Chapter 1

        I looked at my shard of mirror, and re-slicked my hair down for about hundredth time. I still couldn't believe this was finally happening. I was really going out to dinner with Kelly. I checked my watch. 5:29. I sighed. In times like these, the time seems to stop. I could swear it's been 5:29 for the past five minutes. I looked again. 5:30. I started to get nervous.  'What if she's not coming?'  I asked myself.

5:31. I started to sweat hard. I was tempted to use one of the pretty white napkins to mop my forehead with, but thought better of it. I used my sleeve instead.

5:32. I desperately looked to the door of the restaurant, and to my great joy, saw Kelly walk through those great wooden doors.  She hurried over to me.

     "Hi Andre, sorry I'm late," she said smiling.

I looked at my watch. 5:34 p.m. "Fashionably late." I answered with a flashy grin.

She sat down with a flourish, and wow. When I told mom and dad that I was eighteen, and I wanted to go out with a pretty girl named Kelly, I had understated it. She was knock-out gorgeous. Everything about her was pretty, her eyes, her toothy grin, right down to her elegant tail. I was glad I had prepared myself so much for tonight. I had taken a bath in the kitchen sink. (I ignored the dishes in the way.)

Brushed my teeth, gotten my best twist-tie tie, used a few squirts (okay, a lot of squirts) of Mr. Nickels best cologne, and finally put on my home-made, (but great quality) aviators. I think the aviators really finished the good look. I looked great.

        I thought about me, then I thought about Kelly, then I thought about me again, for some time, until I was startled by a voice with a strong southern accent.

"Are ya'll ready to order?" It was the ratress.  A ratress is the name we use for our servers at restaurants and diners. It's kind of clever, because one, she's a rat, (as we all are,) and two, she's a female rat. Therefore, we apply the suffix 'ess' at the end. If it was a male, it would have the suffix, 'er', as in 'ratter.'

"Yes we are," Kelly answered. "Andre you go first."

"Okay, I'd like a cheddar cheese platter."

"Okay honey," she said writing my order down, "And you sugar-pie?"

Kelly smiled sweetly, and said, "I believe I will have the Charource, Mahon, and Chimay Platter."

"Okay sweetie, Charource, Mahon and Chimay. I've got it. What do you want to drink?"

"I'll have a coke," I answered quickly.

“Same here,” Kelly volunteered.

"Okay sweets, and what size will that be, thimble, shot glass, or the grand Dixie cup."

I looked at Kelly questionably. "Should we try the Dixie cup?"

 The ratress spoke up saying. "If you finish it, it's free."

"We'll try the Dixie cup." I said without hesitation.

After she walked away, I looked at Kelly in surprise. "I didn't know you liked those exotic cheeses," I said.

"Well now you do," she said matter-of-factly.

Chapter 2

     Our evening was very nice. We talked about what we liked to do, our jobs, and our hobbies. Kelly worked at an association called 'Childish Rats are Vulnerable,’ (C.R.A.V.). At C.R.A.V., the adult rats teach young and foolish ratlings about what can happen in the real world. They run fire drills, teach about rat poison, and mostly, work with rat traps.

"I love what I do," Kelly said. "Teaching the little ones about something that could take their life, teaching them to avoid it, I think it really is my calling."

       

      I nodded thoughtfully at this, and then launched into telling Kelly about my job at 'Mechanisms'.

   "Mechanism is run by a handful of highly skilled and courageous rats that daily put their lives at risk for others," I said proudly.

"Mechanism's operation statement is to: Find lethal and dangerous rat traps. Disable them. Get out alive.  In my opinion, Mechanisms is at a par with human’s Nano-surgery. Disabling a trap is very difficult, and many have died doing so. Our official team name is 'Team D6^. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yes, it sounds intriguing--" Kelly answered politely.

"Actually, I was wondering if the name was cool," I interjected.

"The names cool too," She said with another of her cute smiles.

We then heard the clock strike 10:00. I couldn't believe it was so late already.

“ I've got to go,” I said. “I told Mom and Dad I’d be back by 9:45. I have totally lost track of the time.”

So this is a new story I am currently writing. It is a retelling and a twist on the story of Beauty and the Beast.
I don't know how long I will be able to write it for, because sometimes in the middle of a story, I lose my vision, and quit. So here at least, is chapter one and two.

   Chapter 4. The Duel, and it's Consequences.
That afternoon, I walked into the village plaza, with a sword, and a sorrowful soul. I had considered leaving town, but I decided that I would rather die a brave man, then live a coward. Another large factor was that I had no boat, to take me off the blasted island. I decided to write my memoirs, and took out my journal, and wrote.
-----My Memoir----
I died a good just man, leaving no family or loved ones. My life was short, yet good. I have no more to say.

I kept it short, and safe, in case I lived.
The man saw me writing, and called me over. I walked to him, thought a moment, shook his hand, gave him my writings and ran. I ran, until I came to a dock and plunged head first into the water. I swam until I came upon a ship, bound for Egypt, on a trading route. The sailors helped me aboard, and I hired myself to them as a ships cook, and there I am, a happy coward to this very day.

The End.

Chapter 3. The Shore, and It's Surprises.
 The men jumped and yelled in the small dinghy. (I don't know how they did it  without flipping the small craft.) We drifted some more in our trusty vessel, until we came to the shore, and landed there. We quickly realized that the shore was not uninhabited, for several fishermen came down to greet us. They told us we were on an island on the coast of England, and introduced themselves. We did likewise. At hearing my name, one fisherman scratched his head and said, "Ethan Durall, eh!" "Yes sir!" I said emphatically.
"That's funny," he said, "cause we have someone here that says she knows you, and who you'll be quite eager to see."
At that moment, I got sick to my stomach, and I had a feeling it wasn't love.

