Disclaimer All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended and nothing but the utmost respect for their creators is implied.
This is a sequel to the Demon Wars saga. Sorry about the lateness of my segues, but I've been involved in other writing activities. I don't think it's a big deal if you haven't read Demon Wars, but there might be a few little knick knacks in here that won't make complete sense to a new reader. Thanks to all the people who mailed me response on previous works of mine. And those of you who didn't? Well, I don't want to talk to you (just kidding, of course) But really, people, I could use a little feedback.
This story is dedicated to Alison and Shakespeare. They know why.

*****

Lexington was sitting on top of the battlement which Goliath usually slept on. Snow swirled around him, although deep down, Lex knew it was the middle of summer; it should not be snowing.
Odd.
But that wasn't the only thing. On the lower levels of the battlements, human teenage girls in bikinis were chasing each other and laughing, none of them noticing that they were running through snow in bare feet. Lex glanced up again, only to see a pair of massive vultures swirling around him in the sky. A snowball connected with his face, and Lexington glared angrily at the aggressor. It was Brooklyn, and he was rolling over, holding his sides, in mid-air, laughing. Lex was fuming with anger, and, glancing at his talons, noticed that he had gone completely red.

Lexington awoke. But denied himself the instinctual roar he experienced every other day. Wait a minute, he couldn't be up in the day. And why was he in this . . . bed? Lexington glanced at his hands. Instead of the sharp, bulky, green talons he was expecting, dull-edged, slender, and four-fingered appendages were in their place. He ran these hands over his head. Hair, what an interesting sensation. But he didn't have a problem with it. He was human . . . no big deal. He had always been human, as far as he was concerned.
The ever-familiar face of Elisa Maza walked into his room. She was wearing a yellow polka-dot apron, and was carrying a tray of cookies in red oven mitts, "Lex, honey, breakfast!"

Lexington awoke. He had fallen asleep on the couch while watching TV. The short, green gargoyle sat upright. Remembering all he had gone through while in sleep, he quickly checked himself. Talons . . . check, the right colour, the right number, and the right texture. Wings . . . double-check. Tail . . . well, it was still asleep, but Lex was pretty sure it was there. A nice, bald head . . . check. After pinching himself, Lex was pretty sure he was wide awake.
"Crap," he quasi-swore as he looked at the TV. He had missed a good half-hour of Star Trek: Insurrection. He grabbed the remote off the coffee table and stopped the tape, then hit the rewind button.
He looked out the window. It was the beginning of summer. Yippee. Everyone was tired out of their minds. The sudden change in temperature had taken its toll. Everyone was lazy. Kids waited for school to finish, just to get out of stuffy portables where the windows were seared shut to their nice, cool, air-conditioned homes. Even bad guys were hard to come by, apparently it took too much effort to mug someone.
Lex flopped back down on the couch. May. Nothing important happened in May except for Armed Forces day on the fifteenth, but that didn't mean anything. If he was in Canada he would be enjoying Victoria Day fireworks. But he wasn't in Canada. He was stuck in hot, congested, and sweaty New York City. He was bored out of his mind. He had already seen all the good recent video releases, except for the half hour of Insurrection he was trying to make up now. Brooklyn had discovered the wonderful world of Quake, the video game shooter, and so Lex had next to no time on the computer to surf or play or just stare blankly at the screen. Broadway hadn't seemed to change much with the weather change, he was still impressing Angela with new recipes he was discovering in the kitchen. Hudson, as usual, amused himself by watching TV with Bronx, and sometimes he and his faithful watchdog would join Goliath in the library, where Hudson would brush up on his reading.
They didn't get to see much of Elisa nowadays. When she wasn't working, she was either sleeping, or entertaining friends who were perpetually dropping by.
Lex went over all this, but was whipped to reality when the video snapped, informing him it was at the beginning of the tape. He had rewound too much.
"Damn," he said. Oh well, he had had enough Star Trek for today. He got up off the couch. Maybe he'd sneak into a good theatre and see the new Star Wars movie. It sounded like a plan to him. The best one he could come up with in this half-drugged state of mind brought on by the humidity.

