Stay tuned after for the legal jive and author's note. 

	Coming attractions- 
Bahtalo Drom: The Lucky Road- Introducing my characters, the children of the servants, in  
                         Emma Prower's orphanage. 
	And based on reader suggestion: 
The Tiger Lily Luvs The Dandelion- the retro-style tale of the doomed star cross'd lovers that were Snively's parents.

	And now our feature presentation-

Due to overwhelming reader demand, it is with just a little hauteur that Taryn Wander'r (tarynw42@hotmail.com) Presents-

				THE WONDER YEARS
        	        An Untold Story of the Great War
		Dedicated to the memories of the King of Swing, Benny Goodman, and St. Maximillian Kolbe, anti-nazi martyr in Auschwitz. 	
	
			PART ONE: "THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE"
	  	            
			    SEVEN YEARS BEFORE THE COUP
	Brian Prower's voice resounded around the ballroom, riding the notes up and down the clefts like a rollercoaster. 
	"It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot," His soul spoke. "Just sing that swing give it everything you got!" Furs on the ballroom spun and slid, over each others' shoulders and under each others' legs. 
	"Oh, it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing," Brian grinned when girls, lifted high above their partners' heads, squealed when their skirts fell, and kicked their legs before landing in a graceful spin. 
	"Brian!" A voice younger than his own called his name from the side of the bandstand. There was his youngest brother Tommy, saxophone fastened around his neck. Brian grinned and motioned for him to join him on the stage. 
	The band went into a gigantic crescendo and picked up speed, resulting the in the crowd cheering and spinning faster with more chances of wounding themselves and perhaps never dancing again. Tommy, hair slicked back with enough gel to spontaneously combust at any given time, twin tails gleaming in the ballroom light, jumped up on stage and slid into position in front of the band. 
	"My little brother Tommy, everybody," Brian spoke with joviality in his voice. Tommy, grinning wildly, gave a wink to his friends seated at a table and began the necessary saxophone solo, the band backing him up at every other bar. 
	Tommy Prower was the second youngest of fourteen children, born to Winston and Maria Prower, a successful couple with an obvious love for kids. Tommy had been born differently than the other children, with two tails instead of one. It would usually have been the cause for much teasing and tears, but Tommy's own personality, charm and wit got him through the past thirteen years pretty good.  
	While his good friend played out his solo debut, Jules glanced up from his seat and saw a pretty young hedgehog standing alone. He leaned over to his friend James and whispered that he 'was going in'.
	Jules was a young teenage mastermind, brilliant in his own twisted way. An insomniac since his parents' death, Jules oddly enough never gave his older brother and guardian Charles much trouble. Not like Tommy, who was constantly being grounded for sneaking out when grounded. Kid never learned.
	Jules stopped himself before entering the girl's immediate vicinity. He looked himself over- cool blue quills, boss black zoot, shiny black bowlers. The essence of self-confidence. Sort of. 
	Hiding his disquietude, he approached the female. She was a hedgehog as well, about his age. An attractive, moxie sky blue, she smiled at him with the corners of her eyes. Jules grinned foolishly.  
	"Hey. I'm Jules," He greeted her, not without a twinge of nervousness in his voice. 
	She smiled back slyly. "Bernie," She said in a voice that he had just pictured her with- rich and deep, yet feminine and sweet.
	Smiling as charmingly as he good, Jules nodded at the ballroom floor. "Um, I was wondering, if you weren't...well, that's sort of a stupid question, of course a killer skirt like you would have a date, but..." Bernie smiled and spoke up before he finished his proposal. 
