The Quest – A Month Of December Prompts In One Day By Walt Page, The Tennessee Poet

Thanks once again to Michelle from
Putting My Feet In The Dirt
for her list of daily prompts for the month of December.
Please visit her site for her December list of daily prompts.
Her December prompts are in bold in the below story.

The Quest

Christmas was coming. He opened his eyes to find that he was laying
in between the clover and the dampened earth. He was just a mirror
image of who he once was. He remembered the legend of the
hidden treasure, but now the truth sucked the life right out of his chest.
He wondered, “Had the map really changed, or had he read it wrong
to begin with?”

He looked around and found a blanket, soft and warm, with the faintest
hint of her perfume. As his eyes slowly focused, he realized he was
deep down in the dungeon,where there were two halves of dress,
frayed and worn. He could hear strange music coming from just outside.

He went out and saw her, naked and crying.
Consumed by fear, he stood as still as the dark night above him,
and as the moon exploded… She dressed, then wept as the music faded
away. They stood there in silence, realizing destiny awaited, they had no
other choice. He stood there hesitantly, and then, holding her gaze
briefly from across the room, he knew…

Transfixed by the lights, she never noticed he was there, but she
too knew she must go with him. A steady breeze guided them along
as they walked together. It wasn’t long before they came to a harbor,
with a ramp leading up to the door of a large cargo ship. Keeping his hands in
his pockets, he nervously played with his keys as they approached
the door. And suddenly the door began to melt against the brass frame.
He wondered, “Was it a glitch, or just his imagination?”

They slowly walked through the open door and looked around. He
saw a knife on a table, next to a bottle of Jack Daniels. He walked
over to the table, picked up the knife and took a large drink from
the bottle of Jack Daniels. He sat down and examined the knife,
as droplets of sweat fell to his lap as the blade glistened. She
screamed as venom poured from his eyes, poisoned tears. She ran
quickly from the room as he drank the last drop, then plummeted
into the sea.

Decompression arrived quickly after the window blew out, and
she was knocked out by the blast. As she remained unconscious,
Heavenly creatures featured boldly in her dreams. When she woke
she remembered. Her plan had worked. She reeked of sugary sweets,
and her teeth gave away her disguise. She looked down at her legs
and smiled. The fishnet stockings were a nice surprise.

She was still groggy from the blast and hobbled back to her cottage.
When she opened the door, an eruption of presents was all that|could be seen.
Someone had been there, but a half-eaten muffin
and a spoon were all that remained. Looking around, she then
saw him. He had survived! She turned and ran out quickly. She
snickered as she ran, until she noticed what was behind her.
Her sister reported her missing two days later. They never did find
her body.

Back at the cottage, the grandfather clock was chiming. The last
bell chimed and not even the crickets could be heard. He knew
he was close now and he realized he had read the map wrong. Then
he saw it. The floating orb hovered over the painting above
the hearth. The orb slowly floated out the door and he followed.
Planter boxes of peculiar looking pansies, lined the off shaped path.
Just ahead, he saw a jar of honey sitting on a stump. He picked
it up and examined it closely.