 The Freshman
Copyright 2005 by EC 

Chapter 38 - Epilogue

Cassie Schmidt never returned to the United States. In fact, for the rest of her life, 
she never left the Republic of Danubia. It was in the Danubian Republic where 
she would build her life, raise her family, and over time repair the damage to her 
soul.

Cassie spent her first year in Danube City living with her brother in Spokesman 
Alexi Havlakt’s house. She learned Danubian as she struggled to finish her 
diploma. She went to a Danubian high school, because there was no such thing in 
Danubia as home schooling. She spent her senior year at school slowly shedding 
her broken American identity and assuming a Danubian one. She came to speak 
Danubian quite well, better even than her brother. She soon made friends with 
several Danubian girls, whose personalities and interests were totally different 
from the group with whom she had been in the U.S. She wore a school uniform 
that she considered nerdy, but being in a school full of uniformed students helped 
keep her mind off fashions that might have reminded her of life in the U.S.

Cassie had very little in Upper Danubia in terms of material possessions. She had 
two suitcases of clothing and memorabilia, and a computer lent to her by the 
Danubian government. Over time she accumulated textbooks from her school and 
pictures of her new group of Danubian friends. She had a modest room in the 
Havlakts’ house to herself. When she celebrated her 18th birthday Jason bought 
her a Danubian bicycle.

The months passed and the first winter came and went. Cassie did not have a 
single flashback during that entire time. Slowly her confidence came back as she 
found her place in school and worked out a new relationship with her brother. She 
came to deeply respect him, and from that respect came admiration. In the U.S. 
she had never been proud of having him as her brother, but in the Danubian 
Republic her attitude changed completely. At his very young age he already had 
accomplished great things in life. She knew that within a few years he would 
return to the United States and make a real contribution, perhaps even more 
significant than the one he already had made in Danube City.

During the vacation after she graduated from high school, Cassie Schmidt went 
with her classmates on a summer work project in the forest reserve overlooking 
the Rika Chorna Reservoir. The students linked up with a group of students from 
Rika Chorna and spent the entire summer working and camping together. They 
maintained service roads and fire breaks, conducted wildlife surveys, and learned 
about forest management. Cassie felt real satisfaction as she worked to preserve 
the same forests her father’s company had been hoping to clear-cut. She enjoyed 
the woods, cooking out in the open, getting dirty, skinny dipping with her friends 
in the cold mountain streams, and looking out over the landscape of seemingly 
endless rolling green hills and mountains. She loved the villages at the foot of the 
mountains and the quiet life of the area. When she left at the end of the summer to 
return to Danube City, she did so with great reluctance. The forest seemed to call 
her back.

Just before she was scheduled to start university classes in Danube City, Cassie 
changed the direction of her life and answered that call. Instead of attending the 
National University in Danube City, she left her brother and the Havlakts to study 
forestry at the Natural Resources Institute in Rika Chorna. Within two years she 
was working as an Apprentice for the Danubian Ministry of Natural Resources. 
Four years after she first settled in Danubia, she was formally sworn in as a forest 
ranger at age 22. She became a valuable employee for the Ministry because she 
was the only forest ranger in the area that spoke English. As the years went by 
Ranger Cassie Schmidt guided countless groups of foreign tourists through the 
forested mountains overlooking the Rika Chorna Reservoir. She wrote several 
essays for travel guides and magazine publishers about the Danubian mountains. 
Later she would marry one of her co-workers and raise a family in the village that 
served her ranger station. She was content to stay there, at work along the trails 
with her husband or in the village with her in-laws and kids. She rarely went into 
Rika Chorna, and was lucky to make it to Danube City even once a year. 
However, in her world she became well liked and found her Path in Life.

----------

The arrival of Cecilia’s little nephew prompted big changes in several people’s 
lives. At first it seemed that where he would be staying would present a dilemma, 
because Victor Dukov did not have any extra rooms in his house. The child spent 
several nights sleeping with Cecilia in her room, but no one considered that a 
permanent solution. He simply had to have his own room.

Apprentice Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna resolved Cecilia’s dilemma the week after 
she and Pedro got back from the U.S. Kim decided that Pedro’s presence in Victor 
Dukov’s house was the sign that she needed to grant her client Tiffany Walker 
permission to get married to Officer Vladik Dukov. Vladik and Tiffany would 
take up their residence at his father’s former house, which in turn would free her 
room at his uncle’s place for Pedro. Thus, not only was Pedro’s situation resolved, 
but also Tiffany’s.