Aside from Broadway, Owen Burnett was the only one who wasn't affected by the humidity. He was tending to the baby Alexander Xanatos, when there was a knock on the door. How odd, no one usually knocked around here.
He opened the door to see two familiar faces, "Dannan? Mustardseed?"
The two smiled, "You recognize us!" the yellow skinned Mustardseed exclaimed. She jumped up and kissed Owen on the cheek, "Eww . . . Puck, get out of that form, it's creepy."
"What are you two doing here?" asked Owen.
Dannan walked over to the crib, "Oberon sent us," he replied, "We're here to make sure you're doing your job."
"Of teaching Alexander?" asked Owen, "Puck is making progress, in due time, of course. Now you can leave."
"Stop talking about Puck as if you aren't him," said Mustardseed, "And we can't just leave, now. Oh no, we have to watch you make progress. Now get out of that form!" she snapped her fingers. Owen's figure flashed for a moment, and then was replaced by the short, pointy-eared Puck.
"There!" Dannan cried, slapping Puck on the back, "Much better. So, what've you taught him?"
"He's dabbling in Soul Transference," said Puck proudly, "He's doing very well."
"I'm sure," Mustardseed mused, tickling Alex. The baby giggled, grabbing her finger and sucking on it, "What about kinesis?"
"He's not bad," said Puck, "He keeps on hurting himself when he makes fireballs, though, so I've put that aside."
Mustardseed left the baby to Dannan and hugged Puck, fiddling with his hair, "You've lost your tenacity over the centuries, Puck. Come on, let's have fun. Take this kid out for a test drive."
She dragged him over to the crib, "We could try transformations," said Puck, "I haven't tried that one yet."
"You kind of beat that plot twist to death with your little excursion with Demona," said Dannan.
"Plot twist?" asked Puck.
Mustardseed smiled, "Dannan started writing a few centuries ago. Have you read A Midsummer Night's Dream? That was his."
"They just made a movie out of that," Puck observed, "Not bad, my friend. Although you kind of wrote me wrong."
Dannan beamed, "I'm rather proud of that one, too."
Mustardseed fiddled with a flower in a nearby vase, "You were right to leave, Puck," she said, "Life on Avalon is just so boring now. I mean, sure, it's fun to play tricks on those Gargoyles, but you can only do so much to that little group of mortals."
"Oberon told you I left?" asked Puck.
"In so many words," replied Mustardseed, "Why? What really happened?"
"It's complicated," said Puck, picking up Alex, "So anyway. How about that test drive?"

Lexington was humiliated. The balcony was full, so he had had to go back to the castle, and become a human. He wore a dark, baggy shirt to hide his wings in and it wouldn't contrast his skin too much. He had managed to squeeze into some oversized shoes, but they hurt his toes. He decided he'd be able to live through it, and put on a pair of baggy jeans, wrapping his tail around his leg, which was less than comfortable. Then he covered up his ridges and oddly-shaped eyes with sunglasses, and finished with a backwards baseball cap to conceal his head. Looking at himself in the mirror, he found that he wasn't too conspicuous. So he went out for the night, staying in the shadows as much as notability would allow. He finally arrived at a theatre. It was just before show time, and there wasn't much of a line up. Considering it was opening weekend, that wasn't too bad.
Lex selected a seat in the middle of one of the far back rows. The theatre wasn't too crowded, perhaps because it was just after midnight. Lexington took off his sunglasses and hung them on his collar as the lights dimmed and the title theme began.

Alex was having a heck of a time. From his accord, there was a tree in central park making cherries the size of basketballs, a fish from the Hudson river was now a cat, and seemed to love walking on land, and somewhere in Manhattan was a poodle who used to be a mugger. Mustardseed had loved that little touch.
They alighted on the edge of a skyscraper downtown, "He's a quick learner," Dannan observed.
"Yes," Mustardseed agreed, "Not bad for a little tyke. He must be of Titania's blood."
"His teacher's skills might have something to do with it," said Puck.
Dannan gave him a wry look, "Hopefully he'll use it for better things than making people see UFOs."
Puck waved the comment away with his hand, "That's over with. Oh, do catch up, Dannan." Puck looked through the city as a siren pierced the night, "Hmm . . . what else should we do?"
"Let's turn a hot dog vender into a hot dog," Mustardseed suggested.
"Nah, that's going a little too far," said Puck.
Mustardseed raised her eyebrow, "This from the child of Oberon who proposed 'that you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear?'"
"I never said that," said Puck defensively.
"Of course," Mustardseed nodded in agreement.
"What's this?" asked Puck curiously.
Dannan and Mustardseed tried to follow his gaze, "What?" they asked in unison.
"There."
Immediately they were inside a theatre, and Puck was pointing down to the lone person seated in the back row.
"He looks a little green," Mustardseed noted.
"He calls himself Lexington," said Puck, "He's from the gargoyle clan."
Dannan smiled, "How intriguing. He could almost pass as a human."
Mustardseed elbowed her comrade playfully, "You thought he was a human until Puck said he wasn't, you fool." She turned back to Lexington, "He's certainly enjoying the movie. He did an excellent job at disguising himself, too. And look, no makeup whatsoever, he managed that with only clothes. What a talented young man."
"Yes," Dannan agreed, "How about we give him a little makeup?"
"What an intriguing idea."

