Free Terrorscape by Nenia Campbell Page B

them all
with disapproval. “This does not bode well for your
test scores.”
Midterms seemed eons away, though. This fear,
this was real. In the now .
     
“This might refresh your memory.”
    Professor Hendricks clicked his remote and a
splash panel of clip-art appeared on the projection
screen.
It
detailed
the
finer
points
of
the
psychodynamic model.
    Id was a sloppily dressed man holding a beer in
one hand and a pornographic magazine in the other.
A smelly cigar was clamped between his fleshy lips.
    Very subtle . Val felt a dull pang of what might
have been amusement had she been in a more
receptive mood.
    Superego was an elegant man in a three-piece suit
and a monocle. He was staring at Id with obvious
disgust.
The
words,
“Well,
I
never!”
were
encapsulated in a large thought bubble over his neatly
combed hair. He looked, in Val's opinion, more like
the Monopoly Guy than the paragon of virtue.
    Ego was a harassed-looking man with a combover. He was dressed like a crossing guard, replete
with a hand-held stop sign.
    “For those of you who didn't do the reading, the
id is focused on getting its needs met straight away.
This is called instant gratification.
    “These needs are with us at birth, and highly
primal, fueled by basic biological drives for food, sex,
and various other pleasure-driven activities necessary
for survival. Part of maturity is learning to put these
needs on hold in favor of more abstract priorities,
such as laws and personal obligations. This is the job
of the superego.
    “The superego is the voice of reason. It consists of
our morals, and our ability to differentiate between
what is right—and what is wrong. For example: you
might desperately crave a doughnut from the Student
Union at 6 A.M. when you know they are fresh from
the oven—” several students giggled and high-fived
“—but
alas,
you
then
remember
that
you
are
supposed to be on a diet. Your superego would
remind
you
of
this,
and
discourage
you
from
purchasing from one of those delicious mango jelly
doughnuts it knows you love so much.
    “This is where the ego comes in. The ego has the
toughest job of the three; the ego acts as a moderator
between id and superego. You may have heard the
phrase 'happy medium' at some point in your lives.
Perhaps in the book, A Wrinkle in Time . The concept
here is very much the same.”
“He doesn't look very happy,” someone pointed
out.
    “Yes, well.” Professor Hendricks smiled slightly.
“It is difficult to strike a balance between two such
opposing forces.”
    Two opposing forces—just like chess.
“The ego's abilities ensure the well-being of the
individual. Going back to our doughnut dilemma:
    your ego might decide that instead of getting a jelly
doughnut,
you
might
instead
try
the
equally
refreshing but significantly lower calorie poppy-seed
banana bread.”
    Val, still thinking of chessboards suspended in
space, frowned. She had missed his example, only
catching the tail end of it. Banana bread?
    At least hers wasn't the only glazed-expression in
the
room.
Fifty-eight
people
were
taking
the
afternoon-evening
MWF
Abnormal
Psychology
lecture and less than half of them looked awake, let
alone alert.
    Professor Hendricks was looking increasingly
frustrated. Finally, he dismissed them all with a wave
and a sigh. “I hope you are getting more out of this
than you are letting on,” he said, raising his voice to
be heard over the shuffling papers and zipping
backpacks. “Mind your egos.”
    The sun was close to setting when Val stepped
outside. The sky was a flickering gold that reminded
her of a lightbulb about to go out.
Thoughts of the letter raided her mind.
     
The address was Lisa's and the writing was Lisa's,
but the words—they were all his.
     
Is it him?
    That night was branded into her memory and try
as she might to forget—how desperately she wanted
to forget—she didn't think she ever would.
If it was him, he must have gotten to Lisa.
There was only one reason he would