	"Sure, I'd love to dance," She grinned at him, and took the initiative of taking Jules' hand and spinning him out to the floor.
	Bernice was a young free-spirited rebellious teenage girl. She had arrived at Club Megacentral tonight specifically because her parents had disallowed her from any dancing or social events on school nights. James and Jules themselves rarely came, as the former didn't really have the same affinity for it as his friends, and the latter took school too seriously. Tommy, however, spent all his nights there, and was often late for classes. Or slept in; in any case, he mostly arrived right on time thanks to his learner's license, which he abused frequently by speeding way past the recommended limits. Tommy had a thing for speed. He lived for it. 
James, meanwhile, sat idly at the round table looking bored. Three of his friends, Ethan, Jessyca, and Mara were chatting and laughing around him. He glanced at them, they didn't notice. 	He sighed. 
	James Rabbot was an exchange student, a year and a half older than most of his friends, from the Southern regions of Mobius. He wasn't too sold on coming to Mobotropolis, and was even less sold on it when he arrived. He was bored to tears and them some. He was counting the days to his sixteenth birthday when he could join the army and get out of there, fight the Overlanders for the anthropoids' rightful land. 
	Club Megacentral was a place where most of Mobotropolis' young anti-war activists met and mingled. Which was another reason James avoided the place. He had been 'brainwashed' as Tommy would say, into believing all Overlanders were evil and their civilization must be conquered by the greater good of Mobius, Acorn's army. 
And they didn't know how much they could have saved had they gone with that instinct and not trusted any Overlander.
	James sighed and rested his chin in an idle palm. He stared at the half-drunk martini in front of him, a far-off, jaded look in his eyes. Eventually he let his hands slip out from under his chin and felled the martini glass on the table. The drink spread out, caressing glasses with its alcoholic touch.
	"Ah," He said with a bored tone as his friends shifted back from the table. "Sorry. My baddie." 
	James didn't really consider these people his friends. They were just a bunch of kids he hung out with. They didn't really share any real interests or hobbies. He wondered what exactly he was DOing with them.  He sighed and tried to remember what he had been thinking to intently about. He couldn't.
	Damn. Don't you hate it when that happens?
	James sighed for what seemed to be the zillionth time that evening and glanced up at the bandstand. "Flash!" He whispered loudly. Flash, of course, couldn't hear him.
	Jimmy "Flash" McGalligher was one of the only remaining keyboard players left in Mobotropolis. Well, one of the only remaining GOOD keyboard players left in Mobotropolis. You'd think that with the ever growing underground crave of techno and dance growing in the great capital city, more furs would play keyboard, but most didn't. Flash was a young jaguar, usually pretty quiet and soft-spoken. He and Tommy had been best friends since God knew how long; Tommy did enough speaking for the two of them. But the one place where Flash truly outshone all others was music.
	Club Megacentral was too cheap to afford a good keyboard, synthesizer, or even a decent ajuitar for the lead these days, what with the army taking whatever people were willing to spare for weaponry and such. So Flash had to make due with the club's old worn down baby grand. Ah, if Flash could get his hands on an ajuitar...
	Flash was currently situated to the side of the little big band, on the edge of the bandstand. He banged away furiously on that piano, the passion exuberantly bursting from his aura as the sweat rolled down his reddish-orange fur and stained the plain jacket-less zoot suit shirt he wore. Music was the one area Jimmy let himself go.