As the credits began to roll, Lexington noticed that his feet didn't hurt anymore. He must've either adapted to the pain, or his feet were asleep, but as he walked, he instinctively did it flat-footed, instead of on the balls of his feet, as gargoyles do. He put a hand on the seat to steady himself, and stared wide-eyed at the human appendage on the back of the seat. He moved it, just to make sure it wasn't his. Unfortunately, it was.
He leaned against the wall. Was he dreaming again? No, he was quite sure he had never fallen asleep during the movie, and he knew dreams well enough to know that it hadn't made up a movie in his head that made that much sense.
"Hey, kid," the usher gestured to the door, "We've got movies to play, let's get moving."
Deciding that he wouldn't do anything useful here, he straightened up and walked as gracefully as he could out the door.
"Hey, did you bring some booze in here?" the usher demanded.
"No sir," Lex replied, shaking his head quickly, "I'm just a little dizzy, that's all."
The usher smelled him a little, "You check out. Get goin', kid."
It didn't take long for Lex to get the hang of walking without a tail and flat-footed. It was an odd sensation. He had never felt ground on his heels before.
Everything seemed darker. The sky looked almost black instead of a dark blue, which had been the case last night. Lexington decided to go over precisely why he was human. Had he eaten anything strange? Nope. He hadn't eaten anything since last night. He hadn't been exposed to anything, although he thought someone in an earlier movie had spilled pop on the floor, so it was a little sticky. So, it had to be something else. The usual suspects popped into his head. Puck. Although he was restricted to using his powers while only teaching or protecting Alexander, those limitations very seldom quarantined the changeling's abilities. So now, he just had to get back to the castle, find Puck, and get the whole thing straightened out.

The two fae walked invisibly behind Lexington, passing through oncoming pedestrians without heed.
Mustardseed glanced at Puck, "He's onto you, Trickster," she said warningly.
"So?" asked Puck, "Come now, Mustardseed, you really think I'd have lost my touch by now. With my abilities, I doubt that Lexington will care that he's human by the time the night's out."
"What did you have in mind?" asked Mustardseed, raising a sparkling eyebrow.
"Nothing," replied Puck, "I'm an improviser, Mustardseed. I make it up as I go along. It's the way I like to act. Plans will mess up, but when you don't have one, it simply can't go wrong."
"Because there's nothing to go wrong," Mustardseed reasoned, "I love the way your little mind works, my friend."
Puck tickled Alex, "What do you think we should do, my little pupil?"
Alex idly muttered some gibberish and gnawed on Puck's tunic. Mustardseed wafted through a busy New Yorker as she translated, "He wants to try something fun. I think your attitude is beginning to wear off, my Trickster friend."
A nearby pedestrian fell into the pair's steps. He shed his coat and hat to reveal that he was Dannan, "I have a wonderful idea," he told Alex, "You'll love this one, my young friend."

Alison walked on, ignoring the slow-moving car by the shoulder, "Come on, babe," the driver called, "It was nothing."
She pointed angrily to the broken shoulder-strap of her tank top, "You call this nothing, Gary? You bastard, why don't you go buy a condom and make yourself useful, ya friggin' pimp."
Gary's brow furrowed, "Bitch," he muttered, "Some half-penny whore'd be better than you." And with that he drove away onto the highway.
Alison pulled her tank up and tried to cover the broken strap with her jacket. It was getting chilly anyway. She looked to the dark night sky. Wasn't there a halfway decent male on the face of the planet? She was a sucker for rock-hard abs and popular guys at school. Oh well, soon she'd be out and into college and then everything would be OK. She spotted a bus stop and began to went to check her wallet for money. She swore as she realized that she had left her wallet in Gary's car. She never expected to see it again. So, she was broke, and on the street in the middle on the night in Manhattan. Not a good combination.
Alison's paranoia began to get the better of her, and she found herself changing routes because of suspicious shadows and figures who wanted to retain their secrecy. She crossed the street. She'd stay in the park until morning, then she'd head home in broad daylight. She realized that muggers were just as likely to mug in the day as at night, but she'd feel more secure anyway.
Alison stuck her hands in her pockets and made her way to central park.

