~5~
Eh, one of my first tries at romance. If you think my work is crummy, don’t flame me! I’m just an incoming fr0sh who’s never had a girlfriend. This is based on what I glean from other “soap opera” ish blogs here, and movies.
**Grendel**
The early morning sun broke its spell upon the forests of Lith. Dew covered the flowers and grass, draping the world in a glittering blanket. Wild pigs ran along the beaches, scavenging, looking for food and water.

Grendel was awakened by 2 curious snouts poking into his ears. “Oww.. that tickles!!”
He sat up. He had a horrible headache. “Where am I?” he wondered. “What time is it?”

He looked over to Artruro, who was sleeping by his side. Four pigs curiously sniffed at him, wondering if Artruro would taste good for breakfast..

“Arturo! wake up!” Grendel’s newfound friend sat up, brushing off the scavenging pigs with his arms.

“Ah.. I’ve got a mighty big headache… What happened last night?”

“I don’t remember.” Grendel replied.
“Ah well. Let’s start heading back home.”

The pair walked along the wet shores of the Lith silently. Grendel sighed. “Well, I guess I should be heading back to sea now. Time to take my chances with the fish.”

Arturo nodded silently. “Keep in touch,” he replied. “Wait a second, do you smell smoke?”

Grendel sniffed. “Yes, I do. That’s odd.”
The pair rounded the 3-way fork in the road, where they could just catch a glimpse of part of Lith Harbor.

It wasn’t there.

“Oh my God!!” yelled Grendel. Arturo paled. “I wonder if my family is alright.”
The two hurried down the long dirt path. As they ran, they could see glimpses of the once thriving city.

Half of it had been reduced to rubble. The docks and ships were broken to pieces. Bricks and pieces of wood littered the ground. The other half of the city that had managed to remain upright was badly scorched, most of the inhabitants horribly wounded.

“How could this have happened??” Grendel wondered. He tried to reminisice the events of last night, but all he could remember was darkness.

Arturo paled. “My family is over there!” he yelled. He ran off towards them, leaving Grendel to survey the wreckage.

Some gargantuan disaster had ripped through half of the town of Lith Harbor. People were still gaping in shock, obviously too traumatized to release descriptions of the previous night.

“Excuse me, sir, would you mind telling me what happened yesterday?” A man rushed past Grendel, too flustered to answer.
“Ma’am, would you talk to me for a moment?” The woman he had spoken to burst into tears. “My husband died last night!” she wailed.

Glancing around, Grendel spotted a small child. “Hey, kid, what happened last night?”

The boy, hardly more than 7 or 8 years old, replied. “Well, mommy and daddy put me into bed, and I went to sleep, and I woke up in the middle of the night, and I felt a rumbling thingy, and the house fell down, and now I can’t find my mommy and daddy…” He rambled on as he waddled about, seeking through the dispersing crowd to find his mother and father.

“It was horrible- it all came so fast!” exclaimed another citizen when Grendel pulled him aside. “I felt the ground shaking; my bed nearly tipped me over! All I could remember after that was screaming, fire, and panic!”

“My God…” Grendel thought. Suddenly, with a start, he remembered his boat. The docks! They had been ripped apart to pieces!

Grendel stumbled towards the docks, tripping on little pieces of wood and bricks littering the ground. He glanced around anxiously, looking for his boat. It wasn’t there.
The young man choked back tears. His boat had been destroyed. He had no money left, and no place to live.

Artruro had been watching Grendel kneel by the sad remains of the docks. He approached him now, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

“How’s your family?” Grendel asked.
“My father broke his leg, but that was all.”
“Go.” Grendel sniffled. “Go back to your family. I’m a useless man. I have no purpose in life.”

Grendel wanted to suicide, right then and there by the docks. His entire body felt empty, like a broken shell. His heart weighed upon him heavily, and his lungs pumped out short breaths.

Artruro paused. “Grendel,” he said comfortingly, “our home is still intact. Do you want to join my family for dinner?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m sorry about your boat, Grendel.” The young man sat at a table with Artruro and his father. “Is there any way we can help you?”

“I- I- you want to help me?” Grendel asked, surprised.

“Of course we do! We believe in ‘what goes around, comes around, doesn’t it?” The father looked toward Artruro, nodding eagerly.

“Well.. in that case… all I ask is that you give me a place to eat and bunk for the night; I can build a boat during the day. It won’t take more than a week; I promise.”
Artruro’s father nodded approvingly.

Grendel’s stare diverted to his surroundings. Artruro’s home was a comfortable place. Four wooden armchairs stood around a large fireplace. Flower prints and paintings were hung up on the walls of the living room, and candlelight kept the home bright and cozy. Part of the roof by the bedrooms had collapsed, as a result of the previous night, making the home a little drafty; but all in all, it was a nice place to live.

A red-haired girl pattered about in the kitchen, preparing dinner for her family. “Who’s she?” asked Grendel, whispering to Artruro.

She was a short teenager, hardly older than 18, wearing a white tube top and a long red skirt. Her hair passed around her shoulders, like a glimmering red veil. A neat tan made her skin seem to glow. Her slim figure moved swiftly around the room, casually swishing her hair back and preparing dinner.

“That’s…my sister. Her name’s Alice.”
“She’s… pretty…” Grendel blushed, embarassed. “Sorry. Did I just say that?”
Artruro shrugged. “It’s okay. People say she’s… wrong in the head. She spends all day meditating in the woods. She claims to harness this force, called ‘magic.'” He grinned.

Grendel kept his gaze upon Alice. She didn’t look too strange…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alice worked about in the kitchen, checking to make sure that her vegetables were all neatly washed and cut. She carefully eyed the new visitor, a young and dashing man of about 20 years. He had long, untidy brown hair that nearly touched the ground when he walked. This rugged character seemed polite enough for the moment; but he kept throwing her strange looks as she wasn’t watching. Was he thinking about her…?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The four ate dinner contentedly.

“Well, what do you think happened last night?” asked Grendel.
“We have no idea in the world… We heard screaming and buildings falling over. Suddenly, part of our roof collapsed.” explained Alice.

“All I could remember was sitting up in the middle of the night, stirred by what seemed to be an earthquake.” Artruro’s father argued. “Then, I broke my leg.”

The conversation continued for a while, as the family put together suggestions for the events of last night.

Grendel leaned back in his chair, soaking in the pleasant voices. These people were nice beyond reason… he wished he had a family…

Grendel’s gaze drew back to Alice. As she glanced up from her meal, she saw him staring at her. She blushed and looked down at her plate.
“Alice, would you pass the corn, please?” asked Grendel.

The girl kept her head down as she picked up the plate of corn and handed it across the table. Alice had seen Grendel staring at her in a funny way. He probably liked her. But if he ever heard of what she could do… he would think she was crazy. Just like everyone else…
Just like everyone else…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinner was over now. Grendel, Artruro, and his father sat by the fireplace, laughing. Alice was by the counter, washing dishes.
“Excuse me,” Grendel said. “I have to go get a drink.”

The young man edged his way to the pitcher of water on the kitchen counter. Alice moved aside to let him past, keeping her head down. The way this guy looked at her.. it was so eerie…

“Need help with those dishes?”
The girl jumped. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “No, I can do them. Go on, chat with my parents; you’re a visitor.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grendel slept outside that night, in a tent that Artruro had provided. As he lay down to sleep, he kept thinking of the day’s events. He repeated Alice’s name in his head. Alice. What a wonderful name.
Alice…
Alice…

~To be continued.~