	He had no idea why people called him Flash. 
	After what seemed like an eternity to James, the song ended and Flash took a break to join the others with an underaged martini at the table.
	The jaguar looked like he had something to say as he approached his friends, but whatever it was, it was soon drowned out by the overbearing presence that was Tommy.  
	"Hey!" He cried, saxophone over his shoulder, spinning a chair around a few times before seating himself in backwards. Nonchalantly he reached for a half-drunk martini and downed it. "How's it go?" 
	James glanced up at Tommy as Flash pulled a chair from another table to seat himself at. He stared at him for a moment and didn't answer. He went back to picking at his nails.
	Tommy winced. "That bad huh? What's it this time, Jamie?"
	"Stop calling me that," James said, annoyed, in his charming southern accent. Tommy grinned broadly. 
	"But, hey, James," Flash said in his soft, gentle voice. "Is...something wrong?"
	James sighed and stared at the ballroom floor. "I just...miss Sandy."
	Tommy pouted sympathetically. "Oh, poor baby," Flash smirked faintly; James glared at Tommy. 
	"People," Jules' usual greeting for them, it drove Tommy completely insane. "I'd like you to meet Bernie," Jules had come up behind Tommy, and around him were the arms of the most beautiful teenaged girl Tommy, Flash, or James had ever seen. A look of pure agony crossed James' rabbit features and he closed his eyes tightly, picturing Sandy back home in her white dress, with softly curling blonde hair, pristine blue eyes that one could drown in. Her soft, sweet voice and the gentle curve of her body, her beautiful breath pushing beautiful words past her beautiful teeth...
	This student exchange thing was going to kill him.
	Tommy glanced at James and then back up at Jules. "Now see what you made him do,"
	"Oh my god. Are you Flash? Flash McGalligher?" Bernie remained with her arms around Jules, but her attention was now diverted to the young jaguar lounging idly by the cocktail table. Flash smiled shyly and nodded wordlessly.
	"Oh my god!" Bernie detached herself from Jules and grabbed another chair from who knows where. "I've been coming here almost every night for months just to see you play! I think you're murderistic!"
	"Well...thank you," If Flash could have blushed, he would have been blood red.
	"You should definitely think of going into this professionally. I can totally see your face up on billboards. You're the boss, man!"
	Jules remained standing where he was. Disconcerted, he slowly grabbed a chair from the same cocktail table as Bernie's and sat next to her.
	Flash was utterly flustered. He was never good with people, especially not girls. And he didn't take praise well at all. His mother had died when he was only three and his father had sort of left him to be raised by his sister, who was hardly guardian material. Praise wasn't part of his childhood. 
	Tommy was desperate for attention here. As second youngest in a family of fourteen, he craved attention. ESPEcially from girls. Tommy was somewhat of a player in his school, or at least he'd like to think so. He did have a knack for attracting members of the opposite sex that he wasn't so...compatible with. Girls much more book smart than he, jocks, underground techno-chicks, and...teachers...ew...
	James was still off in SandyLand and would probably remain there for a good long time. 
	Flash could see Tommy's frustration, and was grateful for a chance for the attention to be lifted from him. "Bernie, have you met Tommy?" He said quietly. "He's my best friend, his brother's the lounge singer here,"
	Tommy smiled broadly as Bernie turned to him.
	"Hi," She greeted simply, shaking his hand. "I just heard you. You were pretty killer up there."
	"You're not so bad yourself." Tommy said smoothly, a cocky smirk on his face.
	Bernie smiled at Tommy, as if humoring a small child. "So," She turned back to the yellowish-orange jaguar. "Flash..."

