A Modern Fairy Tale

There once was a woman in her early twenties who thought her life was very boring. She had an average job with little or no room for promotion, had an average 523 square foot apartment, and had to take public transportation to work. She sometimes wished for a little excitement in her life, but nothing ever happened. Until, one day she came across a strange looking man while waiting on the bus to arrive. At first, she acted like she was ignoring him. They boarded the bus together along with a few other passengers. She sat down in the middle of the bus. He sat down next to her and pulled out a map. This action puzzled her because there were plenty of other open seats. So, she turned to him and asked in a curt voice, “Can I help you with something?” He acted startled and said,” No, no, I’m fine,” and went back to looking at his map. When they arrived at her stop, she politely pushed past him and got off. She quickly forgot about him. The next day he was there again. He looked as though he had been dropped out of the early twentieth century wearing a brown tweed suit and bowler hat. When the woman saw him, she rolled her eyes and tried to avoid eye contact. She boarded the bus when it arrived; again, he sat right next to her. Over the next few days this pattern repeated itself. After the fifth day of this bizarre behavior, the woman turned to the man and introduced herself as Donna and asked for his name. He said his name was Sam. The she asked, “Where are you from?” He responded, “Oh, here and there, I don’t have the chance to stay in one place for very long.” Donna tried to keep idol conversation going with Sam through the rest of the bus ride by asking open ended questions. His answers were usually short. Eventually she gave up and stared out the window, happy it was the end of the work week and she did not have to see him for the next two days. Monday came around and he was there again. Donna thought to herself, Oh crap. They boarded the bus and he sat right next to her without saying a word. Half way through the ride she turned to him and asked, “Why do you continue to sit next to me when there are plenty of other seats on the bus?” He looked at her with a blank look on his face and said, “You will find out in due time.” She then muttered to herself, “I need to get a car.” That evening Donna’s friend and neighbor, George, saw her returning from work with an irritated look on her face and asked, “Rough day at work?” “Not really,” she answered unlocking the door to her apartment. George followed her inside. “There is a strange man that keeps sitting right next to me on the bus even though there are plenty of seats.” She had gone into her tiny kitchen to peruse the take-out menus. “Have you thought about taking another bus route to work?” George called to her. “Yes, I have, but it adds another thirty minutes to my commute. It’s long enough as it is.” Donna returned to the living room with two menus and the phone finding George stretched out on her couch with the TV remote in his hand. “When are you going to get cable at your place? Chinese or Italian?” “Why should I when I can watch it here for free? Chinese.” Donna stuck her tongue out at him and called in their order. She did not bother asking George for his half of the tab because she knew he would tell her he would have to pay her back later. Moving his feet, she sat down on the opposite end of the couch. He asked, “So, what does this strange man look like?” Donna described him and told George about the man’s funny accent. “Did he give you a name?” “Sam.” George suddenly looked a little nervous. “Hey, I just remembered that I am going out of town this weekend. Can you watch my place for me?” “Sure. Where are you going?” “Boise. I have to meet a client.” Donna could never get a straight answer out of George about what he did for a living, but she did not see any harm in watching his apartment for him. They finished the evening by watching a move on HBO and eating their take out. Over the next month the man continued to sit next to her in complete silence. She brought a book to read to keep her mind off of him. She grew used to him being there and started to memorize his features. One day he did not show up. Donna found herself missing their silent relationship. After he had not shown up for the week, she resigned herself to not knowing what his purpose was for sitting next to her day after day in silence. Donna had almost forgotten about Sam. Then one evening she heard a frantic knock at her door. She looked through the peep hole on her apartment door and he was standing there. At first she did not recognize him without his hat. She debated with herself if she should let him in. He knocked again. She opened the door. He took one step toward her, swayed, and collapsed on the floor. Half in and out of her apartment, she had no choice but to drag him the rest of the way in. She grabbed a throw pillow off of her couch and placed it under his head and waited for him to wake up. Donna had no idea how drastically her life was about to change. She started studying him. He had elfin features, but his build was a little too muscular for an elf. His muscles looked long and lean from what she could tell through his cloths. His hair was black and long with a small braid here and there most of it was tied in a pony tail behind his head, and his ears were pointed. Suddenly his hand shot up and he grabbed Donna by the throat. He started to speak in a language she had never heard before. It sounded like a cross between old English and Norwegian. His dark violet eyes shown fiercely as his grip tightened. Donna beat on his arm and whatever else she could reach on his person. Just as fast as he had grabbed her, his expression softened; he let go of her throat. She fell back, hit her head on the entertainment unit, knocking her out.