Categories > Cartoons > Daria > Silent Cynic
The Silent Cynic
Epilogue
October, 2024 – A medium-size old town/suburb on western Long Island
A hundred years before, this had been a somewhat sleepy little town. Between the end of World War II and the present, it had grown to nearly double the population (not counting ‘suburbs’ and various housing and shopping developments between it and some of the other nearby towns), and better roads (there was no rail station in town, but there was a commuter station one town over) connected it to New York City. On one side of what was now the main street lay the old core of the town, then the main street had become what passed for the commercial center as the other side developed in the late 19th century. While there were no actual mansions in the town (as opposed to the modern outskirts), there were some substantial Victorian houses.
Daria Morgendorffer and her family lived in one of those large Victorian houses. Facing it, the right corner of the medium-blue painted house featured a turret, and there was a substantial front porch. If one could look into the house, on the second floor’s right side was a large (15 feet wide by 27 deep) bedroom, with a large attached bath, and then a separate but equally-long bathroom filling the floor. On the left side were three equal-sized bedrooms, and between them and the master bedroom was yet another if smaller bedroom (12x12), with the center hallway and stairs behind it.
Daria’s bedroom was the main bedroom. Her husband Troy’s bedroom was the back bedroom, while her life partner Jane’s bedroom was in the center. Troy and Daria’s now 14-year old son TJ (Trent Jacob) slept in the front of the three side bedrooms – while Daria and Troy’s biological son, Jane had been their surrogate for Trent. Jane then had a son with Troy via invitro five years later, Robert Vincent (Robert after Troy’s father). He still slept in what had been the front-center bedroom/nursery, although it had of course been redecorated.
Under the three bedrooms were three rooms, front parlor, den (where the only TV was), and breakfast room. The kitchen was in the back, between the breakfast room and what was supposed to be the formal dining room, but which was actually used as the family’s office. The space under Daria’s bedroom was the library. Other than two of Jane’s more brightly colored abstracts, the fireplace mantle would most likely draw any visitor’s attention in the library. Daria was a very well-known writer. She had two lines of novels. Under her own name was a multiple award-winning science fantasy series (currently with 15 volumes), while under a pseudonym was a series of best-selling ‘romance’ (closer to soft-core) novels, currently with a dozen entries. Granted, none of the latter had won any awards, but each had been on ‘the New York Times Best Seller’ list for at least twelve weeks in hardcover and twenty-seven in softcover, if not much longer.
In addition, Daria had had an even dozen plays professionally produced, all twelve having made it to Broadway (although two only appeared several years after they had first been produced, and only four had opened on Broadway). Eight had been made into films, and a ninth one would be whenever its run on Broadway ended. Six had won ‘Obie’ best drama awards (off-Broadway, while a seventh had been nominated) and two had won the Tony Award for Best Drama (six had been nominated). One had even won the Pulitzer (ironically, one which had been nominated for both an Obie and a Tony, but which had won neither). All had had decent to excellent performance runs. The shortest Broadway run was still 189 performances, while the longest had been just under 900 – there was some hope that the current play might surpass that. All eight plays made into films had been nominated for best adapted screenplay Oscars (all by Daria), but only one had won. She also had had original eight screenplays made into films (six nominated for Oscars, although none had won). There were other awards as well. To say she was successful would obviously be an understatement.
The basement was divided into three areas – one was used as a utility room (washer, drier, furnace, hot water heater, tools, etc.) and the front area was for the boys. Troy used the remaining area for his at-home office. He had just become a full professor of ancient history at an area university, and while considered an authority in many areas, he was now considered a world class authority on the contacts between the Greco-Roman world and the Indian subcontinent, with six monographs and numerous articles to his name. He was still an active chess player.