Lex was miserable. He was hot, tired, cranky, and indulging in self-pity. Of course he had to be all alone when something like this happens. Heaven forbid he bring along Brooklyn or Broadway or anybody. For god's sake, even Hudson had been considering seeing The Phantom Menace. Or why didn't he just settle for Insurrection? And why; pray tell why Puck had to be always picking on him. As if he didn't have enough problems in his life, Puck had to throw this at him?
Lexington expected his ears to perk at the sound of a bark, but human ears seldom perk up. It was undeniably one animal, Bronx, the Gargoyle watchdog. Lexington turned to the direction of the sound, and saw a hulking blue figure across the street, headed towards central park.
"Bronx!" Lex cried, running across the street. A car screeched to a halt in front of him, "Watch it, kid!" the driver shouted, "Stupid kids," he muttered, veering off into another lane.
Lex made it safely across the street, and saw Bronx disappear into the foliage, "Bronx!" he called again, chasing after him.
"Wrong way, kid," a pedestrian noted, pointing over his shoulder, "The Bronx is that way."
"No, I'm, uhh . . ." Lex's mind raced, "Calling my dog." True enough.
"Oh," the stranger muttered, "OK," he turned to his friend, "Who would name anything after stuff from this god forsaken city."
"Yeah," the friend joked, "I think I'll name my first kid Marvin Gardens."
Lexington ignored them and continued his chase. Bronx was nowhere to be seen. He was fast, but not that fast. Lexington sighed, removing his sunglasses and flopping down on a park bench. Great, first he goes human, and then he starts hallucinating.
Lexington removed his hat and flung it to the ground in frustration. He was just so tired. He had about fifty cents on him, and it was a long walk back to the Eyrie Building. He reasoned that he wouldn't be able to make it back before sunrise. And he wanted to, so that he'd have Goliath and the others' help in the matter. He kind of wanted to see the sunrise. He had seen some in movies, but it seemed to be a different experience to actually see it in real life. It was one of those things that seemed so close, yet just out of reach. He sighed. He'd rest a little. He deserved that.

Alison had found that too many bushes and trees also meant too many hiding places. She felt frightened and vulnerable. She wanted something else. Something to cling to. She found it.
He was rather pale, sitting on a park bench fiddling with a baseball cap. He wore a baggy shirt and jeans, and sunglasses were hanging from his collar. He looked like the kind of guy you expect to be nice. He had an honest face, short, brown hair, and no earrings or other body piercings, that she could see. After all, she had a cousin who had a ring through his testicles. Of course, she suspected that her cousin slept in a coffin. This guy didn’t look like a coffin-sleeper.
She straightened her jacket. She'd give it a go. She didn't know him, so that must mean he either didn't go to her school, or did and was not at all popular, because she knew all the popular guys.
She sat down beside him.

Lex looked up. Where the hell did she come from? He felt kind of nervous. He hadn't been around people he didn't know for a few years, and it was hard not to run screaming into the foliage.
She glanced around for a while, as if she didn't notice him. Lexington was a little unused to these kinds of situations, but he knew that she'd be freaked if he stared, so he just glanced around too, or continued to fiddle with his hat, only casting sidelong and chance glances at the strange girl beside him. After a few of these hidden glances, he found that she was looking him over too.
"Hi," she said it first.
This came as a little shock to Lex. He didn't really know what to do. So he decided to copy from what he'd seen from movies and shows, "Hey," he greeted nonchalantly.
She licked her teeth behind a closed mouth, "Nice night, huh," it was more of a statement than a question, "A little hot, though." She removed her jacket a little, exposing her shoulder.
Is she coming on to me? Lexington thought to himself. He was no expert on the matter, but flat out flirtation is self-evident: this was flat-out flirtation.
"I guess," he replied idly.
What's wrong with him? Alison thought to herself. She was practically throwing herself at him, Is he gay? She shifted uncomfortably, "Leather's really uncomfortable in this weather, huh."
She is coming on to me, Lex thought, "Sure," he replied.
He is gay, Alison thought.

Mustardseed stared at the pair in alarm from a nearby tree, "Mayday! Mayday!"
"What do we do?" asked Dannan.
Puck smiled mischievously, "I'm sure we've still got a trick or two up our sleeves, don't we, Alex?" he asked the playful babe.
Mustardseed wrung her hands in panic, "Well, hurry up and start tricking!"
"I'm trying to concentrate!" said Puck, "calm down!"

