The visual prompt:
Our main characters are:
A Behemoth ~ This colossus of the land makes a big impression wherever it goes.
AND
A Unicorn ~ Like a horse, but fancy. He dazzles his enemies with his rainbow magic.
The special object in this story is:
A Cornucopia ~ The produce launched from this magical horn hits like a low calorie cannonball.
Our story takes place in:
A Clock Tower ~ The fabric of space has been caught in the gears of time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was four minutes of two...
At four of two, I stood waiting for the girl
I was four minutes early for the date we had planned
I was planning to say was in love with her
Just as soon as she showed for a two o'clock date
And the clock said four of two
At four of two, I was staring into space
She was not yet late, according to the clock
I was feeling nervous so I kept looking up
At the clock sticking out of the side of the building
And it still said four of two
At four of two, I began to feel tired
And I rubbed my eyes, and again I checked the time
It seemed as if the sky was growing dark...
But I felt reassured when I looked at the clock
And it still said four of two
I lay my head down on the sidewalk so in case she were coming I would have a better view
But no one was there so I stretched out and closed my eyes for a second or two
It was four minutes of two
At once I awoke to a futuristic world
There were flying cars and gigantic metal bugs
I'd grown a beard! It was long and white
But I knew that the girl would be coming very soon
For though everything had changed, there was still that clock
And it still said four of two.
Ben listened as patiently as he could to "They Might Be Giants" on his smart phone as he waited for Stacy to arrive. They'd arranged to have a two o'clock meeting here, at the Cornucopia Juice bar. For the fourth time, the Indian waiter asked him if he was sure he didn't want to buy a juice while he waited. "We have a very special flavor today if you are interested, sir. Mango-Pear, tangy and full of flair!"
Ben politely thanked the man once again and said no, not yet, he was waiting for a friend to join him.
"Very sorry, sir. As you wish, sir." The waiter bowed respectfully to his customer and begrudgingly went back inside, disappointed. Normally he would have kicked out anyone who didn't buy anything from his establishment. However, business was particularly slow today, and this young businessman was his only customer, so he couldn't very well turn him away. All he could do was head back inside and wait in the air conditioned building. He didn't know how this guy could stand sitting out there on the corner in the heat of the day. Wasn't he even a little bit thirsty for a fruity, low-calorie drink?
Ben Banneker paid no attention to the poor Cornucopia waiter, or the weather. All he could think of was seeing Stacy. She was the one who had suggested coming to this juice bar in the first place. She said a friend had suggested that she come here, since the juices were so healthy and delicious. Stacy apparently loved that kind of stuff. Ben was more of a coffee kind of guy himself, but he'd agreed to meet her here anyway.
Unlike the unfortunate schmuck in the song he was listening to, Ben was too smart to be fooled by the broken clock tower on the other side of the street. At least his phone was, giving him the correct time of just 15 minutes after the hour. He figured she must be stuck in traffic, or was being held up at a business meeting. He tried not to be too worried. He often showed up early for important dates, and he'd been sitting here at this Cornucopia table since a quarter to 2. Thanks to modern technology, though, he was perfectly content to listen to music and entertain himself as he patiently waited for Stacy to show. He sent her another text, however, just in case (though she hadn't responded to his previous messages yet).
They'd met at a friendly corporate mixer at the Unicorn Restaurant and Pub on North Main Street a few nights ago. Gary from Accounting had introduced them. She worked at Monumental LLC, he at BeheMyth Advertising. Both were large competing conglomerates, and it was rumored that Monumental was thinking about buying their competitor out, while the ruthless BeheMyth just wanted to squash Monumental into the ground. One would think a party of important business people from two such opposing companies would be an awful idea, but actually, it turned out to be not so bad. A peace was struck between the warring companies, with drinks and music, and a lovely time was had by all.
Stacy was the loveliest part of that evening, at least according to Ben. She dazzled him. Something about being with her made time slow down as Dean Martin crooned in the background.
How lucky can one guy be?
I kissed her and she kissed me
Like the fella once said,
Ain't that a kick in the head?
They had spent the entire evening together, wrapped up in their own little world, talking, laughing, dancing, flirting.
The party lasted all night, and then they took a long walk around the city together.
At the end of the night he dropped her off at her door, they exchanged cell numbers, and made plans to meet for lunch sometime, somewhere. Ben didn't get back to his apartment until close to 2 in the morning, Dean still singing in his head.
My head keeps spinning;
I go to sleep and keep grinning;
If this is just the beginning,
My life's gonna be beautiful.
Yesterday she had texted him that they should meet here, at this little juice bar, and so here Ben was.
10 more minutes passed (though the famous clock across the street stayed the same), and there was still no sign of Stacy, nor had she answered Ben's text. The day grew hotter and hotter, and Ben became more and more annoyed. Once again Ben spotted the Indian juice waiter approaching him, no doubt to ask if he was sure he didn't want to buy anything to drink, anything at all? Ben's patience finally snapped.
"Yes, fine! I'll have one of your dumb juices, alright?" snapped Ben. "Do you have anything besides those fruity drinks? Something strong, perhaps?"
"Finally," thought the waiter, relieved that he'd have some business after all. "Well, we do serve Wheat Grass Surprise, those are pretty strong. Would you like that, sir?"
"Sure, whatever."
The waiter went back to the shop, picked out the fresh ingredients, threw them into the powerful, noisy juicer, and returned in less than 2 minutes with Ben's drink in hand. It was served in a sizable plastic yellow horn, the famous Cornucopia Cup. "Please enjoy, sir!" said the waiter, bowing low to him.
Ben ignored him, and looked down into his drink, which looked green and foamy. Not caring what it looked like or what it would taste like, he tossed his head back as he took a drink from the horn-shaped cup. The wheat grass juice had quite an unexpected kick to it.
Love. Ain't that a kick in the head?
"Can I get this drink to go?" he asked the waiter.
"Oh yes, of course, sir."
Ben picked up his phone, stood up and threw a twenty on the table. "Keep the change," he mumbled. He didn't thank the Cornucopia waiter or even look at him as he left in a huff, throwing his head back for another green gulp.
He was parked quite a far way from this corner, so Ben started walking, composing a very angry text with one hand as he held his juice in the other. He was so busy tapping away that he didn't notice the bus approaching as he crossed the street, bearing the BeheMyth logo of a giant green monster towering over a forest, ready to crush everything in it's path, ready to do anything to leave a big impression on you.
That bus definitely left a big impression on Ben.
Wow Bettina, good one...
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