Three of them flashed out of nothingness, right into the salon where we were playing cards. All four guys had their hands full of cards. Timothy, sitting beside me, had lain his cards down to help me with my hand. He wasn’t paying attention to the slight sparkle in the air that occurred right before the moment they came.
Long blonde hair, tied back with a dark ribbon. Blue eyes that seemed lake water deep, and bodies that looked carved from stone. That’s all I saw before I was gone, leaving the men gasping, at least, I think that described the sound they made.
Perhaps they were huffing for breath. I know I felt the atmosphere change, and where there was formerly lots of delicious air flowing in and out of my lungs, that was suddenly gone.
Two of the three had grabbed my hand and were holding it. I could feel their touch. I wanted to push them away, to fight the grip on me, but I was too scared. I clung.
Perhaps it took no longer than a brief moment. There is no measure on time when the coldness of despair, panic, and lack of breath are stealing away your life. Touchdown was sudden, feet on the ground, a heaviness to my feet, as if gravity was pressing down on them. I think I cried out, but it was probably only inhaling the air, the sweet smelling air.
Have you ever breathed deeply of a honeysuckle bush? The fragrance, the smile of pleasure, and the headiness of its perfume traps you into fairyland, at least for a moment. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure that’s exactly where I was, for real.
I would have asked one of the blonde hunks, but a woman butted into my musings over fragrances and memories of an earlier time in my life, the good times, not the day, the bee stung me for touching one of the honeysuckle blooms when I didn’t see it sitting there.
“Welcome to my Court,” the woman said. “I hope my boys didn’t hurt you. You are far too pretty to be harmed.”
Although that was nice to hear, my mouth, ajar like an open door, didn’t do more than sputter. Or was it my tongue that was supposed to do the talking? Neither seemed to rush forward to discuss the situation with this queenly robed woman. (I say that because not only was the satin of her dress of that realm of elegance, but because she had a crown sitting on her head that was beaming light rays from its many jewels.)