Pedro’s presence in Danube City gave Prime Minister Vladim Dukov an 
opportunity to quietly taunt the U.S. Ambassador. Pedro was a U.S. citizen and 
thus, reasoned the Prime Minister, had the right to attend the exclusive English-
speaking school where most of the foreign embassies were sending their children. 
In fact, if the English school did not welcome Pedro with open arms, the 
Danubian government would close it and require all diplomats to send their 
children to Danubian public schools and take their classes in Danubian. 

At first the Ambassador balked, given that Pedro was the nephew of a woman 
who had so badly disrupted the operations of Mega-Town Associates in Eastern 
Europe. Now here was this kid, straight out of one of the worst housing projects 
in the U.S., being thrust right into the elite preserve of the diplomats’ children. 
However, in the end he had to relent, under pressure from not only the host 
government, but also from other embassies that had children attending the school. 
Within a month of arriving in Danube City, Pedro began attending pre-school 
with an international mix of English-speaking kids. Two school security guards, 
who were members of the Danubian Secret Police, watched the preschool to make 
sure he was treated with respect at all times. Whatever objections parents at the 
U.S. Embassy might have had to Pedro, those opinions they had to keep to 
themselves. Dukov made it clear that any disrespect whatsoever to Pedro would 
result in the immediate closing of the school.

Over the next couple of years Pedro grew very quickly, going through several 
school uniforms even before making it to the first grade. He already knew how to 
read and do simple math by the time he was six and was beginning to play soccer. 
Whatever trauma he might have suffered during Cecilia’s two years of being 
absent seemed not to affect him as he grew up in a quiet and normal environment. 
He made friends with the children of several diplomats and became popular 
among his peers. The only detail about Pedro’s development that bothered Cecilia 
was that over time he completely forgot how to speak Spanish. However, she was 
consoled by the fact his English would be nothing like hers. By the time he 
returned to the U.S. Pedro spoke with an educated accent, the result of several 
years of elite schooling.

----------

Jason became a serious cross-country runner during the time he lived in Danube 
City. He ran various marathons and always finished among the lead runners in 
any 10-K races. A couple of races he actually won, including a long distance run 
around the Rika Chorna Reservoir. As was customary in the Danubian Republic, 
Jason and his fellow runners always competed naked, except for their shoes and 
socks. Jason thus was living his dream, sprinting across the open countryside with 
his body completely uninhibited by clothing. 

In the mornings he usually went jogging around the National University, and only 
during the coldest days did he wear anything. It took a while for Cassie to get 
used to the sight of her brother dashing out the front door and running down the 
street with nothing on, but this was Danubia, and things here were done 
differently than they were done in the U.S.

Jason continued his studies at the National University and within three years had 
his Danubian undergraduate degree. Through a special agreement with his 
university in Chicago his classes were recognized in the U.S. and applied to a 
degree there as well. Burnside wrote him to tell him that he would have to take 
one final semester of classes to get his diploma in the U.S., but that simply was 
because the university required any graduating student to attend the final semester 
on campus. The same rule would apply to Cecilia, but more than anything else in 
their case it was a formality.

----------

Cecilia Sanchez became the assistant program director for the exchange program 
between her university in the U.S. and the National University in Danube City. A 
year after she first set foot in the country she was at the airport to greet 30 
students flying in from Chicago. Her old bossy demeanor from her days as an 
R.A. returned in force as she strutted in front of the bewildered group with her 
clipboard. Cecilia would be an important part of the lives of a total of four groups 
of exchange students: an ever-present mentor, translator, advisor, and 
intermediary for students adjusting to life in a place very different from what they 
were accustomed to.

----------

A total of five years went by before Jason, Cecilia, and Pedro finally returned to 
the United States. They hated leaving their placid home in Danube City, but they 
knew that ultimately the Path of their Lives had to be pursued in the U.S. They 
were driven to work and contribute, and the contributions they could have made 
to the Republic of Danubia were finished. Yes, they could have stayed, but to stay 
would mean they had no further ambitions in life.

