Treachery and weeds
The princess, strangely dressed in civilian attire, approached me through the crowd with a confused expression on her face. "You seem really familiar..." she commented.
"Well, you're the princess," I answered, to explain why of course we knew each other. But she just laughed.
"I'm not the princess just yet, silly! The contest hasn't started yet to see who gets to be the new princess." That, at least, explained the large crowd that was forming in front of the palace.
I didn't really know what to say, so I decided to just play along. I put out my hand. "Well it was nice meeting you," I said. She took my hand and shook it, smiling and thanking me. Then she made her way forward to take her place with the other 'contestants'. I might have thought she was pranking me, but there was no way every single other person in this crowd could have also failed to recognize her. Someone had made her forget who she was. Someone had made everyone forget who she was, and I needed to find out who, and how.
I trekked a good ways up and down the boulevard as the beginning ceremony was being announced, just to check the audience's reaction, look for any suspicious types, and to see if there really was nobody but me who recognized her.
As I was about to compete my circuit, I spotted my friend and rival for the princess's heart. I didn't know if he had anything to do with this, but I did know I needed to get him out of the picture so that I could help the princess unhindered. As he fell in beside me and put his arm across my shoulder I said, "We need to talk", and I began leading him towards a gap in the chain link fence making off this part of the palace grounds.
The street on the other side was residential, but not overdeveloped. We walked a ways in silence. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, sensing that this meeting was likely to be more rivalry than friendship. I just chuckled and kept walking.
He remained in step, not wanting to make the first move and give me an opening. Finally, as we were stepping down into a ditch I grabbed his arm and did a flip, causing us to land on our backs, with me on top of him. "Ok," he wheezed, "I'll admit, that was a pretty good one." I rolled off and to my feet just as we heard the most terrible noise coming from up the street.
Standing about twenty feet away was a brutish, black skinned creature standing on two legs but making sounds that no human could make. As my friend stood up we looked at each other. There was no discussion, we just ran. The creature screamed again and began its chase.
As I ran, my legs began to fail. It felt like I was running with ten bricks tied to each foot. My friend surged ahead of me, and somehow I found myself aimed for a solid part of the fence, rather than the opening we had come through. I stopped at the fence. "Look, this is just silly," I said, "For one, there is no way that guy is faster than me. Two, I definitely would have run straight for the gap. It's not hard!" I turned around and sat down. "I'm just going to sit here. You can do whatever it is you're gonna do, because this just isn't fair or cool."
For a second, I thought the creature was going to go chasing after my friend, because he had moved, and some predators go for the thing that moves before the thing that's still. But it only swayed a moment and looked back at me. I glared back at it.
It's expression changed to concern. "Hey, don't look at me like that," it said. "I just wanted to show you something!" It backed away a bit to start crossing the street. "Come on, come over here, I want to show you something." Nervously I followed.
When we reached the other side of the street, the beast entered the yard of the house there and strode into the vegetation. It scooped up a giant mass of leaves in each hand and threw them all into its face. "Wheeeeeeee!" it cried. It scooped up another handful and buried its face in it. "Wahoooommmnmnmn" it went.
I stepped back and surveyed the scene, and that's when I realized it. The yard of this house was completely overgrown with monsternip!
And then I woke up.
"Well, you're the princess," I answered, to explain why of course we knew each other. But she just laughed.
"I'm not the princess just yet, silly! The contest hasn't started yet to see who gets to be the new princess." That, at least, explained the large crowd that was forming in front of the palace.
I didn't really know what to say, so I decided to just play along. I put out my hand. "Well it was nice meeting you," I said. She took my hand and shook it, smiling and thanking me. Then she made her way forward to take her place with the other 'contestants'. I might have thought she was pranking me, but there was no way every single other person in this crowd could have also failed to recognize her. Someone had made her forget who she was. Someone had made everyone forget who she was, and I needed to find out who, and how.
I trekked a good ways up and down the boulevard as the beginning ceremony was being announced, just to check the audience's reaction, look for any suspicious types, and to see if there really was nobody but me who recognized her.
As I was about to compete my circuit, I spotted my friend and rival for the princess's heart. I didn't know if he had anything to do with this, but I did know I needed to get him out of the picture so that I could help the princess unhindered. As he fell in beside me and put his arm across my shoulder I said, "We need to talk", and I began leading him towards a gap in the chain link fence making off this part of the palace grounds.
The street on the other side was residential, but not overdeveloped. We walked a ways in silence. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, sensing that this meeting was likely to be more rivalry than friendship. I just chuckled and kept walking.
He remained in step, not wanting to make the first move and give me an opening. Finally, as we were stepping down into a ditch I grabbed his arm and did a flip, causing us to land on our backs, with me on top of him. "Ok," he wheezed, "I'll admit, that was a pretty good one." I rolled off and to my feet just as we heard the most terrible noise coming from up the street.
Standing about twenty feet away was a brutish, black skinned creature standing on two legs but making sounds that no human could make. As my friend stood up we looked at each other. There was no discussion, we just ran. The creature screamed again and began its chase.
As I ran, my legs began to fail. It felt like I was running with ten bricks tied to each foot. My friend surged ahead of me, and somehow I found myself aimed for a solid part of the fence, rather than the opening we had come through. I stopped at the fence. "Look, this is just silly," I said, "For one, there is no way that guy is faster than me. Two, I definitely would have run straight for the gap. It's not hard!" I turned around and sat down. "I'm just going to sit here. You can do whatever it is you're gonna do, because this just isn't fair or cool."
For a second, I thought the creature was going to go chasing after my friend, because he had moved, and some predators go for the thing that moves before the thing that's still. But it only swayed a moment and looked back at me. I glared back at it.
It's expression changed to concern. "Hey, don't look at me like that," it said. "I just wanted to show you something!" It backed away a bit to start crossing the street. "Come on, come over here, I want to show you something." Nervously I followed.
When we reached the other side of the street, the beast entered the yard of the house there and strode into the vegetation. It scooped up a giant mass of leaves in each hand and threw them all into its face. "Wheeeeeeee!" it cried. It scooped up another handful and buried its face in it. "Wahoooommmnmnmn" it went.
I stepped back and surveyed the scene, and that's when I realized it. The yard of this house was completely overgrown with monsternip!
And then I woke up.