Lexington sighed.
Alison was looking for the most polite way to exit herself. She wasn't good at lying, so pretending she had the bubonic plague was probably not going to work out well.
Neither of them noticed the green vine beginning to creep up the park bench they were seated on, and the blossoms of red flowers which appeared in matters of seconds. Neither of them took any notice of the sweet fragrance that began to fill the air. It was like a more subtle smell of raspberries, or apples once the first bite has been taken.
Alison fully removed her jacket, taking no notice that her formerly purple tank top had gone bright red. Lexington had set down his hat, not realizing that his blue jeans had become a nice black denim and that his shirt had turned bright red, and became sleeveless.
She was beautiful. He hadn't quite understood how the red highlighted her features so perfectly until just now. Until the air started to smell so lovely. Her light yellow hair falling in wonderful, curling locks down across her perfect face. She brushed them away with a pale, delicate hand, revealing her gentle face; a trusting glow; and those great green eyes.
He was so handsome. She hadn't taken that in either. But somehow, the red shirt seemed to just illuminate the perfection of his face. And his dark, deep eyes seemed to stare into her soul, as if reassuring his heterosexuality. He moved a hand closer to her. His arm was muscular, but gentle.
I am meant for this girl.
We are meant for each other.
Music started to play. It had no lyrics, but they both knew the words.
"Lady in red . . ." Lexington rose.
". . . is dancing with me," Alison finished, rising with him, and taking his hand.
He pulled her to him, "Cheek to cheek."
"There's nobody here."
"It's just you and me."
"It's where I wanna be," She put her hands around his neck.
He put his hands around her waist, "I hardly know, this beauty by my side."
"I'll never forget . . ."
He raised her face so that he could look straight into it, " . . . The way you look . . . tonight."
They kissed.

"Ahh," Mustardseed smiled, leaning down on the branch, "How lovely," she turned to Alex, "You're quite the romantic, my young friend."
Puck smiled, "The flowers were mine, actually. He can't create them just yet - he doesn't know the ingredients."
Dannan landed on a branch on the same tree with a grin pasted on his face.
Mustardseed turned over so she could see him, "Where'd you fly off to?" she asked curiously.
Dannan's grin widened, "Just adding a new element to the story," he said innocently.
"Ah yes," Mustardseed nodded, looking to Puck, "The eternal writer."

Lex and Alison had stopped crooning to each other after the first verse. Now they swayed gently to the music. Lex didn't notice until it was gone, that the music had been fading away in volume. Now it sounded like music from a distant concert. Even when the music finally disappeared, they still swayed together. Right now, they were certain that they had known each other for their entire lives, and that for their entire lives they had known that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together, just like this.
None of them had to say anything. They just stood, and held each other.
Neither could really say how long they stayed in that moment, swaying to inaudible music, just being together. But the silence was broken by a rustling in the shrubbery. Lex stopped swaying and glanced at the bushes that were moving. Alison stopped and looked too.
The bushes burst open.
"Gary!" Alison shouted.
It was a surprise, even to her, that she recognized him still. He looked almost nothing like he did the last time she saw him. He had gotten at least a foot taller, and had broadened his shoulders by about the same amount. His shirt was torn apart, revealing his muscular chest and stone-hard stomach. He looked something like a hero from a cheap romance movie. He had no sleeves, showing off his cannonball-like biceps. He was sweating, and his teeth and fists were clenched in anger.
"Get away from her!" Gary shouted, grabbing Alison by the arm and tearing her away from Lexington's grasp.
Lexington knew that in his form, he wouldn't last very long in melee against this man. He knew that if he wanted to stay in one piece, he'd have to step lightly. He knew all of that. He just didn't care. People do crazy things when they're in love.
"Leave her alone!" said Lexington defiantly.
Gary smacked him over the top of the head. Lexington fell down, seeing stars.
Alison tugged her way away from Gary and ran over to Lex, What are you doing, Gary? I love him!"
"No you don't!" Gary cried, overturning the park bench they had been sitting on, "You love me!"
"You friggin' tried to rape me!" Alison shouted. She turned back to Lex, "Are you OK."
Lex held his head, "I'll be fine."
"Guess again, short stuff," said Gary. He grabbed Alison by the collar and idly tossed her aside. Gary took Lex by his shirt and shoved him up against a tree. Lexington winced. Gary pulled him away and slammed him into the tree again.
"Gary! Stop it!" Alison shouted.
Gary smashed Lex into the tree for a third time.
Alison slapped Gary hard across the face. He turned and savagely backhanded her onto the path.
"No!" Lexington screamed. He suddenly realized what a perfect position he was in. He kicked Gary in the groin. Gary dropped Lex and doubled over.
Lex ran over to Alison, kneeling down beside her, "Are you all right?"
Alison sat up, brushing dirt off her arm, "I'm OK."
Before Lex could say anything, he was hoisted off his feet. Gary turned, and slammed him into the tree, head first. Lex could only remember a little about what happened next. He fell, his vision beginning to blur, and pain like fire throughout his body. Every heartbeat was like a jackhammer inside of him. He heard Alison scream and saw her figure run up to him. She put her face close to his, and he was pretty sure he could see tears coursing down her cheeks. His vision darkened, and everything went black. Then, like she was far off, in another room, he heard Alison say, "I didn't even know his name."
That phrase echoed through his last moments of consciousness before he died.

