#trisication

Heya, I'm Tris Aime, Clever lady, too kindhearted, and a writer/speaker of tales both Fiction and Non. My life has been short, but by no means have I simply Existed. I have Lived, and while I am not right now, I shall again.  So to me this is just another Tris Tale, a part of my life~ And the funniest thing is all Tris Tales are True~

So gather around, the speaker's come. She has returned again, dressed in a cloak of colors and a rather Foxy Grin. Take a seat and listen. Here is a tale to tell~ Of simple times while daylight hides and new friends you yet know well...

Back when I first started college, in the late Summer of 2007, I lived in the third floor of Cumberland Hall at Frostburg University. Third floor was something like the left overs. We were the folks who said we wanted no smoking or drinking. We were not S.T.A.R.S, we were not Buddy Program. We were excess first year students who fit in no other halls, or were Male. (Frostburg, you see, has a large Female attendance.) So we got along alright. One wing of the building was Male, the other wing and the short hall, female.  In the beginning of the year many people put on their fake smiles and 'award winning' personalities. But there is that drawback of living with other people. You find how they really are. So here on Third Floor Cumberland, we became communicative. More so than other Halls or floors. We spoke, and addressed one another with problems. We gathered in the lounge and became collectively The 'Lounge Rats of Cumberland' which was the team name when it came to Hall/floor sports activities. 

But I get ahead of myself. Those are tales for another time. Here in the beginning we still gathered in the lounge. We came to know one another. Josh the Snarky, Rachel, Mini Rachel, Mike, Diana, Jessica, Ashley, Jersey, Mike the Stoic, Nick, Josh and my Biffle Jerry, Plant Steve and Beach. We got to know one another, aside from the recluse Beach. He would skulk out and skulk back, one day I confronted him and hugged him. From then we talked more, because I told him that I thought he was interesting (And he very much is.) It was not long after this on a Friday evening that one by one folks filtered away to go to bed, bidding goodnight to the rest of us. A few of us, myself being the starter of the game, were playing Phase Ten.  A game you need patience to get through. That is for sure. It was Josh the Snarky, myself, Mini Rachel, and Jerry playing. Beach was off in the corner, Diana on her computer.  None of us yet knew one another well. Mini Rachel was my room neighbor, and very mousy like. She'd been sheltered a good deal you see. And that...well...that never bodes quite well for Motherly figures in the long run...  So here we played this game as the time went by. Soon enough it was Mini Rachel, Josh, myself, and Beach left in the Lounge. None of us tired. The idea came up from Josh. 'Lets take a walk' I think it was this one time that got me started on my nightly prowls. You see, alone or in a group it did not matter. With some Coaxing Beach came along as well. Josh, Rachel, Beach and I, at four in the morning left Cumberland Hall on a whim and started walking. Frostburg is very uphill, it's also a lot of down. But if you were down you'd head towards Edgewood, and that was where the athletic assholes lived. It was a decent walk to get there or during the day you could take the Bus. We walked that way, around the Caf', around Westminster and Frederick Halls. It was not yet cold, though chilly, naturally, being four in the morning. It was still summer after all, and it's summer right up to winter which starts in October. Those three days between were Autumn. If you had a good year it might even be Five. Don't really count on it.  We walked, talking some, mostly Josh and Rachel spoke, I'd chime in now and then, but I eventually hung back to walk and talk with Beach. We'd looped around, gone uphill, uphill and more uphill. Strutted down Bowery Street where the Frat houses were gearing up for new parties which would start in a matter of weeks. We crossed here and there and by six we knew the sun was coming. Rather than return to the existence of the dorms we crossed Main Street and into the older, larger houses. We sought high ground, to watch the sun rising...

As dawn broke around us, and we did catch some of the sunrise, the faded glory of the great structures around us came to light, brought around with angelic birdsong. It was humbling, and we walked in silence, at last deciding to return to the lounge from whence we'd crept.   Down one of the many one way side streets was a bakery that had been there since before the 1960s and remains there still. Lorenzo's Bakery. Everyone knew Lorenzo's, and if you did not, you quickly learned. There was no place like them, this hole in the wall shop, and I've yet to find any to match it still. They had just opened as we were passing by. Their bakers up in the early hours made the street smell of sweet dough and chocolate. Josh bought us doughnuts, still warm from the ovens. Beach had declined, but waited for us none the less. 

When we got back to Cumberland Hall and went our separate ways to bed there were smooth smiles on our faces. It was a night of simple memory, calm togetherness that set a stronger foundation for what the Lounge Rats would be. 

Founders of Cumberland Hall Lounge Rats and open communications between us all.