Post by LadyEowynOfRohan03 on May 13, 2005 9:03:43 GMT -5
[glow=white,2,300]
*Note: a Rennie is someone who does Renaissance Festivals.
The Rennies and the Ring
Ron had finally consumed enough bread sticks and Mountain Dew to feel human again.
"This is probably the understatement of the day - it feels really good to sit down." His words were weighted with fatigue.
"I really love doing the renaissance festivals," replied Sheila from the opposite side of the booth. "But it's hard on the feet. The parts I can still feel ache, the rest of my legs feel like lead all the way to my knees. I'm so glad we only have two weekends left."
A tired silence filled the moment. Their day had begun at sunrise and ended at dark. It had been filled with the dust of the renaissance festival site and the hot Florida sun. And everywhere; people, people, people.
Working the festival was exciting, but it was physically demanding. It felt good to be in a cool, dark corner of the restaurant. For the first time in many hours Sheila could hear her own thoughts and Ron could speak without his affected medieval accent.
"I thought things went very well today. The crowd was alive and co-operative."
Sheila smiled, her eyes brightening. "Young Romeo at the 2:00 performance was hysterical! After he almost threw his back out doing that impressive reaction to the poison, I thought he was going to really kill himself when you said. "and then he died……over there."
"Yeah – we better check the site more closely for tree roots next time we do Romeo and Juliet." Ron smiled and shook his head. "The gag of having him die from the poison and then have to get up and move to the other side of the stage to finish his death throes always gets a laugh. Still, we don't want anyone to get really hurt."
A figure stepped from the shadows giving Ron and Sheila a start. He was within arms reach, before either had noticed his approach. Before they could react, the stranger produced a silver platter from beneath his robes. His posture and movement indicated he was not a person to be trifled with.
The platter was round, large and had the dull patina of use. The robed figure placed it on the table gently, but without ceremony. It contained a large circular piece of flat bread almost as large as the platter itself. Unrecognizable bits of vegetables and greasy meat were strewn across its surface at random. As if by magic, the aroma of the hot bread spoke to parts of the mind that crave food.
The stranger leaned closer. In the dim candlelight, Ron and Sheila could make out faded emblems on his purple garment and pointed hat. Stars, moons, planets, comets – the markings of one who dabbled in the supernatural. It was hard to guess his age. His face was dark and lined with shadows. He spoke to them in a hushed, conspiratorial tone.
"I have been waiting for you. I knew you would come, but you are late. Listen to the secret – I can only tell you once. I am being watched." He looked over his left shoulder at other faces that only he could see from his vantage point in the dark restaurant.
"The secret is in the crust. Only if you consume the middle portion without breaking the crust will the magic work. That is important – the outside ring must remain unbroken. By eating of the same food together, you create a triune bond between yourselves and the supernatural. After you finish eating, hold hands and together look into the ring of crust as it sits on the silver platter…."
The stranger nervously paused to look around the room again. The troubled look on his face foreshadowed flight - that he might leave before revealing his final secret. Briefly assured, he relaxed a bit. Turning back to the couple, he fixed his penetrating gaze on first Ron, then Sheila.
"If you dare to look closely enough, inside the ring will appear far off vistas of worlds and times you know not. You will see men and elves and dwarves – and creatures beyond your imagination. Are these things that are, or were, or yet to come, not even the wisest…"
The stranger stood bolt upright as if he had been pierced by an unseen weapon. His head jerked to the left, his eyes focusing somewhere in the distance. His expression spoke his mind. He was startled, perhaps even frightened. With a swirl of his robes, he disappeared into the darkness as quickly as he had appeared.
Mystery hung in the air and covered them both like a blanket. Ron and Sheila stared and blinked into the darkness. In the vacuum of the stranger's sudden disappearance, words could not exist for the moment. Then reality rushed back in. The background noises and smells of the restaurant reasserted themselves on the couple's senses.
"Who the heck was that?" Ron asked no one in particular.
"I'm not really sure, but I think it was our waiter," Sheila said tentatively. "If it wasn't, someone has been to a few too many Renaissance Festivals. If it was, we're gonna have to leave a really big tip."
"I guess we should've known better. This is the kind of thing that happens when you go out to eat at a restaurant named Pizza Wizard."