                              | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | 

	Tommy, as usual, was having trouble paying attention. He always had trouble paying attention in school. And history was most certainly not his forte. His teachers knew this, of course, and never expected him to know the answer, or even what they were talking about. He got by okay, mainly thanks to his genius friend Jules, but it was obvious his talents lay in music and the arts. He was an okay athlete, compared to some of his friends who could have been super jocks. But in his own words, it's hard to concentrate in gym when your teacher has a crush on you.
	When he had expressed this to Flash, the pianist laughed lightly at him. 
	"It's true!" Tommy had cried back defensively. "It doesn't matter how bad I do in gym, I ALWAYS get this impossibly good grade! And she always calls on me," Tommy looked pained. "I have absolutely NO idea what we're supposed to be doing and she calls on me to demonstrate in front of the whole freakin'..." He sighed. "Did you see that? Just ten minutes ago? She tried to pinch my..."
	"More than I needed to know, man," Flash had held up his hands and turned away, still grinning boyishly.
	But now Tommy had a new reason to not pay attention in class. Not like he ever actually had a reason to begin with. Now he had a plausible excuse, one that still would not go well with the faculty. 
	Her name was Ginny.
	It wasn't odd with guys his age. First it had been Jessyca, then his friend's new hubby Bernie (which were feelings he had kept hidden for Jules' sake) then his sister Emma's friend Cari, now Ginny. 
	Daemeon Acorn Middle School was a pretty clean-cut establishment. Most of the students were of noble blood, usually the children of knights and guardsmen. Flash's father had gotten him and his older sister course there before he had even pondered having children, for an education in this highly respected Mobotropolis high school was a wonderful thing to have for a university application- even if your grades left something to be desired, like Tommy. The Prower family had a history in Mobotropolis, and the family had always served the House of Acorn with unmatched loyalty. Enchantment and chaos ran in their blood, but according to legend skipped most generations- and the ones that it did bestow it's gifts on were deeply blessed. So it went without saying that Winston Prower, who was a highly respected, knighted, detective within the Mobotropolis Police Department, would put his children through middle and high school at Daemeon A. But Tommy felt that he had never been meant for such a respected school, marinated in noble blood.
	Well. At least they didn't have to wear uniforms.
	But at the moment Tommy's thoughts were of Ginny. She had transferred just recently from a school on the south side, and she was a goddess. Not that she was that cat's pajamas and all that, she was, but he thought of her as an actual, celestial goddess. Weird, no?
	There she sat, outshining the sun itself. Flaming hair, red, like the fires of hell. Her army green dress made her colour radiate even more, and stunning hazel eyes peeked out from a shock of delightful bangs. 
	Tommy leaned back in his seat, his left arm over the back, staring at her. Ginny didn't seem to notice him, sitting wonderfully in the plain wooden desk. Her delectable legs were crossed just at the ankles, her beautiful head was bent down over her work, and her lovely headfur fell in front of her face. The sunlight from the window she sat in front of illuminated her gracefully, an exquisite halo crowning magnificence itself.
	Their Social Sciences teacher, the plain and utterly boring Mr. Jack Benford, was lecturing the children about the war, and the many, many faults of the average Overlander. 
	Tommy, still gazing longingly at Ginny, suddenly picked up these words. A scowl crossed his face, and he turned to face the front. "That's crap!" He said matter-of-factly, out of the blue.
	Mr. Benford tilted his head. "What was that, Mr Prower?"
	"You heard me. I said it was crap." Tommy still sat lazily in the desk, but his face showed absolute disgust. Flash, who sat a few rows ahead of Tommy, glanced behind at him and sighed.
	"Oh god," Flash whispered, and covered his face with his hands. Here it comes. Social Sciences was possibly the only subject that Tommy ever paid attention in, and he always ended up arguing with the teacher.
	 "You can't just say that they're all evil just because we have our differences with them. That's like me saying Jeff over here is a wanker just because he wears runners and not bowlers like most of us," Jeff looked up at Tommy, affronted. "Well...no offense. But Mr. Benford, I'm sure that if I meant that you'd give me a big piece of your mind."
	The instructor sighed. "If you don't mind Thomas, this is Social Sciences and it is my duty to teach you about the world around you,"
	"Yeah, Social Sciences, SS, where have I heard that before? The Gestapo?"
	Ginny was looking at Tommy in a new light this time, her mouth not curved in a smile, nor a frown. Curiosity was in her look as she looked the fox over.
	Mr. Benford was about to give Tommy one of those long loud lectures you always hate, when the intercom buzzed. "Mr. Benford, could you send Jimmy McGalligher to the office please?"
