Delivery

Racing through the forest on his bike, weaving around the trees that populated the area, Red was silently cursing his delivery business. Currently, he was on a venture to deliver a bottle of sleeping pills to a currently insomniac-riddled beauty, stuck in a tower. Apparently, to get on with life, this beauty needed the pills to sleep, and then be awoken by the kiss of her 'one true love'.

"These chicks need to master the art of flirting." grumbled the delivery boy, coming to the cleared area that ringed around the tower. Skidding to a stop right before the grey tower, Red surveyed the area. Bitterly, he realized it was a typical setting. The tower was grey, and starting to crumble; the debris littered the ground around it. Letting his eyes drift upward, he realized that, ironically, footholds and handholds were being made by bricks jutting from the tower.

However, Red realized that it was too much of a bother to climb up the tower's wall. After double-checking that he had the pills in his mailbag, Red threw his bike to the ground, not really in the mood to take care of the slowly rusting form of transportation, and started to circle around the tower's base. Lightly, he ran his fingers against the wall as he searched for a loose brick, or a lever.

There had to be another way into the tower, besides for the stereotypical window that looked out over the forest from its position far up the tower. After all, not many witches liked to use brooms now-a-days. Just when Red thought he was going to be forced to make the excursion up the tower, his fingers found salvation. The cold metal of a doorknob.

Red stared at the water-warped, wooden door with a slightly suspicious expression. It may not have been a lever, but it would do at any rate. Hesistantly, the delivery boy opened the door, wincing as the hinges creaked loudly. The creak echoed through the tower as Red walked into the door way, carefully observing the inner of the tower for booby traps.

The inside was dark. It wasn't normal darkness, this was magical darkness. Conjured by the witch, no doubt, since Red couldn't see more than a foot of his surroundings. Sighing, he grabbed his flashlight from his belt and switched it on. He was slightly thankful for having learned from his prior delivery to a dragon's cave that the miracles of technology could penetrate any magical darkness.

As the flashlight illuminated the area, Red felt his heart drop into his stomach. Great, the only way up to the beauty's room was by walking up a spiral staircase. Figured. Nothing could be easy in a fairytale. Grudginly, he started his climb up the stairs, going slowly so he didn't set off any inconspicuous booby traps.

However, before Red got too far up the stairs, he heard the crashing of metal on rock. Turning around halfway, he was greeted by the sight of a armor-clad hero, rushing up the stairs right at him. Heroically, yet foolishly, the man was calling to the princess in a voice that made the loose rocks in the walls rattle, "Do not fear, maiden, I shall save you from this horrible prison!"

"Oh, fuck." muttered Red, turning and taking off up the stairs. The knight had unsheathed his sword at the sight of the delivery boy. He was spouting rubbish about slaying the demon in red, and saving the princess. Red frankly felt that the knight was starting to sound like a broken record around the third threat.

As the bricks whirled by, Red spotted salvation in the form of a door! Yanking the door open, and thanking the heavens that it didn't creak, he darted into the room. Once the door's lock clicked meekly, Red leaned up against the door and attempted to catch his breath. The clanging of the metal warrior went by the door, too intent on pursuing his 'demonic prey' to notice the door.

Lightly, the boy smacked his head against the wooden door repeatedly. Maybe if he killed a few braincells, he could get on with his job. Yet, remembering he was on the clock, Red turned slowly to look around the room.

With the help of his flashlight, Red found himself in a circular room. It looked like an office, and a messy one at that. A desk sat across the room from Red, a bit foreboding with a black chair sitting behind it, as if expecting the boy. Half of the wall was covered with a half-circle book-case, filled with books and loose papers. What caught Red's eye, however, was the iguana sitting innocently on a slowly spinning globe.

"Oh ho, and here is the mighty dragon of the keep." muttered the young man sarcastically, as he walked over to the reptile. Reaching out a hand, he ran a finger across the iguana's scaley head, and nearly jumped out of his skin when the creature ran up the length of his arm. Biting back a scream, while mentally chewing himself out for being such a pansy, Red waited tense.

The reptile seemed to give him a purr, before settling in the hood on the boy's hoodie. Finding no apparent need to remove the lizard, he let the creature stayed curled in his hoodie. Sighing, Red relaxed, and started to slowly continue to look around the room. Catching a metallic glint from the side of the room with his flashlight, Red stared in slowly mounting irritation at two metal doors.

"Don't you dare tell me there was an elevator here all along." snapped Red, advancing to the doors. The irritation peaked when he realized there were, in fact, two buttons to go up or down next to the doors. Jabbing at up button with homicidal anger, he muttered curses under his breath while he waited for the doors to open.

When they did, he stepped into the brightly lit interior of an elevator. The elevator's floor and cieling were covered in red carpet, which had a musty smell to it that wasn't all together unappealing. Red pressed the button labelled "Snoozing Beauty's Room", causing the room to jerk and slowly start to ascend. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently, he waited for the elevator to stop again. The elevator music wasn't helping his mood much, however.

