She found a Sunoco station with its lights still on and pulled in, but it looked deserted. Against her better judgement she got out of the car and went inside to discover the only sign of life was a small, staticky radio set to a bluegrass station. Something seemed off; the hair stood up on the back of her neck, so she quickly got in her car and found her way back to the highway. The rattle started again, but this time it sounded closer. She glanced in the rear-view mirror to see a large, shirtless man smiling maniacally at her from the back seat while shaking a baby rattle.
“Good morning, you gorgeous creature!” Niccolo gushed as he stared into the pond at his reflection. “A veritable Greek god come to Earth, that’s you!”
Niccolo was immensely pleased with himself — so pleased, in fact, that he couldn’t get over it. Whenever he had an opportunity to gaze upon his handsome self, he took it. Niccolo also chose to walk around nude so everyone would have the opportunity to experience the full effect of his uncommon beauty.
Niccolo was magnanimous sort, indeed.
Niccolo had no friends, which is understandable since he was so captivated with himself that he had neither the time for, nor interest in others. It was all Niccolo, all the time.
One day, as he was gazing in his favorite pool of water Kevin the ogre came up behind him. “Hey, buddy,” Kevin began. “What’s gonna happen when you get old? You’re not gonna look like that forever, y’know.”
Niccolo turned to look at the Kevin, but didn’t speak so the ogre grunted and trundled away.
Dang! I never thought about ageing. I guess it will happen eventually. Just like the ogre guy said.There’s gotta be a way around it. The more Niccolo thought about it, the more terrified he became. If I don’t have my looks, I don’t have jack. There’s only one thing to do. I must ask the gods to preserve my handsomeness forever!
Niccolo began speaking to the gods in earnest. Hera was the first to hear him.
“Zeus?” Hera called to her husband. “Come listen to this.” Zeus appeared at his wife’s side. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“Just listen.”
“Oh, geez. Niccolo again.” Zeus shook his massive head. “What is with that guy? He thinks he can live out his life and look as he does now?”
“Oh, and that isn’t all,” Hera continued. “Get this:”
Hera rewound time a bit back to when Niccolo was admiring himself in the pond. “Now, listen.”
Zeus heard Niccolo going on about himself at the pond and the part about … a veritable Greek god come to Earth.
“Can you believe it?” Hera asked.
Zeus was enraged. “How dare that goofy twerp compare himself to Us‽”
“What are you going to do, Babes?”
Thunderbolts, lightning, and sheets of rain pounded the Earth. Then Zeus summoned the winds and called on Poseidon to whip-up the Aegean a bit. “That should be good for starters.” Zeus and Hera laughed.
Back on Earth, Niccolo ran for cover. I wonder if that’s a hard no…
Niccolo continued talking to the gods and asking for favors. There was no response after the storms, but he kept at it anyway.
Finally, he decided to take a break. His voice was getting hoarse, and he became fatigued. Niccolo wandered over to his favorite pond and beheld his handsome self. “You handsome devil, you.”
At the behest of Zeus, Kevin the ogre trundled out of the forest again and sneaked up on Niccolo. He then used his massive foot to nudge Niccolo face-first into the pond. It was much deeper than it looked. Kevin was surprised when he didn’t resurface.
He simply grunted and went on about his business. His job was done.
Welcome to Crimson’s Creative Challenge #031! To join in, please click here. Our task is to craft a creative story, poem, response using no more than 150 words.
Shelley walked down Hickory Street which led to Carefree Park. She liked to go early so she could think … and remember.
It had been six months since her best friend Angela had passed away. Shelley still felt raw. She was hoping that visiting this park where she and Angela spent much of their childhood would help her heal. Or at least make her feel closer to Angela.
Soon, Shelley spied the old bench where she and Angela used to sit. She contemplated sitting on it but was afraid it would be too much. It felt familiar and safe. Shelley smiled.
A butterfly landed next to her. She’d never seen one like it: orange and dotted with small black & white circles. Shelley had heard that when you are missing a loved one, they visit you in the form of a butterfly.
Believe it or not, Camille was ‘at that awkward stage’ from about 6th grade through most of 12th grade. It seemed that puberty was purposely avoiding her. As such, her school days were filled with angst and sadness. Her nickname was Snake Hips since she was so thin, but when acne appeared she became Feta Face.
It’s no wonder that Camille was lonely and introverted. The boys made fun of her, while the girls were grossed out. She spent most of her time indoors reading in her bedroom. Camille avoided going outside for fear of someone seeing her and laughing or getting sick.
The only positive aspect of Camille’s school career is that she was acing every class. There was nothing to distract her from her studies, so she couldn’t help but get straight As.