The three young people that stepped off the plane were very different from the 
ones who had fled the U.S. five years before. They had accomplished great things 
in their lives and had the confidence in themselves to continue their studies in 
Chicago. Pedro now was nine years old and ready to enter the fourth grade, while 
Jason and Cecilia would start immediately with graduate-level classes. As for 
getting married, that would happen, but not until they both had their Master’s 
Degrees.

Upon returning to Chicago, they realized many things had changed. Jim Halsey 
was the Chairman of the Economics Department and soon would become the dean 
of the entire School of Arts and Sciences. Ruth Burnside was in Washington 
investigating stock fraud cases and battling with several powerful companies, 
including Mega-Town Associates. The former professor had become a major 
headache for numerous CEO’s and their friends in Congress, which was fortunate 
for Jason and Cecilia. The entire episode of the Danubian coup was long forgotten 
and no one in the company even noticed that they were back in the U.S. The 
corporate battle now had to be waged against Dr. “Ruthless” Burnside, not against 
two university students.

Suzanne Foster’s life also had changed completely during Cecilia’s absence. The 
young photographer was quite famous after having published several books. She 
had quickly risen to the top of Chicago’s cultural life as one of the city’s most 
daring and well-liked artistic photographers. It turned out Suzanne no longer was 
single, because she had recently married a local lawyer who was quite a bit older 
than she was. Cecilia found that detail quite interesting, because she had foreseen 
that Suzanne never would have a decent relationship with anyone in the Art 
Department. It turned out Suzanne had figured out that reality for herself and 
ended up with someone totally different from any of the young drifters she had 
dated when Cecilia knew her.

There was another change, this one in Carterville, Wisconsin. Jason and Cecilia 
attended an important wedding that just a few weeks after returning to the U.S. 
Jason’s grandmother finally was getting married to her long-time friend after 
years of dating him. Cecilia was invited to be the maid of honor, a clear sign to 
everyone how much the older woman liked her grandson’s girlfriend. Cecilia was 
indeed honored by her role in the wedding. It truly mattered that the one person in 
Jason’s family who Cecilia respected had such a high opinion of her.

----------

After the fall semester started Jason went over to the Tri-Alpha house to see if 
Ken was still around. Sure enough, he still was there, now a graduate student and 
the chapter president. It turned out he still was going out with Lisa, although they 
had a very strange arrangement that hardly could be considered normal. Seeing 
Ken and being in the Tri-Alpha house reminded Jason of the famous nude 10-K 
race that was held towards the end of September each year.

“So, are you guys still doing the run?”

“Oh yeah, in fact it looks like this year we’re going to have our biggest turnout 
yet. We might be getting as many as 400 runners.”

“And you’re still giving out that $ 1,000 prize?”

“Yeah, but since you left our pledges have always gotten it. You know that it’s 
our tradition not to lose. And with me running the show, they haven’t.”

Jason smiled. The pledges always get the prize. Well, it looked like it was up to 
him to break Tri-Alpha tradition a second time.

“Well, you just give me a sign-up sheet, because I’m gonna need that $ 1,000 for 
textbooks. It’d be a shame to waste that money on something stupid like a party 
for your pledges.”

“OK, you’re on. I’ll get you a form. But I still don’t think we’ll lose, because I’ve 
been making sure everyone is ready for the run. And anyhow, you’re not 18 
anymore.”

Jason smiled again. Poor Ken, dumb as ever, so it seemed. During his absence 
Jason had become a seasoned marathon runner and had every intention of 
completely humiliating his friend’s pledges. Oh yeah, instead of a party, this year 
those young guys will be getting some quality time with the paddle. I’ll give ‘em 
a lesson about running…

A week later, Jason went with Cecilia, Lisa, and several members from her 
sorority to the campus football stadium.  Among them was a thin, shy, dark haired 
woman who had won the women’s trophy for the past five years.  Lisa introduced 
her as Kathleen and mentioned that she would be competing for her sixth trophy.

Both Cecilia and Lisa had their cameras ready, knowing that, in spite of Ken’s 
assurances to the contrary, Jason was sure to win the men’s portion of the race. 
They wanted to document the moment he crossed the finish line and get pictures 
of him with his second trophy. Once the women found their seats, Jason and 
Kathleen pulled off their sweats and stuffed them into backpacks. Lisa and Cecilia 
accompanied their naked companions to the field and posed for a couple of 
pictures.  The two women then returned to their seats, leaving their friends to 
stretch and get ready for the run.