Behind the house was what had been a large two-floor stable, which had first been converted into a four-stall garage. Three stalls now remained for the family’s cars; the fourth was the entrance to the upper floor. The ground floor level was used as an office/reception area, with a ½ bath in the back. Upstairs, three quarters of the floor had been transformed into Jane’s studio. She was considered one of the better modernist painters of her generation, although that brought her somewhat more recognition than income. Fortunately, she was also highly in demand as a portraitist, which paid much better. The remaining quarter was Daria’s writing room.
The three had slowly worked out their relationships over their undergraduate years, and refined them while Daria earned her MFA and Troy his two MAs and PhD, although the time he had spent in India earning that additional graduate degree had slowed things down. Jane and Troy certainly loved each other, but it was mostly a Platonic love. While they shared Daria’s bed at the same time about 20% of the time, it was rare for there to be any sexual activity on those nights, and on those rare occasions, Daria was the near-exclusive (although not always the totally exclusive) center of attention.
On the whole, except for Troy’s mother, everyone in their extended families accepted the unusual arrangement to some greater (Amanda, Helen, Jake, Quinn, Amy) or lesser (Rita, Troy’s two brothers and their wives) degree, to somewhere in between. Even Troy’s mother had stopped (most of) her comments by the time TJ was born.
And so the three were sound asleep the Saturday before Halloween, Daria snuggled between her lovers. They were startled awake when there was a loud but brief pounding on the hall door, and then it opened with a shouting Bobby, “Mother! Mom! Dad! TJ’s bothering me!”
“What’s the rule for coming in here?” Troy demanded, slowly managing to sit up and glare, a bit blurry, at their youngest.
Bobby paused at that. He was happy to see that his three parents were in their usual sleeping clothes – that was not always true, especially when only two were present. “Ah…knock but wait until allowed to come in?” He had not thought things through.
“Right,” Jane agreed, still partially asleep.
“Mom, you won’t really dress me like TJ said? He said that….” He quieted when Daria sat up and glared at him. “Sorry, Mother.”
Daria elbowed Jane. “OW!” Jane sat up and thought a moment, until her brain fully caught up with the situation. “You wanted to go as a ‘Lower Decks’ Orion. I have made you the uniform, and your Aunt Stacy emailed me last night that your Aunt Quinn had found the best body makeup, so you can be the right shade of blue and it will easily wash off but not wear off. They are also sending the wig and prosthetics.” Quinn had made it to Hollywood, but she had quickly found greater success as an agent than as an actor. That she was her sister’s movie script agent certainly had gotten her started, and was still the cornerstone of her business, even if her firm was becoming one of the more powerful of the small agencies.
“Andorian, Mom!” Bobby protested. “Andorians are blue; Orions are green!”
“Andorian, okay. I do have it right though; blue, white hair, antennae?”
Bobby nodded in agreement.
Troy had made it out of bed and slipped on some sweatpants over his boxers. “I’ll talk with TJ,” he told the pair, still sounding partially asleep.
He leaned over and kissed Daria lightly while he and Jane gave each other’s hand an affectionate squeeze. Daria then motioned Bobby to come closer. He was a bit worried; he knew the rule about coming into this room. No parent had ever come close to going over any line in scolding or disciplining him or his brother, but he knew how much his mother was hurt by such inconsiderate actions.
Jane slipped out of bed, on the way to the attached bathroom, ruffling Bobby’s hair on the way. Daria patted Jane’s side of the bed, and Bobby sat, eyes down. A finger on his chin, and he was staring into those intense eyes. “I’m sorry, Mother. I shouldn’t let TJ tease me into not thinking.”
Daria shook her head a bit and gathered him into a hug, which he fully returned. Daria whispered, “Thank you; just do your best and remember we all love you.” Bobby squeezed a little tighter, and they released the hug. Bobby then bounded out of the room, while Daria got out of bed to pound on the bathroom door, to encourage Jane to hurry.
Daria glared at the door. Overall, she and her partners were very happy with their lives. She pounded on the door again. If only Jane didn’t take so long in the bathroom in the mornings…. Daria smiled as she shook her head. Then she pounded on the door again.