Puck yawned, "It's almost sun-up. I think that's enough for one night."
Mustardseed and Dannan yawned as well.
"So, what do you think?" Puck asked.
"I could do better," said Mustardseed, "but I'll tell Oberon you're doing a fine job. He's been drunk for half the Gathering anyway. I doubt he'll notice me lying, considering I'm so good at it."
"I'm hurt," Puck played injury, "I've done a fine job of teaching little Alex."
"Of course you have," Dannan nodded in mock understanding, "We'll make a good report, Puck. Don't worry. It's not like he can do anything else to you."
Puck rolled his eyes, "Oh I'm sure he'd find something," he shrugged, "Oh well. I guess this is goodbye."
"Guess so," Mustardseed hugged her friend and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll miss you."
Dannan shook hands with his comrade, "Keep up the good work, my friend. We'll probably be back sometime, just to see how you're progressing."
"Bye."
In twin spirals of coloured lights, the pair of fae disappeared.
Puck glanced at the lightening horizon, "We should probably get you home, my student," he told Alex, "Would you like to teleport, or should I?"

Lexington awoke with a start. He looked himself over. He must have fallen asleep during the end of Phantom Menace. He was looking at the tail-end of a different showing. He surprised himself to realize that he was in the rafters. He was almost sure that he had changed into human clothes to watch it. He remembered his dream. It had all seemed so real. It all seemed like that was happening to him. He had fallen in love that night. He had been human, and loved a human. Whether she was a dream or not, Lexington was fairly sure that if he ever saw her again, he would love her just as he had in his dream.
The exit to the outside opened, revealing how light it was getting. Lex would have to make it home before sunrise. He quietly left through the trapdoor in the ceiling.

Alison awoke on the park bench. She looked herself over. Her tank top had reverted from its recent turn to red back to the sky magenta it had had before. Everything was together, even the tank strap she had sworn Gary had ripped. She sighed in contentment. What a dream. She was so happy when she was with him. Then Gary had come and killed him. The dream had ended there. But she had sung to him with no cruel intentions. She had really, really loved that man.
Whether he was a real person, maybe someone she had seen on the street, in a magazine, or on TV, or just someone her imagination had conjured up, she realized that she was in love with him; head-over-heels in love with him. She sighed again. How come the man who was just perfect for her wasn't real?
"Alison?"
It was Gary's voice. She turned to look at him. His shirt was stretched and torn. He had probably gotten into a bar-fight. Luckily, he was the same, short height and medium build man she had seen a few hours ago.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Hon, I'm really sorry," said Gary, "About that, I mean," he gestured to her shoulder, without actually looking at it, "I . . . I wrote you a poem."
Alison raised an eyebrow. She hardly thought he could spell, let alone write a whole poem, "Let's here."
Gary took a small scrap of pen-scribbled paper from his pocket and got down on one knee, "To Alison. Ahem.
"You are like my cheeseburger, when I am in starvation.
"You are like my laxative, when I'm in constipation.
"You are like a flying 'V', when during migration.
"And if you'd come back to me, I'd make a celebration."
"Quaint," Alison nodded her idle approval.
"So you'll take me back?"
"Can you give me a ride home?"
"Sure."
"Congratulations, Gary, you're back with me," said Alison, as Gary led him to her car. She got in the passenger side, "So, Gary, what happened to your shirt?"
"I guess I got in a fight," said Gary, "I don't really remember. I had the weirdest dream, though."
"That makes two of us," Alison nodded. As the sun rose and Gary drove her towards home, she remembered that when Gary had gone for her earlier in the car, he had ripped her tank top strap. But it was revitalized. How odd. And his shirt . . .
Perhaps it was reality?
Or just a midsummer night's dream?