	The teacher dismissed Flash with a wave of his hand as Tommy kept spouting off. "Has it ever occurred to you that somewhere in some classroom in Megacentral or wherever, some pompous old guy just like you is teaching a bunch of Overlander kids the exact same thing about us? And we're supposed to be better than them? How does that work?"
	"You seem to be forgetting who destroyed miles of our farmlands last year, Tommy," Mr. Benford strained for a leg to stand on.
	"Well YOU seem to be forgetting who starved three thousand Overlander children just last month. Sure, they take some people prisoner and force them to live in less than desirable conditions, but who was that Overlander guy you told us about? Nate Morgan? Your precious royalty seemed to have a field day making life hell for him!" Tommy was standing by now. 
	"Listen here, young man," Mr Benford struggled to regain power in his own classroom. Students were looking at Tommy and back at Benford, their eyes suddenly enlightened with a new way of thinking. Nods and cries of agreement make themselves clear 
	"No, YOU listen for once! You can't just tell people how to think; it's wrong. How the hell would YOU know what each and every Overlander is like? Have you met them all? What have they done to you?" Tommy wasn't backing down any time soon. 
	"They killed my brother's son..."
	"Their ARMY killed him! Not them personally! Just like you didn't kill each of their sons and daughters, either! We don't have to listen to this, Mr. Benford, we can think for ourselves and you of all people should support that!"
	Surprised, the students turned to face a new speaker in this verbal war. Ginny. 
Tommy glanced at her, his eyes filling with even more affection. In a few milliseconds he turned his attention back to the issue at hand. "See?" He said quietly. "I'm not the only radical in the little left-wing tyranny you call Social Sciences class."
	Mr. Benford, silently filling with rage, pointed a shaky hand at the door. "Out, Tommy. Wait in the hall. I'll be with you in a moment."
	Tommy walked out, standing straight and defiant, not breaking his glare on Jack Benford.
As soon as he left, the teacher glanced around the class irately. "What have I told you about encouraging him?"
	Out in the hall, the infuriated Tommy paced restlessly. What he was impatient about the world will never know, but he, for one, was madly enraged. Muttering something very unflattering about Jack Benford under his breath, he went up and punched a locker. This resulted in his fist hurting very much, as he wasn't the strongest guy in the world. He spun his tails idly, flicking them back and forth angrily. A few years ago he discovered he could fly with them, but the opportunity never arose.
	Tommy was still brooding to himself when Flash rounded a corner, walking towards the classroom in a daze, a look on his face that scared the living daylights out of Tommy.
	Flash didn't seem to notice his best friend as he headed towards the class. Just before he opened the door Tommy spoke up. "Hey, Flash. Something wrong?"
	Flash turned, startled. "Tommy," He said, even more quietly than usual. "You were right," Flash, who had missed the rest of Tommy's outburst, stared, downcast, at his dirty bowler shoes.
	Tommy frowned; bunched his eyebrows. "Wh...about what?"
	"About the Overlanders. They aren't the real enemies." He looked up at his friend. "We are,"
	Tommy tilted his head bewilderedly and slowly approached Flash as the jaguar continued. 
"My father...lost his job two months ago. It was shut down because the owner was taken prisoner, and sold to this other guy who laid everyone off. My father went downtown today," Flash bit his lip. "And was killed in a bread riot."
	Tommy just stared. His friend was silent for a moment, and suddenly fell apart before Tommy's eyes.
	The fox, in one graceful movement, pulled his friend closer to himself, kept him from falling, and gave him a shoulder to cry on. 
	Flash grateful tugged at Tommy's shirt, wetting his shoulder in tears. Tommy waited quietly while Flash let it out, sobbing for the first time in front of Tommy. 
	Tommy wasn't sure how long he and Flash remained in the hall, silent save for Flash's soft crying. But soon the bell had rung, and students were filing out of classes. Their classmates drifted past Tommy and Flash, who hung back against the walls. 
	Emma, Tommy's sister, younger by a year, drifted down the hall, looking for him. "Tommy!" She cried when she saw him. "Urgent! 'Kay, we hafta to be at the triplet's lockers today after school," Before Tommy could reply, she saw Flash. "Flash? What's wrong?"
	Flash couldn't answer. Tommy said quietly: "His father died in a bread riot,"
	Emma's face fell. "Oh god Flash, I'm so sorry!" She hugged him gently. "Are you gonna be okay?" When Flash nodded sullenly she said. "You should go home. I'm sorry," She hugged him again and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
	Tommy watched as his sister comforted his friend. A presence at his side eventually caught his attention. 
	There was Ginny, looking as beautiful as ever, standing beside him, her pretty hazel eyes wide. "Tommy?"
	Tommy froze and stared at her.
	"I...brought your bag," She pushed the old dark blue police bag into Tommy's arms. Ginny glanced at Flash. "Is...he gonna be okay?" 
	Tommy glanced at Flash and back at Ginny. "Yeah...he's gonna be fine,"
	Ginny nodded slightly. "I'll, uh..." She looked at Tommy. "See you 'round then,"
	Tommy could only watch her go.

