There was no greater drudgery than guarding the castle Denethor. Home to King Bladelock, it sat in the center of all of Lucretia like a great boyle upon the earth. Lucretia's lands were so large that it required more than a fortnight's travel to reach it's borders and any conflict that would require the presence of guards to begin with. The citizens of Denethor were patrolled by Bladelock's militia, so the castle guard couldn't even experience the excitement of coralling drunkards and cutpurses. Drudgery it was and thankless drudgery to boot.
"Any day now, Rendalia will invade. Then we may be sent to to the borders to bolster the front lines," Pathagoris Ironeye was saying. He stood outside the entrance to the palace, polearm ceremoniously displayed as was Bladelock's fancy. The Gods help you if the king walked by and your polearm was leaning against a wall or if you left it in the bunker. The damn thing was so bulky that it was useless in battle but rules were rules, and old King Bladelock was a stickler for rules.
"Ha. Keep lying to yourself mate. If Bladelock ever strips himself of his fancy guards, that'll be the day the sun winks out forever," replied Dath Skybane. A veteran castle guard, he showed the signs of no battle. More than Forty years old, he had not a scar or gray hair upon him.
"Watch your tongue, mate. If the wrong person hears you, we'll meet the guillotine for sure. I don't think my mum would be too proud if I go to pieces," Pathagoris said
"Fie!" Dath waved him off. "Bladelock wouldn't kill his guards. Besides. Nobody I know particularly likes him and forked tongues run freely around here. You're still new boy, but you'll see."
Pathagoris shifted the polearm from his right to left hand. He was a dreamer, a romantic. He orginally had left his farm to join the castle guard because he had envisioned all kinds of honor and reward from the position. He would impress his lady fair, his Kaya, and they would wed within the castle itself. She would be wearing a white ruffle dress, and he his crimson guard's armor. He and his true love ways. Sigh. His disappointment each day was so heavy and palpable that it threatened to choke the life out of him.
His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Dath took a good look at him and his gaze softened. "It's not all you thought it would be, is it lad?"
"No, Dath. No it's not. Why have you done it so long? Why have you reenlisted for guard duty every time your five years were over?"
Dath's brow furrowed as he contemplated his answer. "Let me put it to you this way. I didn't join the guard until I was three and twenty years of age. By that time I had proven to myself that I was not much more than a drunkard and a beggar. I had begun each day with a tankard of ale and by midday I was sitting beside the road with a wooden bowl and a fake eye patch, trying to earn that night's ale fee. If I only had enough coin for a bed, I'd spend it on ale and sleep in the dirt. That was my life, and I saw that this was my last chance. I remember my first day alone here in the castle Denethor. I was standing on the parapet and looking east over Lucretia. The sun was shimmering off of it's lush green surface, and I was filled with such a sense of peace and beauty that I knew two things instantly. Bladelock or no Bladelock, Lucretia was the land I loved. And I would never go back to staring at this beautiful land through the bottom of an ale glass. It's been eighteen years since I made that vow and there have been no broken promises. The life of a castle guard may be mundane, but trust me lad. It beats the alternative."
Pathagoris stared at Dath, contemplating what the older man had said. "I think I understand you better now, friend. And I must admit, I've never looked at Lucretia in such a way before. You almost sound like a bard when you speak that way. And yet, deep within me the desire to experience battle, glory, and honor still burns strong."
"Oh the folly of youth," Dath replied, but he was smiling. "Come now, it's time to change posts. You can follow me to the parapet and I'll show you a truly breathtaking sight."
They hoisted their polearms and marched through the gates of Denethor, their crimson armor glowing in the midday sun.
(It was eight moons later when Rendalia did indeed invade. Their general was a shrewd tactition and he cut a swath through the large Lucretian army, driving them all the way back to the very gates of Denethor itself. That is when Pathagoris Ironeye's place in history was eternally sealed. But that is a tale for another time......)
2007-09-05 17:30:26
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answer #1
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answered by Cheese 4
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Any day now, my wild beautiful bird, Vampira, will come to me just before dawn. She will alight on my outer balcony, before transforming into a beautiful woman. Then, she will step through the French doors to my bedroom, and share with me her true love ways. Nobody I know now, or have ever known, can take me to such heights of ecstasy.
After I have been with Vampira, I get so shaky and I feel so weak. My arms reach for her, but she's not there. I go to pieces and I almost die. I go to pieces and I cry.....
Vampira promises me eternal life if I will only give up my mortal life to her, and become a creature of the night. Can I truly believe her, or are those only words spoken in the heat of passion, that will become broken promises? I'm so lonely, I think about her only.
Vampira will soon give me another of her special love bites on the neck, and it will seem to everyone that I am dead. I will spend my first day alone in my coffin, and then she will come to me, and we will fly off into the sunset forever.
2007-09-12 23:30:37
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answer #2
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answered by soupkitty 7
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My first day alone, and there is nobody I know here in this strange town. I hope that any day now, Squawky (my wild beautiful bird) will fly back in the window. He got lost when his cage opened up during the move.
I go to pieces when I think about why I'm here. All those broken promises by Jimmy (my ex) like when he explained to me his true love ways. I know now he didn't mean anything he said. It's over, and I must accept it and move on.
Squawky? Where are you Squawky?
2007-09-12 13:09:52
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answer #3
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answered by dashelamet 5
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Any day now, (My Wild Beautiful Bird) I hope that our true love ways will spread amongst all humanity. My first day alone without you proved fatal. Fatal, for I go to pieces every second you are not by my side. My first day alone without you was excruciating; i wish to never repeat it again. There has never been broken promises between us, and there never shall be. Nobody I know can say they feel such passion for one person as I do you, my love. We must shout our spirited communion from the mountains tops, so all can see what true love really, looks like. Your soul has been emblazoned on my heart... will you marry me?
2007-09-06 06:20:29
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answer #4
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answered by Jewls 3
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1982.
Morning had broken, and I'd looked to the other side of my big brass bed, and my girl Chantilly Lace wasn't there. She was gone, gone, gone, whoa yeah. It was my first day alone.
There were no broken promises, because there were no promises, no demands. We were young. I get so emotional, I go to pieces at times like these. With Chantilly, I thought I'd known true love ways.
I didn't know where she'd gone, or what she was running to, or from. Only thing I knew was that she'd come from small town, Kentucky. I strapped on my shoes, knowing that soon they'd be full of Kentucky rain. "I will follow her, follow her wherever she may go," I silently vowed. I strapped on a day pack with a few essentials. Didn't bother calling the university lab where I was a lab tech. Chantilly was more important to me at that moment than my biology career.
The door slammed behind me -- literally, and figuratively, in so many ways. "Any day now, my wild beautiful bird, I'll find you, and some day, we'll be together." I whispered her name into the sky. It felt like springtime on that February morning.
Pasadena was soon vanishing in the round rear-view mirror of my little Honda motorcycle. "Nobody I know would miss me," I thought to myself. I'd call my parents from the road, let them know to clean out the little apartment where I'd thought I'd had heaven on Earth, let them know I was okay. The freeway wind always made my eyes water under my helmet, didn't it?
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Author's note: This tale explains how it was that I didn't become a biologist, and how I began wandering small town America.
2007-09-06 23:04:03
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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Sorry Sunshine, go ahead without me. Little out of commission lately. Will catch up later.
2007-09-06 20:18:46
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answer #6
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answered by tea cup 5
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sorry
2007-09-12 23:52:48
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answer #7
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answered by karen 2
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