Marmalade and a Pointless Dream

By Nurple

Daria and Jane lay silently in their beds, waiting for the guards to pass the room they shared. When they knew the upity guards had passed, they sat up and pulled on their backpacks, then silently made for the window. They were in luck. All the work they'd done sawing off those wires had helped, and the guards were unaware of their escape.

They crept quietly through the yards, hiding behind trees, bushes, trashcans; anything a few feet tall or wide would do. Finally, they reached the gate.

Jane: Shit! Mason's on duty!

Daria: Fear not, my friend.

Daria procured a box of doughnuts from her bag and set it lightly on the gatehouse windowsill, then tapped to get his attention, and ducked out of the way. The too-fat guard saw the doughnuts, gave a piggy-squeal of delight, and ripped the top off, devouring doughnut after doughnut. Daria and Jane made a run for it, jumped, and started to climb. They had just swung over the top when the siren sounded. Daria's eyes went wide, and she grabbed Jane and ducked behind a rusting car a few yards away. They looked around.

Daria: There's no where to go!

Jane: We've got to try. I aint goin' back there again! C'mon. Hurry!

Jane pulled Daria along by the high stone wall untill it turned down a street. They always kept these places way back in the woods so you couldn't get out, so Daria and Jane were surprised to see a car parked on the road with it's keys on the seat. They jumped in, fired it up, and sped out of there. A horn sounded, and flashing lights appeared in the black abyss of forest behind them.

Jane: Shit! Shit, shit shit!

Daria: Cut with the swearing and make with the.... Crap. What rhymes with swearing that applies to this situation?

Jane just rolled her eyes and flored it. In the distance ahead, a line of lights branched across the road.

Daria: Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit!

Jane: Now who's cussing?

Daria glared, and Jane pushed even faster. A look of fear came into her eyes as she lifted her foot and the car kept on going.

Jane: The pedal's jammed!

Daria and Jane could only cover their heads as, with a loud crash... Daria fell out of bed and landed on a stack of books. Picking her bruised self up off the floor, she looked at the clock. It read 6:30. Daria groaned and sat down on her bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She pulled on glasses and looked at the calendar. It was Saturday, and to top that off, yesterday had been the last day of school.

Daria growled slightly and stumbled over to the closet. She pulled out jeen shorts and a black tee-shirt and pulled them on roughly, then went to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth.

Downstairs and throughout the house, she was the only one awake. She checked the kitchen cupboards. No bread for toast. They were all out of tea and juice. Not even any sugar tarts or cake. Daria sighed and pulled on her gym shoes, grabbed her walet and the keys, and made her way out to the garage.

The car was getting a little dusty because Daria never used it anymore. She usually just walked to save gas money, and to give her time to think. She hit the little button and the garage door opened, then she backed out and made her way to the store. About halfway there, she realized she forgot to close the door, but smirked and hit the button. On the little screen was a computer graphic showing a door closing. The device beeped, and the house was a closed fortress.

Daria: Sometimes I love technology.

When she got to the store, there were very few people there. The ones who were were very sleepy-looking, and Daria figured most had come for baby food with which to shut up their toddlers. She paused, trying to remember where the bread was. With the amount of remodling this store had done, Daria was surprised they still even stocked bread. She picked up a bag, and grabbed some orange marmalade on a spur of the moment thought. In the front, a man who was sleeping at his register was awoken when daria dropped the jar of marmalade on his head.

Daria: Ooops.

Man: Yeah, oops, oops. That's what they ALLL say. Let's see what you got.

He rung up the bread and marmalade. Daria was surprised at the price of the stuff, but said nothing, and payed.

Guy: Thank-you for shopping at foodwaaaa- zzzzz.

Daria half-smiled as the man fell asleep before he finished his sentance. She put the bag in the passenger seat of the car and drove home. She parked the car, and brought the food into the kitchen, where Helen was sitting over a cup of coffee trying to get some work done. She looked up when Daria came in.

Helen: Oh, Daria. I thought you were still asleep.

Daria: We were all out of breakfast.

Daria dumped the items out of the bag, put a slice of bread in the toaster, and went to get butter from the fridge'. The toast popped up and she slathered on butter and marmalade, then dove in and devoured it.

Daria: Delicious.

Helen: Make me a slice?

Daria made two more pieces and gave one to Helen, then sat at the table with the paper. Jake came running in, fully dressed, grabbed the business section off the table, and ran for the door. Quinn came running down pulling her windbreaker on over her teeshirt, grabbed the style section, and ran out the door. Daria looked at Helen and smiled. Daria raised her toast, and so did Helen.

Daria: A toast, to... something.

Helen: To something!

They scarffed down breakfast, and Daria half-smiled as she finished her literature section of the newspaper. She looked over at Helen, who was looking at her.

Daria: We should do that more often.

Helen smiled and nodded, and Daria stood and went upstairs.

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