Of course, everyone who's been in a forest knows that there is always some sound: the wind whistling thru the trees, an animal cracking a branch or a bird chirping at the sun. However, compared to the sounds of the city, it was soothing, calming, relaxing.

The speed of time is also very different. In the race between the two of them, the city is the rabbit while the forest is the turtle. I just prayed every day that in the end, the turtle would win against the frenetic urban development.

Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and so many other groups warn us about deforestation, global warming, the ozone layer but the government doesn't listen and the throughout my school years, forests were losing ground, rapidly.

I already knew California is much more moderate than the rest of the country despite its rapid development. They impose taxes on heavy vehicles; they try to reduce the negative effects of industrialisation. I never figured out if it is because of the Hollywood idealism or simply because they are always afraid of earthquakes, but I know that California, contrary to my Georgia home state, is the place for battle between nature and civilisation.

It is not surprising that the Lauzier-Pitfield College was founded in the California "wilderness", the next frontier in the fight.

The College proudly announces it is the most liberal of the country, even surpassing UCLA and in order to celebrate their differences, they offer a series of unique graduate degrees including "Natural habitat engineering".

The program is designed to create a new breed of environmentalist: the college predicts that a lot of states will pay to have previously deforested land reconverted into natural habitats, and graduates of their new highly restricted diploma will be the front line of specialists to plan and execute the colossal task.

Nothing really new is taught in the degree. It is the mix of courses that really differentiates the program from any other in the country: environmental studies, biology, zoology, genetics, geology, computer assisted design, fluid engineering and economics.

As soon as I heard of the program, I knew what I wanted to study and applied for the course. I was lucky enough to get admitted in the first year of the program, which is only the...[Continue reading on the site]

I know that my brother kept saying that people usually fit with their jobs, but I simply couldn't accept that working in an office as a collection agent necessarily meant you had to be unattractive.

Part of his theory matched however. There are 3 main positions at Thompson & Wilson : scout, closer and account manager.

Everyone starts as a scout. There are no exceptions. That's where I met Emily: she was my primary closer. I would make calls to find the delinquent debtors and once I would have located one, I would transfer him to Emily who would negotiate a payment plan.

I quickly noticed that almost every closer was dynamic, healthy, relatively young and, well, attractive. The account managers were usually older man, while all of the younger kids and the older woman were still scouts, and would remain so until they would leave for other jobs.

I expected it would take me 6 months to get a promotion and be Emily's colleague. Emily predicted it would take me 8  months to do so. I was told by her account manager I wouldn't get a promotion until my first year anniversary.

Do you think that held me back ? After 3 months, I was a junior closer and was acting as one of the secondary closers for Emily's team. I still did a lot of scouting, but as soon as one of Emily's scouts got a call while she was already on the phone, I would get it.

In theory, we were two secondary closers assisting Emily, but Brian, my competitor on the ladder of success, was too slow for my reflexes.

Two months later, I became a primary closer and received my own team of scouts. By then, Emily and I were good friends, which sadly meant I got to meet her husband, Jake.

That's part of the frustration. You flirt with a girl for 5 months, only to discover she doesn't wear her wedding ring at work because she feels it would hinder her promotion chances.

But the biggest part is realizing you've been so wrong. That all your signals which told you she might be interested were just wishful thinking. She had only seen me as one of her close friends while I wanted to date her.

Not that I can complain, I met Bianca a year later and we've been happy together ever since. And with Bianca, I knew from the first moment I met her that she was interested...[Continue reading on the site]

I knew it was a trick question. I had been one of the rare still textile students until recently and my mother is especially vocal against naturism. My conversion and subsequent application to become a DeriMark employee did sound suspicious.

"No Mrs Page. I decided to try becoming a naturist quite a long time ago. Even last year, during the last real confrontation on the subject in high school, I had decided that naturism was for me. I was always an outspoken person and frankly, I admit I love the way the town now operates. Naturism really helped everyone and I think it's a very healthy lifestyle. Since I first removed my clothes a few weeks ago, not once did I feel the need to turn back and wear them again."

I had met Mrs Page in school a few times and she always had seemed to be warm and affectionate. Like most of the DeriMarks employees that move to the town after the transition, I had never seen her wear clothes but I couldn't imagine her wearing a dull grey office suit. She looked more the type to push the boundaries of the dress code to the limit.

"But you didn't try it until recently", she responded with just as much care and positive vibes as I had remembered her.

"Well, you have to understand that my mom was pretty much the most vocal anti-naturist still in town and the only reason she no longer bickers with everyone about it is because I finally got the courage to stand up to my mom about my convictions."

"And how is she taking it, your mom?"

"It's hard. She barely speaks to me now and that's why I want a job. I want to be able to perhaps live on my own once I am 18 so that I can support myself. Slowly, she seems to accept it. She once again cooks for the both of us now and starting this week, she places herself a towel on my chair if I am late. I guess it's a good sign."

"I understand. We do not have a lot of openings for minors at this moment. We already hire more of the students part time and what we really need are full time employees. I mean, we have a enough students already doing janitorial work so we initially thought to simply tell you that there was no job opening. My superior however, thought of a position for...[Continue reading on the site]

Fortunately for me, I managed to keep my weight in check for the last decade or so meaning I was still able to wear until recently the same things I still had from my previous life as a textile.

But it was now changing. I was very pregnant and my figure was definitely changing. I hadn't gained much weight, but it still needed me to shop for a new set of clothes I might barely wear.

I did ask Peter Green to restrain my hours in court, requiring minimal presence on my part outside of the naturist center. In fact, between the 4nd and the 6th month of pregnancy, I didn't wear a single piece of clothing, with the exception of the one time I took a ultrasound to ensure the baby was in full health.

It wasn't so much voluntarily as because I was almost devoid of energy. My first three months went well, but my second trimester left me tired and exhausted most of the time leaving me going through my day's work like an automata. Susan was rather scared, but everyone was very supportive.

Eric was nice enough to do all of the shopping and Peter removed my requirement to meet the staff in person. 

I did have to file reports after reports, but Susan helped me a lot and the lack of court pleadings meant a smoother workload.

When I  do plead a case, my analysis time becomes fractured. I might have a big case to study for a full month, but broken in half by a 3 day presence in court.

But with my full time now devoted to reading and commenting on reports from other lawyers, I was able to completely focus on each of them and come up with original strategies on how to fix them faster than normal even if I thought I was slower than usual.

This wasn't lost to Peter who commented that either long term nudity or pregnancy seemed to increase my productivity. A few of the lawyers I prepared briefs for even sent me gifts for my future baby after they managed to turn a desperate case around and win against all odds.

Do you remember I told you I had 4 lawyers assisting me now ? Before the pregnancy, we used to meet on an almost weekly basis at the R.K.D. office but now, most of their faces seemed like distant memories. We still exchanged e-mails and occasional phone calls, but the further apart we were physically, the less important I seemed to be for them.

Well, except for Samantha. Samantha really wanted to be made partner...[Continue reading on the site]