[/glow]
*Note: a Rennie is someone who does Renaissance Festivals.
The Rennies and the Ring
Ron had finally consumed enough bread sticks and Mountain Dew to feel human again.
"This is probably the understatement of the day - it feels really good to sit down." His words were weighted with fatigue.
"I really love doing the renaissance festivals," replied Sheila from the opposite side of the booth. "But it's hard on the feet. The parts I can still feel ache, the rest of my legs feel like lead all the way to my knees. I'm so glad we only have two weekends left."
A tired silence filled the moment. Their day had begun at sunrise and ended at dark. It had been filled with the dust of the renaissance festival site and the hot Florida sun. And everywhere; people, people, people.
Working the festival was exciting, but it was physically demanding. It felt good to be in a cool, dark corner of the restaurant. For the first time in many hours Sheila could hear her own thoughts and Ron could speak without his affected medieval accent.
"I thought things went very well today. The crowd was alive and co-operative."
Sheila smiled, her eyes brightening. "Young Romeo at the 2:00 performance was hysterical! After he almost threw his back out doing that impressive reaction to the poison, I thought he was going to really kill himself when you said. "and then he died……over there."
"Yeah – we better check the site more closely for tree roots next time we do Romeo and Juliet." Ron smiled and shook his head. "The gag of having him die from the poison and then have to get up and move to the other side of the stage to finish his death throes always gets a laugh. Still, we don't want anyone to get really hurt."
A figure stepped from the shadows giving Ron and Sheila a start. He was within arms reach, before either had noticed his approach. Before they could react, the stranger produced a silver platter from beneath his robes. His posture and movement indicated he was not a person to be trifled with.
The platter was round, large and had the dull patina of use. The robed figure placed it on the table gently, but without ceremony. It contained a large circular piece of flat bread almost as large as the platter itself. Unrecognizable bits of vegetables and greasy meat were strewn across its surface at random. As if by magic, the aroma of the hot bread spoke to parts of the mind that crave food.
The stranger leaned closer. In the dim candlelight, Ron and Sheila could make out faded emblems on his purple garment and pointed hat. Stars, moons, planets, comets – the markings of one who dabbled in the supernatural. It was hard to guess his age. His face was dark and lined with shadows. He spoke to them in a hushed, conspiratorial tone.
"I have been waiting for you. I knew you would come, but you are late. Listen to the secret – I can only tell you once. I am being watched." He looked over his left shoulder at other faces that only he could see from his vantage point in the dark restaurant.
"The secret is in the crust. Only if you consume the middle portion without breaking the crust will the magic work. That is important – the outside ring must remain unbroken. By eating of the same food together, you create a triune bond between yourselves and the supernatural. After you finish eating, hold hands and together look into the ring of crust as it sits on the silver platter…."
The stranger nervously paused to look around the room again. The troubled look on his face foreshadowed flight - that he might leave before revealing his final secret. Briefly assured, he relaxed a bit. Turning back to the couple, he fixed his penetrating gaze on first Ron, then Sheila.
"If you dare to look closely enough, inside the ring will appear far off vistas of worlds and times you know not. You will see men and elves and dwarves – and creatures beyond your imagination. Are these things that are, or were, or yet to come, not even the wisest…"
The stranger stood bolt upright as if he had been pierced by an unseen weapon. His head jerked to the left, his eyes focusing somewhere in the distance. His expression spoke his mind. He was startled, perhaps even frightened. With a swirl of his robes, he disappeared into the darkness as quickly as he had appeared.
Mystery hung in the air and covered them both like a blanket. Ron and Sheila stared and blinked into the darkness. In the vacuum of the stranger's sudden disappearance, words could not exist for the moment. Then reality rushed back in. The background noises and smells of the restaurant reasserted themselves on the couple's senses.
"Who the heck was that?" Ron asked no one in particular.
"I'm not really sure, but I think it was our waiter," Sheila said tentatively. "If it wasn't, someone has been to a few too many Renaissance Festivals. If it was, we're gonna have to leave a really big tip."
"I guess we should've known better. This is the kind of thing that happens when you go out to eat at a restaurant named Pizza Wizard."
[/glow]