Jason and Kathleen joined the mass of bare bodies clustered on the track and 
calmly set out with the others when the starter pistol went off. The two seasoned 
runners paced themselves and began passing burned-out competitors who had 
started out too fast.  Jason then sprinted ahead of Kathleen, passed a couple more 
male runners, and spent the final two miles of the route in the lead. Less than an 
hour after leaving the stadium he was the first runner back in, nearly fifty yards 
ahead of his closest competitor. That year there was no contest. From its 
beginning to the end, the race belonged to Jason Schmidt. He crossed the finish 
line and hugged Cecilia. A few moments later Kathleen crossed the finish line and 
got a big hug from Lisa.  For the sixth year in a row she would claim the first 
place women’s trophy for the Four-Beta Sorority.

Once the other runners passed the finish line Jason took his trophy and posed for 
pictures. His triumphant return to the Tri-Alpha race would revive his role as a 
spokesman for college naturism and his notoriety among young nudists 
throughout the U.S. Over the next year he would give several interviews and 
numerous speeches around the country as he pursued his cause and fulfilled his 
Path in Life.

Lisa, meanwhile, approached Ken to let him know that he was due for an extra 
special punishment that night. How dare he embarrass her like that, failing to have 
one of his runners win the race for his fraternity. Of course, upon hearing her 
words Ken’s penis stiffened under his pants. Yes, he was indeed a bad boy and 
there was only one way to handle a bad boy. He had failed, and only Lisa knew 
how to remedy that, with plenty of painful imagination.

----------

Once the excitement from the race ended and Jason had given his last interview 
and posed for his final picture, he got dressed and cleaned up, and then invited 
Cecilia out to dinner. They returned to her apartment to take advantage of the fact 
that Pedro was spending the night at a friend’s place. They hugged each other for 
a few minutes, and then Cecilia proceeded to undress Jason. Once his clothes 
were off he undressed her and they hugged again, enjoying the feeling of each 
other’s bodies without the barrier of clothing.

A lot had changed in the lives of the young couple and many more changes were 
on the way. However, there were a few important things between them that had 
not changed at all. As she embraced him, Cecilia began patting Jason’s bottom, 
letting him know that in a moment he needed to go over her lap. She gave him 
one last kiss, but then sat down on the sofa and reached up to take his hand. She 
gave him a loving look with her dark eyes and her usual sarcastic smile. As 
always, his penis stiffened with anticipation of what was coming. Dutifully he 
settled comfortably over her thighs and surrendered his bottom to the woman he 
loved.

She very gently ran her hand over both bottom cheeks, caressing him with 
sensuous touches of her palm and fingers. Occasionally she lightly brushed the 
intimate area in between, making him tingle with excitement as he felt her 
fingertips exploring his bottom-hole and the back of his testicles. He relaxed his 
backside as much as he could, to better feel and enjoy his lover’s hand on his bare 
skin. She bent down to kiss his bottom, and caressed the unprotected flesh with 
her lips and tongue. His breathing shuttered with excitement, especially when she 
began speaking to him. She lectured him about his indecent behavior, running 
around the university with no clothes on, and then proudly posing for pictures. 
Who, but the naughtiest of boys, would do such a thing? Of course, as she was 
lecturing him, she continued to lovingly caress his waiting bottom:

“So, Jason, are you a bad boy?”

“Yes, I’m bad.”

“And what do bad boys deserve Jason?”

“We need to be spanked.”

“That’s right Jason, all bad boys need to be spanked. On the bare bottom, right?”

“Yes, on the bare bottom.”

“That’s right, ‘cause that’s the only way to spank a bad boy. On the bare, naked 
bottom. That’s what bad boys need. Now you ask me nice, Jason, and I’ll give 
you your spanking.”

“Cecilia, please spank my bare bottom. Please give me what I need.”

“OK, since you asked me nice, I’m gonna spank you good.”

She gently kissed his bottom one final time, and then slowly, sensuously began 
slapping.

Yes, Cecilia Sanchez knew what her bad boy needed, and she was gonna give it to 
him, just because she loved him so much... 