A good five minutes passed, and Red was becoming intolerably annoyed. Going back to the button panel, he decided to let loose a bit of pent-up frustration, and continuously jabbed his destination's button. In a childish way, he hoped that the elevator would take the hint and move more quickly. Instead, however, the elevator jerked, the lights flickered, and Red fought back the urge to smack his head against a wall.

Sighing, Red looked around his possible coffin. On the cieling, there was a hatch he could climb out of. Besides the hatch, there was only one option left. Prying the doors open, and hoping to high hell that he was close enough to the princess's room.

Hopping up onto the rail that ringed around three of the elevator's walls, Red attempted to grab hold of the hatch. He was careful, however, keeping in mind the small iguana was still taking refuge in his hood. Eventually, Red was able to pop the hatch open, and get a hold on the roof of the elevator. Scrambling onto the roof of the broken elevator, and seeing that he was a mere three feet away from the destination, Red breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, he could get this delivery done. Walking over to the doors that closed him off from the Princess's room, Red pounded his hand on the door. As loud as he could, Red yelled, "Delivery!"

The doors slid open with an automated hiss a few moments later, and the delivery boy was greeted with the sight of a beautiful person. However, it was far from being female. Red stared wide-eyed into the violet eyes of the most beautiful man he'd ever seen. Shaking his head, Red reminded himself there was probably just a spell on this man, or perhaps the man was another guardian of the real beauty. Clambering up into the room, and fumbling in his mail bag for a moment, Red procurred the small, white bottle of sleeping pills.

"Uhm, delivery for a Snoozing Beauty?" Mumbled Red, holding the pills up to the man.

"Ah! I've been waiting for these! Thank you." Squealed the man, taking the pills and hugging Red tightly in the process. Red was just too stunned, and embarassed, to do much else but stand there.

"Erhm, that'll be sixteen dollars fifty cents, sir." Mumbled Red, the business part of his brain was vaugely working, despite Red's inability to think straight. The beauty laughed, and skipped off to a dresser. The moment away from the man gave Red a chance to pull himself together.

Glancing around the room, he saw it was decorated heavilly with purple and red. The walls themselves seemed to be giving birth to silk. A faint hint of vanilla tinged the air, as Red noted that there was music playing. It was better than the elevator music, but he couldn't quite place the artists.

"Here you go!" the young man flashed Red a huge smile, and handed over the designated money to the boy. Red gave him a weak smile in return, and turned to leave, only to hear the man gasp. Glancing over his shoulder in curiosity, he felt a weight lifted out of his hood, and turned to see the man cuddling a slightly distraught iguana.

The violet-eyed man cooed over the reptile as one would coo over a baby. Red watched the scene for a moment, before a sound caught his ear. The clanging of metal against stone. Oh grand. Glancing at a bead curtain covered doorway, Red watched in slight disgust as the knight came panting through the doorway.

"I've come...to save you..." Gasped the knight, doubled over and panting as he attempted to catch his breath. Looking up, the knight looked around the room, looking for his beautiful princess. Seeing no female, but finding two young men instead, the knight stood up straight and barked, "What have you done with the Snoozing Beauty, foul beasts!"

"Oh my! Such a brave young man." Laughed the beautiful man, batting his eyelashes at the knight, "I'm the Snoozing Beauty. Sorry, I'm a bit of an insomniac. So, if you'll wait, I'll just take my sleeping pills, and you can save me properly!"

A moment of silence descended on the room. The knight lowered his unsheathed sword in dumbfounded horror, as realization struck him, before he took a few steps backward. He started to jabber, attempting to make up some lame excuse that he couldn't wait.

However, Red noticed the man wasn't really looking where he was going. Without much convinction, he attempted to warn the knight he was getting dangerously close to the stairs, "Uhm, sir, you're goin---"

Yet, he was too late. The knight screamed, and tumbled down the stairs. Red winced, hearing the sickening sound of metal, flesh, and stone colliding every once in awhile. Eventually, the sounds died away. The beauty didn't notice, however, since he had gone back to fawning over the little iguana.

"I'll be going, then. Good luck with the curse." Red nodded at the beauty, before turning to go. He decided it was best to leave the Snoozing Beauty, who was showering the iguana's forehead with kisses. But, yet again, something stopped him. A loud pop resounded through the room, and the delivery boy glanced over his shoulder. Sitting in the Snoozing Beauty's lap was a young girl, fairly red in the face.

She stared at the Snoozing Beauty, before murmuring a 'thank you'. Apparently, the beautiful man's kisses broke her own curse, "You see, my mother wanted me to find a good man. And, this all was a set-up of her's. I'm so sorry for it!"

Red could tell the Snoozing Beauty was anything, but angry. The violet-eyed man was grinning with a dazed look at the flustered girl in his lap. There couldn't have been a more apparent way to show his emotion besides having little cherubs and hearts floating around his head, observed Red as he turned to leave.

He couldn't waste any more time in the godforsaken tower. Afterall, he still had to deliver a basket of pickled pigs' knuckles to , and take a package of enchanted needles to that witch, . Sighing, Red rubbed at a bundle of tense shoulder muscles, realizing that this was only the first of his deliveries today.