As a special treat for getting such good grades (and because they felt sorry for her) Camille’s parents made an appointment for her at Aphrodite’s Beauty and Day Spa. They’re tag line was “Arrive as a *Thete; Emerge as a Goddess.” Satisfaction Guaranteed.
The following Saturday, her parents dropped her off at the spa and picked her up seven hours later. The change was unbelievable. Camille really did look like a goddess! They even provided a prosthetic bra for her to wear until Nature kicked in.
Camille’s life changed overnight, literally. Boys followed her around like lost puppies while the girls were suddenly chummy and included her in all of their activities. She was polite but not excited or ever grateful. She remembered the name-calling, the laughter, the cruel jokes and all the rest. Screw them!
There was one boy though, who caught her attention. His name was Barry, and he was one of those bad boys of whom girls were taught to beware. Camille couldn’t get him off her mind. She thought about him all the time. Yes, she had her first crush.
Barry noticed Camille too; caught her looking at him from time to time, sometimes with a nuanced grin. Naaah! No way would chick like that want anything to do with me. Camille was too shy and unsure of herself to initiate a conversation and Barry figured he was hallucinating. And so, they left it that way until after graduation.
One day Barry and Camille ran into one another at a chariot race at the Coliseum. She was over the moon about it, and he seemed glad to see her, too. They sat together during the race. It turned out Barry’s brother was driving in it, so Camille made a big deal of cheering for him which impressed Barry. After that, they were all but inseparable. Things happened fast.
After three months, they were engaged and six months later they were married. At first everything was wonderful and both Camille and Barry were blissfully happy. Within a year, things had gone sideways. Barry had gotten a promotion at work and thought he was entitled to whatever and whomever, he desired. Camille put up with him for the sake of their kids, but then finally decided they were better off without him as a role model. One day, they were gone without a trace. Barry was relieved and not a bit remorseful.
Camille and the kids moved to Athens where she found work as a cocktail waitress at an upscale taverna. There, she was discovered by a representative from the **Omonia Modelling Agency. He left his card, and she called the next day. Once again, things happened fast.
Soon, Camille’s face (and the rest of her) were a common sight in Athens and beyond. Her image was on billboards, in magazines, and carved into the walls of caves and stone tablets.
She had made it on her own. She didn’t need a man. Camille didn’t know it then, but she became the early personification of “Girl Power!”
Uncle Jasper was a curious one. He wasn’t the kind of uncle who celebrated holidays with his family, nor was he the uncle that made you want to crawl onto his lap and expect him to tell you a story. But if you had a question about anything to do with science, logic, physics and such, he was the one to ask. Conversely, if you needed relationship advice or struggling with unrequited love, forget it. Uncle Jasper would look at you as if you were speaking Swahili. He would not (or could not) discuss matters of the heart. Go to the Empress for that. You’ll see why.
He wasn’t always like this. According to the elders he was quite the ladies’ man. And toga parties! If there was a toga party, Uncle Jasper was there. He was either throwing them or attending them. Uncle Jasper had a million friends who loved being around him. At one time he was a handsome and outgoing young man who fun to be around. No one knows for sure what went wrong in his life to turn Uncle Jasper into a loner obsessed with time. Some say it was a woman named Astrid who broke his heart when she eloped with Uncle Jasper’s best friend, Arnold. Others say he consumed way too much of a psychedelic drink called kykeon, which is the equivalent of the modern LSD. Perhaps it was a bit of both.
Either way, Uncle Jasper was never the same. Now, he sits all day contemplating his hourglass, turning it upside down, then right side up, in silence. Who knows what he’s thinking about or why‽
He never married or even dated anyone after the Astrid & Arnold fiasco, nor did he make any new friends after he ditched the old ones. His brother, Jerry, tried to drag him out of his funk a few times. He would fix him up with attractive women or take him to the toga parties he once loved but Jasper would have none of it.
Eventually, he moved to a far-flung island in the Cyclades called Folegrados in the medieval town of Hora. It’s a three-day camel ride to get there and once you arrive in Hora, you have to hike on a zig-zag path to get to the Church of the Panagia. Uncle Jasper resides in the basement. But don’t bother going. Uncle Jasper doesn’t like company and barely tolerates visits from the family.
In a chestnut shell, Uncle Jasper was no longer interested in the things that once made life interesting.
Family members sent cards and letters to him occasionally, but they always came back marked Return to Sender. However, a couple of the aunts had the feeling that his mail had been opened and read before being sent back. Eventually, they gave up when the postage rates became wildly expensive.
Ergo, the Ogre 