Myths and Gargoyles by Jamie Hawke (interesting books to read in english txt) 📕

“The rest of your life,” she replied with a wink.

“Meaning, if it’s successful…” I rolled my eyes. “Right, I get it. Sales. But this little test/nap thingy?”

“An hour, but two if you prefer to sleep longer. Lots of spouses get tired, want to unwind without going all the way back to their hotels or whatever, so we’re getting a good response rate. You better hurry and decide if you want to get a slot.”

With one head turn to look out over the convention hall, feeling a sense of vertigo and flash of pain in my shoulder even though I knew there was no injury there, I said, “I’m in. Definitely. Whatever you’ve got, just help me sleep.”

“Will do,” she said then pointed to the form. “Just sign there and print your name.”

So I did, and soon I was following her out through the back of the hall and into one of several trailers in the back parking lot.

“This is where the test is?” I asked.

“It’s easier than renting space in the hall,” she replied, and gestured for me to lead the way.

“And the connection to LegendFest is…?”

“Simply that creative people often have harder times sleeping, and we find the type of people who attend these events to be extremely creative. It can go both ways—some people are creative because of a lack of sleep, others are always feeling excited about their next project, so they can’t sleep. Like Christmas, you know? Waking up to get that present.”

“Actually, yeah,” I said. “I get it, I mean, not in the present sense as much, because that wasn’t my upbringing, but—”

She frowned. “No? Religious thing?”

“Money thing. After the first couple of times of getting really excited and tearing off that wrapping paper only to find a pair of socks and stuff like that, we weren’t quite so excited anymore. Still pretended to be, of course.”

She pouted. “And now?”

“I paint, or sketch, mostly. And yeah, sometimes I have something in my mind I can’t seem to get out, even if I’m supposed to be sleeping. But right now, this? Not that.”

Seeing that I wasn’t going to lead the way, she took the stairs in front of me and went up to the trailer door, knocked, and waited. The door opened to reveal the woman in black, Goth Chick as I’d started thinking of her.

She gave me a very concerned look, glanced around, and then said, “Get him in here. Quickly.”

The one with the cape and hood removed them as she gestured me in, and underneath she was wearing a nice green skirt and matching top, revealing skin on her thighs and belly in a way that worked quite nicely for her small frame.

I had been starting to feel better already, but now, seeing that look on Goth Chick’s face as she motioned me to a seat in the cushioned area behind a small table, I wasn’t so sure. Another glance around showed I was the only one.

“Everyone gets their own trailer,” Goth Chick explained.

“Oh.” I sat, pursed my lips, then asked, “At the hotel last night. You were there, right?”

She glanced my way, then back at a machine she had. “Sure, I stayed at a hotel.”

“I mean, you saw me. You didn’t get on the elevator.”

“Me?” She shrugged, making adjustments. “I think I was looking for somebody, then got a call. Maybe that’s the time you’re talking about? I’m sure I’d remember if I ran into you at the hotel.”

She put a special emphasis on the ‘you’, and I cocked my head, wondering what that could mean. Only, that motion brought the slight vertigo feeling back again. I did, however, notice several old figurines along the edge of the trailer’s counter by the microwave.

“You’re into those characters?” the smaller lady asked, nodding toward the mermaid figure nearby.

“No,” I said. “I mean, whatever. Honestly, the originals were way cooler. Modern stuff, I don’t know, it’s too… comfy.” Ugh, I was hating myself, trying to sound cool.

She, however, was nodding and smiling like I’d just said the most intelligent, thought-provoking thing in the world. This was the type of girl I could get to like.

“This is for real though?” I asked, still groggy but my nervousness starting to win out. “I mean, I’m going to take a nap here, with you two just… watching me?”

“Just go along for the ride,” the petite one said as she handed me a pill. “Could be fun.”

“Fun,” I said, glancing around. “What kind of pill is this, exactly?”

“Like melatonin,” the petite one said. “We’ll monitor you with this machine. And get this—some people say that after only an hour, they feel like they’ve rested all night.”

“Get out of here,” I replied, thinking how perfect that would be.

“Ready,” Goth Chick said then gestured me toward the bed on the opposite side of the room.

Sleeping with two attractive young ladies in the trailer with me was a bit nerve-racking in itself. What if I drooled? Had an erotic dream and got hard? Moaned one of their names? The possibilities were endless, I thought as I took the pill and gulped it down with the glass of water Goth Chick handed me, then laid back.

Oh, except I didn’t know their names, I realized. So at least I didn’t have to worry about that one. None of those worries affected me for the next hour though, because as soon as my head touched the pillow I was out. Not much of what followed stuck in my mind, but there were feelings of bathing in warmth, like liquid sunlight. The sensation of flying, along with the bliss of a thousand fairies running their hands along me, and I think some fairy tale characters showed up in some of my dreams but couldn’t be sure because the moment that happened after was so confusing, I kind of forgot where the line blurred between sleep and waking up.

When I opened my eyes, at first everything was too bright but then my vision cleared and I blinked,