I walked with the fisherman, until we came to an inn. We walked up three flights of stairs, and we came upon a row of doors that led into rooms. The fisherman knocked on the first one on the left side, and I heard someone answer, "come in."
  The man opened the door, looking quite pleased with himself, and I saw, sitting in a chair, my Lizzy Denton. Her eyes were red, and she was wearing a black mourning dress. She recognized me, jumped up and screamed. "My word! It's the ghost of Ethan Durall!"
As she sank down to the floor in a faint, I reached out quickly to catch, and prevent her from hitting the floor. I had to use all the strength I had, to keep from dropping her weighty form. Her eyes fluttered open, and she whispered softly, (I believe she was attempting to be romantic, but frankly it scared me out of my skin.) "I knew you still loved me..."
I began to put her back in her chair in all haste. As iI was putting her down, the door swung open, and a handsome young man strode boldly into the room. He saw me beside Lizzy, and his dark black eyebrows narrowed into a fierce scowl. I stood up, and asked him who he was. "Who am I?" he roared. "I believe I should be asking that question!"
"Well," I said timidly, "My name is Durall sir, Ethan Durall"
"Durall," he said, " is that the Durall who survived that shipwreck?"
"Yes sir," I said. I realized news must travel fast on this island.
"And you are the Durall who wrote that message in the bottle, that stated your love, and your expectant doom?"
"Yes sir." I didn't like the direction this conversation was going.
"Then Ethan, I challenge you to a duel, a battle of swordsmanship this afternoon at two o'clock sharp in the plaza!"
Lizzy sat up with a jerk. "A duel?" She asked, (I had a feeling she was faking her faint.)
"Yes," the man said, "the winner gets my  fiance Lizzy's hand in marriage." He then left, and slammed the door behind him.
"Oh, how romantic!" Lizzy sighed as she swooned again. I don't think she realized the awfulness of my situation, or, she didn't care,

             Story...
      Chapter 1.           The Shipwreck

   I woke up with a jolt, and stared around me. The other hammocks in the cabin were empty, rocking slowly to the ships rather choppy sway. I slid quickly out of my hammock, and lit a lantern. In the dim light, I looked at my pocket watch, and saw that it was three o'clock a.m. I slipped on my robe and a pair of pants, and ran up the stairs to the main deck of the ship.
    My name is Ethan Durall, and I come from England. The reason I am on this infernal groaning tub, is that I am a book writer, and have all my life wanted to write about China, and Japan, and all those other wonderful Asian countries, and as I saw it, you can't write about a place you've never been to, and seen  first hand. I set out for China four days ago, and have been seasick till yesterday afternoon. I am the only passenger on The Dragon,  as it is a cargo ship, and not commonly used for  travelling in.
    When I saw what was happening on deck, my heart sank, to the pit of my stomach. This was what I had feared. Men were running wildly in the pouring rain, with thirty foot waves savagely crashing into the ship. A sailor ran past me and yelled so shrilly that it hurt my ears, "We're sinking! Grab your possessions and get in the dinghy!"
     I ran back down to the hammocks, and grabbed my journal, and pen. I got back to the deck, just as the last dinghy was  about to drop into the water.
   "Wait!" I called.  A man turned and saw me, and told the others to stop. He helped me in, and gave the word to drop the boat.
    We landed with a meaty smack on the water that hurt my head. My mind cleared, and I almost wish it hadn't. I could now fully see the waves, and how dangerous our situation was. Thunder  roared directly  above us. I realized our fate was certain. Death would call on us before dawn.  My hands shaking, I pulled out my journal, and covering it with my jacket, to shield it  from the rain, wrote down this memoir.

        Chapter 2.           The Memoir, and it's Troubles
-----Ethan Durall-----
I am a young man of twenty-nine years. I lived in London, England. I was aboard The Dragon, when we were hit by a storm of such magnitude, that our ship started to sink. I am aboard a dinghy, yet I fear I will never see land....  Tell my loved one, ( I stopped, and thought. I did not actually have any loved ones, in fact,  I barely even knew any young ladies, except for the one who lives up the street. Her name was Lizzy Denton. She was an overweight, and awkward lady, but, I decided, that since she was the only girl I actually knew, and since I would never have to even see her again, I would put her down.)
.....Tell my longtime loved one, Lizzy Denton, to look for my body. Signed with tears, Ethan Durall.


I sighed, and tore the page out of my journal, and found a convenient bottle, (don't ask me how it got in the boat). I stuffed the page in the bottle, sealed it and threw it dramatically into the roaring deep.


We struggled for three days in the small dinghy. We had no food, and little water. Most of us slept through the day, having no oars to row, and nothing else to do. we floated and drifted, until we struck a sand bar. Our curiosity aroused, we looked around. At first glance, we saw nothing, but with a second glance, we saw a thin white line that was determined to be a shore.

I wrote this poem on my phone.

A poem by Me.

If ever the sun shall kiss the moon,
And push that dreary dark away,
I believe that I would swoon,
And smelling salts shall have no sway,
To save me from my unconscious slumber,
In which I will crash and lumber,
Through the forests and the wood,
In some dreamland neighbor hood.
And my parents though they could,
Will not wake me, though they should,
They will not save me, no not one,
They will say, "No, leave my son."
"Now leave him to his unending sleep,
So all his clothes and toys we'll keep"