, but the rest of her still felt like it was floating somewhere near the ceiling.
"No need to make so much fuss for an old woman, I assure you." Dr Marsh said, as she adjusted her spectacles on her greying snout. "I'll have you regretting my return within weeks, don't you worry. Yes, my death was something of a fabrication. The whole story is rather long, and frankly irrelevant to our discussion of third-century Friid, but suffice to say I had made some rather unfortunate acquaintances in the research community, and had to spend a few months undercover while some friends sorted out the problem. Now that that's all over with, we can get on with our discussion of Kahan the Great's Spelling Reform of 281 ..."
And with that, the class proceeded exactly as all of Dr. Marsh's classes did; with minimized boredom, and maximal flexing of their own intellectual muscles; they were PhD students now, after all. Dr. Marsh wrote some stories up on the board, and the class split up into teams to puzzle out what they said. Afterwards, she lectured on the specific mechanics at play from the side of a ladder so she could reach the whole board, and then led a thriving discussion about the general trends that underlaid the soundshifts and the linguistic decrees of the monarchs of yore. 
But all good things must come to an end, and so must all good classes. The discussion was wrapped up, the large pile of homework was assigned, and the students packed up their things. As they filed towards the door, however, Vivienne forked off to the left to speak to the professor directly. Dr. Marsh's tired eyes brightened as she approached.
Vivienne stopped, and looked up at the old fox, gathering the courage to say all she wanted to. "Professor ..." she swallowed, "It's so good to see you again. I missed you so much ... I know we didn't talk much in the months before I left for the moon, but I every day I was up there I missed seeing you around the halls ... It was so hard, when I came back ... and learned that I wasn't going to see you again ... never consult with you on another project, never stop by for another cup of tea ..." she sighed, "never even hear your voice again. It was terrifying. It felt like the rock underneath my anchor had broken and I was plunging into a storm. It felt like the sky opened up and swallowed the world out from under my hooves and just left me there in the void. It felt like ... like a ..." her words dissolved into blubbering tears.
Dr. Marsh crouched down, and took Vivienne's hand in hers. "My dear student ..." she began.
And then Vivienne woke up and none of it was real.
Grey light filtered in under the window shade, casting the motel room in dreary light. Next to her, her partner Kevin continued to snore beneath the blankets. Vivienne tried to close her eyes and relax back into sleep. The world refused to fade. She clenched her muscles and dripped a stream of tears into the pillow, but of course none of that helped. After several more shuddering breaths, she gave up, hugged her knees to her chest, and waited for dawn.