SciFi Challenge 28 Entry

The Worst Date Ever Just Got Even Worse

Timothy wipes his forehead with his sleeve and loosens up his tie. His shaking hands cause the flowers which he is holding to lose their petals. He takes in a deep breath and walks into the restaurant. A waiter takes Timothy to a reserved table. At the table sits a young lady.

"Hello," Timothy says in a squeak. The lady looks up at him and grins from ear to ear showing her missing front teeth and some overdue cavities. She greets him back, exclaiming her excitement to meet him loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear.

Timothy gives the flowers to the lady, "These are for you," then he sits down across from her. This is Timothy's first date in over ten years, and he really wants to make the best of it.

"I'm really glad that we got paired on this date together," the lady speaks while chewing her beef stew.

Timothy tries not to gag when he sees the food in her mouth. "I'm feeling a bit faint. Could you excuse me for a moment? I just need some fresh air."

The lady does not seem too happy about this, but she lets Timothy have his break, "Just don't take too long honey, I want to tell you all about a remedy for my cracked heels that I've discovered using heated frog mucus." And with that said, Timothy jumps out of his seat and makes a run for the door.

Outside the cool air calms Timothy down. As nervous as he was before, he really did look forward to this blind date, but now it seems as if he won't even make it to the end of it. Timothy thinks of how terrible it would be if she expected him to take her home then kiss her on her front porch. The thought of that just made Timothy weak at the knees. Timothy takes a deep breath before stepping into the restaurant again.

As he is about to go inside, he feels a heavy object hit the back of his head. Timothy instantly blacks out.

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Timothy wakes up on a cold hard floor. He sits up and tries to make out his surroundings, but it is too dark. He crawls forward, careful of what he might touch. His hands touch something. He grabs onto it and it feels like a vertical steel bar. He moves his hand to the left and feels more bars. He quickly realizes that he is in some jail cell. Timothy screams out for help.

His screaming seems to have awakened something behind him. Before Timothy knows it, a huge illuminated monster dog with five tails and three eyes is growling at Timothy.

"Easy now boy," Timothy says as calmly as he can, but deep inside his heart his break dancing to a not so normal, life threatening tune.

The monster dog steps forward, and could literarily inhale Timothy if it chose to. Timothy falls to his knees knowing that this is the last moment of his life. He closes his eyes and prays that he won't feel any pain. With his eyes closed he can still tell that the monster dog is opening its mouth about to bite. But then the monster dog shrieks. Timothy opens his eyes and sees the monster dog on its back with a glowing silver arrow pierced in its side.

"Come quick," a lady's voice calls out to him. He sees a flicker of light and runs towards it. As he approaches, he stops in his tracks. Before him stands a beautiful young lady wearing a silver gown that accentuates her figure. Her blonde hair falls in waves over her shoulders. She holds a bow in one hand and a torch light in the other. "Follow me."

Timothy is at a loss of words, but the growl of the monster dog quickly knocks sense into his head. The two run. Timothy cannot see where they are running too, but he follows the torch light. Timothy can hear the monster dog chasing after them, getting closer. "Do you know where you are going?" He shouts out to her. She does not say anything.

Timothy notices a blue light ahead. They keep running. The light widens, and Timothy sees the outside. He has never been so excited to see the sky before. The two are outside, but the lady keeps on running. She runs towards the edge of the cliff. Timothy stops running, thinking that she must be crazy to run off a cliff. Timothy looks around but there is no other way to run. The monster dog emerges from the tunnel and it looks even more hideous in the light. Its black eyes are focused on Timothy. It wastes no time and plunges forward. Timothy runs for his life. When he reaches the edge he hesitates as to whether he should jump or not, either way he'll be dead by the end of the day.

Timothy looks at the lady. He has a feeling that he can trust her. She holds his hand and together they jump. They fall for a while but then falling turns into rising. Timothy in shock looks above him. The lady has somehow grown wings out of her back and they are flying away from the monster dog which obviously never learnt the term "Man is a dog's best friend," not "Man is a dog's best meal."

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The lady places Timothy gently on the ground. He feels every limb just to make sure that he is still intact. His heart has never danced so much in its beating life. "Thank you," Timothy says to the lady.

She closes her wings and they disappear behind her. "The Hunters will be looking for you soon. We need to get you to a better hiding place until we figure out what to do with you."

Timothy's mouth drops open. "Wait, what do you mean Hunters are looking for me? This is too much for me. My day started with the worst date of my life. That woman was the ugliest and most indecent woman I have ever met. Then I am almost eaten alive by a mutant. Then we jump off a cliff but only to fly to the ground. I have just received insomnia, because no man will ever be able to sleep after this."

"Enough!" The lady shouts, "Speak one more word and I will shoot you with an arrow right in the centre of your head." She starts running," Keep up."

"Why are we always running?"

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The two arrive at a small house. They go inside. "You should be fine here. My home is protected by a magical sphere that neither the Hunters nor their pet dogs will be able to find."

"Thank you," Timothy says. He does not realize how tired he is until he lays down on a couch. He closes his eyes and sleeps. Sometime later, Timothy hears a rustling. He opens his eyes and sees the young lady looking out the window. She seems sad. She sighs. She takes off her gown, and for some reason Timothy cannot take his eyes off of her. Standing there naked, the lady takes a cup and pours some liquid substance over her head. Instantly she begins to transform into ... into the lady who Timothy went on a date with earlier that day.

"No," Timothy says. The lady turns red in the face and puts her gown on. "I am so sorry, I did not mean to see," he apologizes.

"No, it is okay, it is better that you know."

Timothy goes up to the lady, "I am completely speechless right now. I am so sorry for calling you ugly outside. I did not know."

The lady laughs, "I am well aware of my horrible appearance. It's a curse. A sorcerer's wife was envious of my pose and beauty so she cast a spell on me, that I may spend the rest of my days being disgusted by men. Over the years I created a mixture which turns me back into my natural state, but only temporarily."

Timothy wraps his arms around the lady, "So how can you break this curse?"

"I need to find a man who truly loves me – a man who would die for me. But no man has ever been interested, and if it seemed as if one was then the sorcerer's wife would send her Hunters to eliminate him, hence why you ended up in this situation. I apologize."

Timothy does not know what to say. Too much has happened in this day. In front of him is the person that he wanted to be furthest from, but now he feels that he should stick by her. "Well if true love is what you need, then I will help you find it. But first we need to get that mole off of your face."