My Damsel in Distress m/f, m/m

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calebtras
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My Damsel in Distress m/f, m/m

Post by calebtras »

My Damsel in Distress
“Take that, Green Knight,” I shouted, banging my sword down on Sean’s shield. He replied with mighty blows to my shield. I was readying for a whack at his sword, when he stopped and held up his hand.
“Sshh!”
I froze. Footsteps on the stairs below. We were playing in an abandoned Brooklyn row-house. Junkies sometimes found the boarded window we pried open, invading our playground to look for plumbing to strip and sell or a place to get high and crash. We went into our routine, grabbing our gear and ducking into a closet beneath the stairwell.
A voice called, “Hello?”
A high voice; a kid. I cracked the closet door. A girl with wavy brown hair, white blouse, yellow shorts, and blue canvas sneakers stood with her back to me.
I opened the door and whispered, “Who you with?”
She turned. Sheila, a girl who had just moved to our Brooklyn neighborhood, already the smartest kid in our fifth-grade class and Mrs. Bornstein's pet.
“Just me,” she said. She smiled at our costumes. My tunic was a man’s shirt turned backwards, sleeves torn off, Crusader’s cross in red marker on the front. Sean had a helmet of a paint can hammered into a point at top.
“Can I play?” she asked.
Sean and I looked at each other. Sean asked, “How'd you know we was here?”
“I was outside playing hopscotch by myself and heard someone yell 'Sir Gawain.' I love knights,” she said with a smile.
Sean said with disdain, “Girls can’t be knights.”
“I could be the Lady of the Lake.”
I was amazed. “You know King Arthur?”
“And Merlin the Magician and Sir Galahad.”
I thought I was the lone bookworm on the block. Back in the day, before fan fiction, I drew my own comics with characters not only from the “The Once and Future King” about Arthur, but the Hobbit and Robin Hood, new storylines with dialogue and action. Every Saturday I’d go over them with Sean, we’d choose roles, and play them out on each floor of the building, the fire-escape, and roof.
“King Arthur didn't play no hopscotch,” Sean sneered.
For Sean, our play was an adventure, sword fighting, calling each other Sir This and Lord That, threatening and capturing each other—boy stuff. I loved creating an imaginary world to star in as the hero or villain. It hit me—we could use a maiden. Sheila had a wavy, light brown ponytail, that fell past her shoulders when it was loose, hazel eyes, and a warm smile. I especially liked tying Sean up and being tied, and a damsel to both capture and rescue would be different and exciting.
“You have to pass a test,” I said.
Sean cut in. “I’ll take ya on with my sword. You can even get upstairs side.”
“I'm sure you’re better than me at sword fighting,” Sheila said. “Let me be the Princess and you can be my knight in shining armor.”
She’d left Sean speechless and given me an opening to involve her just the way I wanted to. I raised my sword made from a Dodge chrome stripping, pointed it at Sheila, and said in my deepest voice, “You must become my betrothed, wife to the great and terrible Black Knight. I’ll burn castles and steal their gold to make rings and necklaces for you.”
Sheila smiled in surprise, then quickly stood tall, held out her hand, and said, “Never! My father, the King of a distant and powerful land, will protect me.”
“Hah! I will imprison you in my Dark Tower, behind high walls. My loyal archers will shoot arrows like rain into your sad old father.” I grabbed her by the arm and led her up the stairs to the top floor, with Sean following. I picked up a piece of electrical wire, stood her up against an exposed stud where the sheetrock had been ripped out, and tied her hands behind it. I wrapped wire from her chest down her waist to her legs, like chains. “You will stay here until you are old and bent over with a mole and hairs on your nose unless you marry me.”
“My handsome knight, Sir Sean of Ireland, will surely rescue me.”
Sean pointed his sword at me. “Ya dirty rat, ya! I’ll scuttle yer butt. I’ll tan yer hide.”
Sean was plucking dialogue from TV, but he’d taken up his role. We sword-fought across the room, the hallway, but not down the stairs, because we wanted Sheila to see.
For Sean to accept Sheila, I knew he should win, so when we were both winded, I knelt and offered my sword in the palms of my hands. “Sir Sean, I surrender.” Sean unchivalrously held his sword to my neck and shouted, “I oughta chop yer head off!”
When he untied Sheila, she curtsied and said, “I thank you with all my heart, dear noble and brave Sir Sean.”
He tied my hands behind me especially tight and led me back to the first floor. I sat down cross-legged and nodded for them to do the same. I asked Sheila, “Can you bring some old clothes for a gown?”
“I can get some of my grandmother’s clothes and jewelry, too, for a crown.”
“Next Saturday we’ll make everything you need,” I said. “A girl’s scepter, too.”
“I’ll get picture books from the library to help,” she said.
In our Irish working-class neighborhood, loving books and fantasy was uncool even for girls—why Sean and I didn’t play in the street. I sensed I’d found in Sheila a kindred spirit. As she excitedly talked about playing Athena and the Little Mermaid with roles for Sean and I, she untied my hands. I was like Quasimodo chained to the wheel, receiving sustenance from the fair Esmeralda.
[To be continued.]
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slackywacky
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Post by slackywacky »

Good start, thank you for posting. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment.
Slackywacky, also @DeviantArt

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takeru
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Post by takeru »

Good and light-hearted! The paragraphs could use a bit more line spacing, but otherwise, a nice read!
Yatta9999
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Post by Yatta9999 »

Loving it already and looking very forward to the next part!
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Post by Yatta9999 »

Do you plan to continue this story? I really like it and I'd love to see the rest!
calebtras
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Post by calebtras »

I have one or two more I can go over, write, and post.
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Post by Yatta9999 »

That sounds fantastic! I'm looking forward to it!
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Tights tights tights
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Post by Tights tights tights »

Hi.. I've only just come across this now and it sounds exciting.. I'll read the other stories when I get the chance then will give you a full review.

I idea of medieval and fanstasy combined with the ups does sound exiting, it reminds me of helpless Maidains and Princesses kidnapped and tied up.

Thank you for posting!
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Post by Canuck100 »

I really like the tone of your stories. Great work, very cute story, full of nostalgia. This was a fun read.
calebtras
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Post by calebtras »

Thanks. In those days, pre-Internet, we knew nothing about the outside world, our neighborhood was tough so we hid from it, and tie up games were escape, naive, and exploration.
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