				| \ | \ | \ | \ | \| \ | 

	Bread riots were a usual occurrence in Mobotropolis these days. The last time they had been around was hundreds of years ago, the last time the population had boomed like it did before the Great War. Hundreds were without jobs and the government treated them poorly as was possible. The House of Acorn had made up for all that in the years to come, but the Great War was taking much needed resources and people. More and more were being laid off as services decreased. In some smaller cities under King Acorn's rule, families were separated as furs were taken prisoner back to Overlander territory. People were left shelterless, jobless, living on the streets. The King tried to provide them with some food and shelter, but little was left after the army got to it. This resulted in the bread riots.
	The government offered a little food each week for the city's poor. If there was one thing the House of Acorn prided itself on, it was taking care of it's needy. But less and less was available as the war was waged, and people needed to feed their children. Even respectable families like the McGallighers were being left with nothing as the war changed their lives. Frank McGalligher had worked in a radio station, as was a prominent radio journalist. In two short weeks he had little food to feed his two children, and had fought vainly for it to the death.

                                   | \ | \ | \ | \| \ | \ |

	Pacing in front of the drab beige lockers, Tommy felt an unsettling worry for his friend. Flash was always more in 'touch' with his emotions than Tommy, and had always been sort of shattered from growing up under his sister's sharp tongue and abusive hand. Tommy was afraid his father's death might push him over the edge. Flash had gone home reluctantly after Emma and her brother insisted that he take the day off. 
	Tommy wondered what he would do had his father been laid off. Eleven of their fourteen children still lived at home, and only one of them wasn't in school or university. Merlin and the twins, Michelle and Geoffrey, would certainly try to help- but Michelle worked for Jules' brother Charles and probably didn't make even as much as the good scientist himself, and Geoffrey and Merlin- well, a professional martini-guzzler and an enchanter probably don't hold as much ground in a industrialized city as a detective would. 
	"Hey," Emma's voice broke into Tommy's thoughts as she came up behind him. "Flash go home?"
	Tommy nodded. 
	"Good," Emma sighed and leaned back against a locker. "Poor guy. Wonder who he's taking it," 
	Tommy was strangely quiet as he and his sister remained there. "So what're we supposed to be here for?" He finally asked.
	"Lauri has something she has to tell us all, or something," Emma shook her head. Concern for Flash obviously got in the way of thinking straight. "She hasn't even told Mike or Angie yet. She wants to tell us all at once,"
	Mike, Angie, and Lauri were three of Tommy and Emma's siblings. Identical triplets (except for Mike, being male), they were all 16 and all as different as night and day. Mike was a surly, selfish, darkened teen with an affinity for black clothing and loud rock music. Lauri was bright, bubbly, and often ditzy in her attempts to make everyone's life happier. Angie was…Angie. A lot like Emma, I suppose, just older and tougher.
	Eventually all three of them were there. Not much of a greeting was exchanged between the siblings as they all lived in the same house anyway. Lauri wrung her hands nervously and eyed her brothers and sisters. 
	"Anytime now Lauri," Emma said.
	"'Kay," Lauri sighed. "At lunch, I got this message from Mom at the office," She sighed again, her voice shaking. "Well, she didn't sugarcoat it so neither will I. Dryden's been forced to enlist."
	There was a silence.
	"Run that by me again?" Mike said.
	Lauri sighed for a third time. "He was just walking down the street, going out for lunch, and some suits pulled him over and forced him to enlist in the army." The Prower girl paused. "He's in a boot camp just out of town right now. He's leaving in a week."
	"Holy..." Tommy breathed. 
	"Bu...Why? Wh...why would they do that?" Angie asked. Truth was, and she knew it, strong young men and women had been picked out of nowhere and forced to enlist lately. No one was ready to admit it yet.
	Lauri shook her head. "I don't know."
	"Dr...Dryden?" Tommy asked, innocently.
	Dryden Prower, the eighth child and third son of Winston and Maria, was an aspiring med. student. He couldn't have been enlisted, he just couldn't. The government had no right to do that. Thoughts raced through Tommy's mind. What was to happen to him? How was he supposed to survive in war? Horror stories of violations within the army suddenly entered his mind, and the minds of all five teenagers gathered there. How could this have happened to their own brother?
	Tommy didn't want to wait around to find out.
	He was going straight to Michelle about it.




	To be continued (it gets better!) in The Wonder Years Part Two: Thirty Nine Lashes

Feedback? Criticism? Utter confusion? Write to tarynw42@hotmail.com!

 The Legal Jive- Mobotropolis, King Acorn, Merlin Prower etc by Sega/Archie/Dic? All other characters by me. 'The Wonder Years' Copyright 1998 Taryn Wander'r. Feel free to distribute this blah blah blah. You know the rules. Thanks to Kylie and all those who spammed me for the idea. Thanks to Duke Ellington for 'It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing). And before I forget, thanks to Douglas Adams for the whole ajuitar thing, even though only you really know what exactly that is. But I'm sure that on a planet with faster-than-sound hedgehogs, flying foxes, and floating islands, something like an ajuitar is probably a usual occurance. =)

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