A Birthday Gone Wrong Part 3
Wining and Dining
By Dave Church
About an hour and a bit later, people were tired of dancing. Conversations could be heard wherever you were. There was a lineup at the punch bowl, as everyone had a drink. As the line was long, Queen Leene was the last one to get a glass.
Everyone commented on the taste of the punch, and often went back to have more.
Crono was the most eager out of everyone, as he had drank 3 glasses full.
The king walked up to the throne. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance.
"I have an announcement to make!" he said, his head bobbing up and down, and between laughs. He paused, frowned, and then smiled again. "And I forgot what it was!"
The knights, ladies, and guests roared with laughter. Leene was troubled, as her husband seemed to be wavering up in the throne. She took a sip of her punch, disturbed by what was going on.
Crono stood up, holding his glass high. "This is in-turesting punch," he said, swaying from side to side. "What's it made of?" he said, lowering the glass and gulping it down.
The king looked like he was deep in thought for a minute, and came up with the answer. "Jerrinberry," he said, referring to a yellow, sweet cherry-like fruit that grew in Guardia's forests.
Crono was immediately alert. He straightened out. "This is not jerri…" and then he collapsed on the floor in a heap. The king fell down into his throne as well.
Others, beginning to realize something was wrong, dropped their punch glasses. Leene immediately dropped hers as well, but was also feeling the effects, as everything blurred around her. Glenn staggered, but stood up. Everyone else was falling to the floor or trying desperately to stay on their feet. It ended in failure, as after a minute only Leene and Glenn still remained standing.
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Leene didn't know what to make of what was going on. She knew that there was a problem, and it had something to do with the punch. But what would she do?
Act, she thought. Must act. The only thing she could consciously do was walk. All she could see was grey, and she kept walking, occasionally feeling a dull pain, but something kept her going. Eventually her surroundings turned green, and she had to keep going.
Must keep trying, keep going, she thought. She eventually stumbled and feel into what she thought was a giant egg.
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Glenn realized that the punch was spiked. He saw Leene heading toward the door of the castle and forced his legs to follow her. As he was a frog, whatever it was that was in the punch did not affect him as much as it would a human. He pressed on as Leene wandered into Guardia Forest, through the underbrush, and eventually into a clearing.
His conscious mind lost all control as Leene wandered into a giant egg. I must be imagining this, he thought. Then he realized what it was, and made a final effort to reach the "egg" as Leene fell unconscious, and hit her arm against what he thought to be a button. As he fell into the object, he suddenly felt a tremendous force slam him against the back. Just as it slowed to a stop, he hit his head on something and everything went black…
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End of Part 3
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