Hardly anyone even looked up. Casey scanned the room for his Subject. Impossible. The place was literally jammed from the gilded mirrors to the floor-...o-ceiling windows overlooking the river. ‘Any more people come in here those windows are gonna pop right out.’ He grabbed a skinny long-haired kid by the scruff of the neck. ‘I want you to get me a very tall, cool drink. It’s gotta have ice, but not too much ice, orange juice, but not the whole tree and seltzer, but not the whole fountain.. I did turn up for tuition, but I did just enoughbetween times to give the appearance that I was working.I was actually spending far too much time partying withmy friends, playing on my computer and listening to rockmusic.The only consolation was my tutor. He was only fiveyears older than me with a first class BA degree withEnglish and French as his major subjects. He’d taken aPGCE which would enable him to teach in the schoolsystem, but wasn’t sure yet whether that was what hereally. After what seemed a very long time, Mandy jerked awake, not realizing she had fallen asleep again. Someone was making noise in the room. A soft voice she now recognized as Mr. Dodds' said, "Well, my dear, how do you like my handy-work? Yes, yes, I know, I'll remove the gag in a moment. Let me just get my things ready." A minute later, she felt him undo the lacing at the back, and shortly she was blinking at the bright overhead light. It took her a few moments to work the stiffness out of her. Or write… So luckily, I didn’t stay home all year long, in fact I returned to my lost village only during the holidays, to see my family and friends, and tell them about the world. I would spend a few days helping my parents at home, and then they would consider that I had earned some spare time, and the four of us went on a bicycle trip in the countryside. There was a small river, only a few kilometers away, where the water was fresh and pure. We really loved this place. We used to go there.