Epilogue
October, 2024 – A medium-size old town/suburb on western Long Island
A hundred years before, this had been a somewhat sleepy little town. Between the end of World War II and the present, it had grown to nearly double the population (not counting ‘suburbs’ and various housing and shopping developments between it and some of the other nearby towns), and better roads (there was no rail station in town, but there was a commuter station one town over) connected it to New York City. On one side of what was now the main street lay the old core of the town, then the main street had become what passed for the commercial center as the other side developed in the late 19th century. While there were no actual mansions in the town (as opposed to the modern outskirts), there were some substantial Victorian houses.
Daria Morgendorffer and her family lived in one of those large Victorian houses. Facing it, the right corner of the medium-blue painted house featured a turret, and there was a substantial front porch. If one could look into the house, on the second floor’s right side was a large (15 feet wide by 27 deep) bedroom, with a large attached bath, and then a separate but equally-long bathroom filling the floor. On the left side were three equal-sized bedrooms, and between them and the master bedroom was yet another if smaller bedroom (12x12), with the center hallway and stairs behind it.
Daria’s bedroom was the main bedroom. Her husband Troy’s bedroom was the back bedroom, while her life partner Jane’s bedroom was in the center. Troy and Daria’s now 14-year old son TJ (Trent Jacob) slept in the front of the three side bedrooms – while Daria and Troy’s biological son, Jane had been their surrogate for Trent. Jane then had a son with Troy via invitro five years later, Robert Vincent (Robert after Troy’s father). He still slept in what had been the front-center bedroom/nursery, although it had of course been redecorated.
Under the three bedrooms were three rooms, front parlor, den (where the only TV was), and breakfast room. The kitchen was in the back, between the breakfast room and what was supposed to be the formal dining room, but which was actually used as the family’s office. The space under Daria’s bedroom was the library. Other than two of Jane’s more brightly colored abstracts, the fireplace mantle would most likely draw any visitor’s attention in the library. Daria was a very well-known writer. She had two lines of novels. Under her own name was a multiple award-winning science fantasy series (currently with 15 volumes), while under a pseudonym was a series of best-selling ‘romance’ (closer to soft-core) novels, currently with a dozen entries. Granted, none of the latter had won any awards, but each had been on ‘the New York Times Best Seller’ list for at least twelve weeks in hardcover and twenty-seven in softcover, if not much longer.
In addition, Daria had had an even dozen plays professionally produced, all twelve having made it to Broadway (although two only appeared several years after they had first been produced, and only four had opened on Broadway). Eight had been made into films, and a ninth one would be whenever its run on Broadway ended. Six had won ‘Obie’ best drama awards (off-Broadway, while a seventh had been nominated) and two had won the Tony Award for Best Drama (six had been nominated). One had even won the Pulitzer (ironically, one which had been nominated for both an Obie and a Tony, but which had won neither). All had had decent to excellent performance runs. The shortest Broadway run was still 189 performances, while the longest had been just under 900 – there was some hope that the current play might surpass that. All eight plays made into films had been nominated for best adapted screenplay Oscars (all by Daria), but only one had won. She also had had original eight screenplays made into films (six nominated for Oscars, although none had won). There were other awards as well. To say she was successful would obviously be an understatement.
The basement was divided into three areas – one was used as a utility room (washer, drier, furnace, hot water heater, tools, etc.) and the front area was for the boys. Troy used the remaining area for his at-home office. He had just become a full professor of ancient history at an area university, and while considered an authority in many areas, he was now considered a world class authority on the contacts between the Greco-Roman world and the Indian subcontinent, with six monographs and numerous articles to his name. He was still an active chess player.
