Waking up in paradise

Slowly stirring awake and looking up to a purple light overhead, Phin sluggishly raised his hand to cover his eyes, eyes that could see the room so much more sharply he thought he was wearing his glasses until he lowered his hand to squeeze the bridge of his nose and found nothing there.

Wha… Where?”

Bringing his hand out against to cover his eyes from the purple light, he spotted another pair of delicate hands cup his own, tracing a thumb over his palm kindly when the light finally went away.

“So, you are finally awake, how do you feel?” He heard one of them speak, her voice smooth and warm as he sat up, finding it didn’t strain his limbs to do so, nor his back ached when he finally sat up and looked over to the one holding his hand. Whoever she was, she was very beautiful! With soft blue eyes and flowing black hair that cascaded own her shoulders and back, framing her heart shaped face and drawing attention to her eyes and pursed lips. She wore a white gown that fit snug to her body, a body that was both lithe and voluptuous. Phin found his eyes had been lingering on her face and chest a bit too long and darted his eyes away out of embarrassment. There was a regal air to her, poised as she sat with him and helped him steady his bearings.

Looking around, Phin found he was in a room he didn’t recognise. Large and spacious with frescos on every wall leading to the arched ceiling overhead where that purple light came from. Another hand rested on his shoulder, turning his attention to the other woman who was standing tall over him, she was just as beautiful as the other. Her smooth olive skin was highlighted by her braided black hair, while his attention drew to her soft brown eyes looking down to him, the woman smiling back at the man.

“How are you feeling? You came to us very ill.”

“I…” Finding himself blushing a bit, the man patted himself over, trying to find what he was looking for since yesterday. “I think I forgot my insulin… I was looking for it, but…”

“Your medication?” Hippolyta surmised as Phin turned to her and nodded. Letting go of her hand, the man got to his feet and closed his hands, showing a look of confusion as he wriggled his fingers and suddenly giggle.

“Hey… My arthritis! It’s gone!”

Going into a giggling fit, the man bent his knee and ankle, finding the stiffness in his limbs gone. Swinging his leg in and lout over and over again, he started going into a clumsy dance of joy that left both woman stifling a laugh watching the man hop around. It came to an embarrassing end when his pants fell to his ankles, startling him as he tried to reach for them and lost his balance, falling on his rear. From there, the laughter finally broke through.

Quickly coming to his aid as he fumbled to get his pants back up with a look of confusion on why they were so baggy, Phin’s face was a shade of pink as he was helped back to his feet and kept his pants up with his hands.

“Are you alright Mr. Thracy?” Asked Hippolyta, easily lifting the man off the ground. “The purple ray healed your body of quite a few ailments, some… Had taken up a fair bit of mass within you.”

“Yeah… Thank goodness it’s just you two here, if I made an ass of myself like that in front of the queen, I’m sure she’d boot me off the island for sure.”

Trading looks, Hippolyta and Phillipus shared a chuckle as they led Phin back to the stone table to sit.

“Several days ago… You may have been right about me Mr. Thracy. But not today.”

Blinking in confusion to the stunning woman’s comment, he watched her turn to present the man’s belongings to him, specifically his wallet with the photographs he kept in it out for all to see and returned them to him.

“I had assumed the men of the outside world had not changed in so many centuries. It would seem you are more… Humble than those we remembered from the past.”

“Uhm… Thanks.” Still confused, he pocketed his wallet and sifted through his photos with a slight smile. Focusing on the wedding photo he had between his hands.

“What is her name?” Asked Phillipus, finding he lingered on the photo of him and his wife when they were married, waving to the camera. Both women sat closer at either side of him,

“Her name’s Cleo. Been married for over 20 years… Well, would have been 38 years today, but...” Inhaling and slowly breathing out, the man traced his thumb over the edge of the photo. “She got sick a while back when we were still raising Gary, our son. Doctors diagnosed her with cancer. It… Was back when treatments were hit or miss and… Well…”

Pocketing the photo back into his shirt pocket, he gave it a gentle pat and continued his story.

“We had her buried under a tree at the cemetery, she liked trees, figured it would be what she wanted. It’s been tough raising our son by myself… And I miss her, but I keep her here for safe keeping whenever things get rough.” He hinted, tapping his hand at the pocket where he put the photo of his wife. Going over the rest of his photos, he plucked out the one where they had gone camping together, the memories coming to him with a smile as he turned to Hippolyta.

“I’ve always been a fisherman at heart, funny enough that’s how we met, I came back with a haul of cod to fry up at the anglers festival, I was frying up my catch for anyone that wanted a plate and she and her friends came by asking for some fish and chips. The ketchup bottle she used to put over her fries was clogged and wouldn’t give her any ketchup, so I offered to clear it out. Heh… The moment I got the bottle it sprayed tomato juice all over my face. Hmm, she got so embarrassed she tried to wipe the stuff off my face with a paper towel… Somewhere between wiping my face clean and hearing me not to worry, she stopped and gave me a peck on the cheek.”

Looking over to Hippolyta, the elderly man had a wistful smile on his face and collapsed his shoulders into a laugh. “Pff… She told me I needed more relish.”

In the middle of chuckling on the fond memory, Phin gasped a bit when he felt the queen cup her hands under his chin and turned his face to see hers, just before he had a chance to say anything, she kissed him on the forehead. Still stunned silent, the man found Hippolyta pulling him closer to her as she wrapped her arms around his arms and rested his head over her shoulder, hugging him. A second later, he felt the other woman behind him do the same, leaving him unsure what to do until they both pulled away, a slight shiver coursing through them as Phin got quite the sight of the Queen of the amazons becoming more stunning; her eyes becoming almost crystal blue, her hair more full, her lips more inviting. Phin didn’t know what to do as he nervously twiddled his thumbs together.

“Thank you, Mr. Thracy. For proving my daughter right.”

“GRANDPA!”

Looking over to the doorway, the trio smiled as the small boy left his father’s arms to run over to his grandfather, the man chuckling as he hoisted the boy up to sit in his lap. His son Gary smiling to see his father looking much better than he did this morning.

“How are you feeling dad?”

“I’m…” Checking himself over with his free hand, Phin found his paunch had essentially disappeared, which explained his narrow waistline, he never felt better in life. “I feel great son, thanks to… Uhm… Sorry, I don’t think we ever really introduced ourselves.”

Seeing Wonder Woman approach the three with a warm smile, she quickly turned to the woman who was sitting to Phin’s right and embraced her in a loving embrace.

“I can understand your confusion Mr. Thracy, I am Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and if you would accept, I would like to invite you all to our morning meal.”

*

Perched outside overlooking the royalty and their guards interact with the three males, the two spies hissed in barely contained rage.

“They POISON ussssss….”

“Even our queen is not beyond their touch!”

“We must tell the others.” Bristled the crone, sculking as she and her compatriot hobbled away from their hiding space.

“Derinoe hassss yet to return from the mountains, we much know what the oracles say of what mussst be done.”

“Yes, their wisdom will help us drive these… These DEMONS from our home.”