Lemuria, Florida
10 years later
Zee ees Cassandra Shan weet National Geographic Magazine and we are exploreeng za eloosiv orca in eets natchooral abitat een zee Artic Ocean. Notice how eet unts for eets prey zee sea lion…“Hey Jacque Cousteau, that stuffed killer whale is not going to stock itself on the shelf.”
“Sorry Clee,” responded Sandra placing the stuffed animal on the display shelf. “Didn’t mean to have too much fun with the toys.” As a part time teen employee at the Neptune’s Cove gift shop, she wanted to prove to her skills as a hard worker. Well at least make her boss Cleito Richards think she hired a godsend according to her job application.
Luckily Clee’s giggle made Sandra feel more at ease. At fifty three years old, salt and pepper hair tied in a bun, and some crow’s feet her boss Cleito, simply Clee to her friends, must have been a great beauty in her day. Sandra made a mental imprint in her mind of what she might have looked like. Creamy pale skin like white sand, light blonde hair that radiated like the sun and blue eyes the color of the deepest ocean. Absolutely, Clee seemed like the type of woman who fought many male suitors with a stick. A rather large bat to be exact at the amount of female pheromones she emitted. You would have to be blind not to notice the older male customers looking at her in the store. Sandra hoped some of those emissions would rub off on her.
As a sixteen year old in a small coastal tourist area in Florida, Sandra Shan felt out of place as the only person of Asian descent living in a tiny town called Lemuria. Population: 500. The entire town had been founded by the Gregory family who owned a slew of profitable textile factories near the city of Miami. According to the story, the town’s founder Mitchell Gregory had been an amateur explorer hailing tales of discovering the lost city of Lemuria before returning to America where he created a successful factory operation near the coast of Florida. Since Mitchell grew up in a small town, he wanted to raise his family and descendants in s similar fashion establishing Lemuria in the process. Later his family would exploit the town for profit by focusing all its attention on the tourism trade by advertising the beautiful beaches and creating a nautical theme park called Neptune’s Cove under the guise of a sea life conservation sanctuary. The propaganda worked as visitors came to Lemuria in droves ten to eleven months out of the year.
Meanwhile Cassandra Shan, or Sandra as she preferred to be called, moved here with her a family to be the latest suburban casualty. An Asian American orphan, the next social pariah, absorbed the awaiting hell that surrounded her. Sandra could certainly be outfitted with the Scarlet Letter branding but instead of an A for adulteress substitute an L for loser. Her long black hair, dark eyes, and light olive skin paled in comparison to the vast majority of Caucasian residents. African Americans made the second majority and a few of Latin descent finished up the rest of the inhabitants of Lemuria. Other than her Uncle Lee, Sandra felt like the only Asian minority outsider in the town. It sucks to be me! The school year had not started yet and already she dreaded attending Gregory High.
“So how are you and your family adjusted to Lemuria?” asked Clee as she opened a boxed shipment of souvenir mugs.
“We’re doing okay,” said Sandra. “After three months of unpacking, my aunt and uncle seem to be settling just fine. It's really different from living in Portland. Uncle Lee’s boss seems to be impressed by his work at the brokerage firm and you know Aunt Brit seems to be hitting it off with the park employees as their new HR rep.”
“I’m glad,” smiled Clee. “You know your Aunt Brit seems to be a wonderful people person. We need that for the all the workers here especially if any drama arises. We need someone who can mediate.”
“Drama?” asked Sandra. “At a theme park? Don’t tell me the dolphins are getting paid more than the employees?”
“They might as well dear,” explained Clee. “Those lousy Gregory’s own this theme park and waste their money on amusement park rides than on investing in better facilities for the marine life. Animal conservation, my behind! The funny thing is that this is supposed to be an ocean sanctuary for endangered animals. Boy, if the public only knew that it is nothing more than a slavery circus camp operation for water mammals then they probably would stop coming here.”
“I overheard a rumor from everyone that half the park workers tried to strike last year for higher wages. Is that true?”
“Sadly, it was disaster. The more courageous ones from park tried to organize a union but somehow the Gregory’s found out about it and had everyone involved fired and replaced with newer, incompetent employees. In this troubled economy, people are desperate enough to work for low pay.”
“You mean like me?”
“Sweetie, I wouldn’t have hired you if you couldn’t do the job,” she clucked. “Believe me, this old lady has been around a long time and I can tell the difference between a good worker and a bad one. Rest assured you’re a good one.”
“Yeah but Clee would you have hired me if my aunt did not have the connections in getting me this job?”
“Hon, I would hire you if you sported tattoos all over your body and facial piercings. None of which I encouraged you to get this very moment.”
“Actually, I’m planning on that on my lunch break,” Sandra kidded as Clee began to roll her eyes.
A bell signaled a customer entering the shop. Quickly, Sandra and Clee returned to their duties hoping that they did not offend a customer with their conversation. Scrambling to finish up the shipment box she had been working on, Sandra felt a tap on shoulder. She turned around to face a recognizable redheaded individual who appeared to be the same age as her.
“Working hard or hardly working?” asked the redhead.
“Both,” replied Sandra.
It would be Clee who would interrupt the exchange as she broke into a fit of laughter. Sandra and the redheaded girl would follow afterward.
“Okay you two. Go to lunch.”