Behind the house was what had been a large two-floor stable, which had first been converted into a four-stall garage. Three stalls now remained for the family’s cars; the fourth was the entrance to the upper floor. The ground floor level was used as an office/reception area, with a ½ bath in the back. Upstairs, three quarters of the floor had been transformed into Jane’s studio. She was considered one of the better modernist painters of her generation, although that brought her somewhat more recognition than income. Fortunately, she was also highly in demand as a portraitist, which paid much better. The remaining quarter was Daria’s writing room.
The three had slowly worked out their relationships over their undergraduate years, and refined them while Daria earned her MFA and Troy his two MAs and PhD, although the time he had spent in India earning that additional graduate degree had slowed things down. Jane and Troy certainly loved each other, but it was mostly a Platonic love. While they shared Daria’s bed at the same time about 20% of the time, it was rare for there to be any sexual activity on those nights, and on those rare occasions, Daria was the near-exclusive (although not always the totally exclusive) center of attention.
On the whole, except for Troy’s mother, everyone in their extended families accepted the unusual arrangement to some greater (Amanda, Helen, Jake, Quinn, Amy) or lesser (Rita, Troy’s two brothers and their wives) degree, to somewhere in between. Even Troy’s mother had stopped (most of) her comments by the time TJ was born.
And so the three were sound asleep the Saturday before Halloween, Daria snuggled between her lovers. They were startled awake when there was a loud but brief pounding on the hall door, and then it opened with a shouting Bobby, “Mother! Mom! Dad! TJ’s bothering me!”
“What’s the rule for coming in here?” Troy demanded, slowly managing to sit up and glare, a bit blurry, at their youngest.
Bobby paused at that. He was happy to see that his three parents were in their usual sleeping clothes – that was not always true, especially when only two were present. “Ah…knock but wait until allowed to come in?” He had not thought things through.
“Right,” Jane agreed, still partially asleep.
“Mom, you won’t really dress me like TJ said? He said that….” He quieted when Daria sat up and glared at him. “Sorry, Mother.”
Daria elbowed Jane. “OW!” Jane sat up and thought a moment, until her brain fully caught up with the situation. “You wanted to go as a ‘Lower Decks’ Orion. I have made you the uniform, and your Aunt Stacy emailed me last night that your Aunt Quinn had found the best body makeup, so you can be the right shade of blue and it will easily wash off but not wear off. They are also sending the wig and prosthetics.” Quinn had made it to Hollywood, but she had quickly found greater success as an agent than as an actor. That she was her sister’s movie script agent certainly had gotten her started, and was still the cornerstone of her business, even if her firm was becoming one of the more powerful of the small agencies.
“Andorian, Mom!” Bobby protested. “Andorians are blue; Orions are green!”
“Andorian, okay. I do have it right though; blue, white hair, antennae?”
Bobby nodded in agreement.
Troy had made it out of bed and slipped on some sweatpants over his boxers. “I’ll talk with TJ,” he told the pair, still sounding partially asleep.
He leaned over and kissed Daria lightly while he and Jane gave each other’s hand an affectionate squeeze. Daria then motioned Bobby to come closer. He was a bit worried; he knew the rule about coming into this room. No parent had ever come close to going over any line in scolding or disciplining him or his brother, but he knew how much his mother was hurt by such inconsiderate actions.
Jane slipped out of bed, on the way to the attached bathroom, ruffling Bobby’s hair on the way. Daria patted Jane’s side of the bed, and Bobby sat, eyes down. A finger on his chin, and he was staring into those intense eyes. “I’m sorry, Mother. I shouldn’t let TJ tease me into not thinking.”
Daria shook her head a bit and gathered him into a hug, which he fully returned. Daria whispered, “Thank you; just do your best and remember we all love you.” Bobby squeezed a little tighter, and they released the hug. Bobby then bounded out of the room, while Daria got out of bed to pound on the bathroom door, to encourage Jane to hurry.
Daria glared at the door. Overall, she and her partners were very happy with their lives. She pounded on the door again. If only Jane didn’t take so long in the bathroom in the mornings…. Daria smiled as she shook her head. Then she pounded on the door again.
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