3. Dreams are negro kisses
It was just after nine o'clock and morning traffic was in full swing around Gramercy Park. Still, it couldn't be compared to Central Park. It was far cleaner, no overcrowded garbage cans spoiling the environment, even the morning joggers and strollers seemed more balanced. The sun was already high enough to squint through the trees and use its rays to warm the birds, which seemed even more active that morning.
Virginia and Wolf sat deep in discussion on a simple wooden bench in front of a shallow pond in the middle of the park.
"The Wicked Queen"
"Don't call her that!" Virginia interrupted angrily, silencing her fiancé. "You know very well that I hate it. If she were still alive, she would be your mother-in-law. And even if most men in this world call their mother-in-law that too, you don't need her as the 'Evil Queen' for a long time `to designate!""Jemine, but she was the Wicked Queen," replied Wolf, a little confused. Why should he suddenly use a different name when the first was exactly correct? That was absolutely illogical.
"Yeah, she was the Wicked Queen, and that's exactly the point, she WAS. Past!"
"Huff-puff, Virginia," Wolf muttered, moving closer to his dream girl, taking her hand. "The Wi- 'Christine' is dead. Still not over it?"
Virginia looked mutely into Wolf's worried eyes before she let herself be carried away to answer. "Yes, Wolf, I'm 'over' it, as far as that's possible. And yes, before you mention it again, I know that it was my fate." She withdrew her hand from him, crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back. Her gaze, which fell on the little pond, grew sadder again.
"Hm? What is it?" Wolf tilted his head to one side and scratched his brow.
Virginia looked completely withdrawn as she continued."Do you know that I wanted to open my own restaurant? Such a small one, with dishes I created myself ... If only I could cook ..."
“I can cook!” Wolf interjected, his chest swollen with pride. He had to prove to Virginia that he was still a good companion despite the fact that their grandmother threw them out for him. And what better way to do that than by highlighting his - few - talents that could be useful to him in the 10th Kingdom?
Virginia turned back to her fiancé, who now looked less than half a wolf and more like half a peacock. "Yes, you can," she replied slowly, remembering the times he had shown her his skills. How he had perfectly managed the breakfast ham, so that even she, who attached only secondary importance to food, couldn’t skip the first and most important meal of the day. How he invented the most unusual and delicious dishes in Kissing Town.Or ... when he marinated and seasoned her grandmother so exquisitely. "Have I already apologized to you for throwing you out the window?" She asked so abruptly that Wolf had to blink in surprise. "Uh, no, but ..."
“I'm so sorry.” Virginia leaned over to her fiancé and covered his hands with hers. "I mean, I could have ... killed you," she sniffed, tears in her eyes. "That was over three floors that you flew down ... What if you had broken your neck? It would have been my fault!" Virginia noticed herself that she was babbling a bit aimlessly and, above all, emotionally, but there was nothing she could do about it . The guilt feelings were suddenly so overwhelming that they just seemed to overwhelm them. And why it was suddenly built so close to the water? * Probably the hormones - well, meal! *
"Oh Virginia," sighed Wolf theatrically. "It touches my heart that you are so worried, but it is unnecessary.I told you that everyone in the Nine Kingdoms would either live happily ever after or die from an evil curse, didn't I? It has never happened before that someone died in a simple accident ... "
"But we were here, in New York, and back then I wouldn't even have cared ... w-what happens to you pa-..." Sobbing, she clapped her hands in front of her face to hide her tears somewhat. "I'm such a bad person!"
"Jemine! Don't, don't cry!", Wolf uttered slightly overwhelmed as he tried to comfort his fiancée, who was crying even harder because of his sympathetic words. "It's all in"
"Don't you dare say everything's all right!" Virginia yelled, pulling away and jumping up from the bench to take a few steps away. "Exactly the opposite is the case, damn it! After everything we've had to go through the last two weeks, of course, it couldn't end with us being happy and satisfied ... My grandmother and ... And we ..." With She stared at Wolf with big eyes when something dawned on her."... we can't even get in touch with my father or Wendell ... we ..."
"It's not my fault!" Shouted Wolf indignantly.
"I didn't say that at all ..."
"But indicated!"
Virginia shook her head, then burst out laughing. "That ... about us will really never ... get boring, will it?" - * And that's a good thing, I wouldn't want you any other way, darling ... *
Wolf frowned and cocked his head. * Huff-puff, what has she got back to now? * Was that what mood swings looked like? Well, at least she wasn't crying anymore.
"I ran it all through my head last night and I think ... You know, Wolf, maybe it would be best if we left here ..." Virginia looked very serious again, with hers determined expression on her face and her arms crossed. Two rooms away with a collapsed grandmother, she had lay awake half the night, alternately staring at the peacefully slumbering wolf and the uncovered window.Sometime between the third and the seventh shooting star, she realized that something was missing in her life. And if she missed that something, how did it have to be Wolf?
"I thought you weren't afraid of the forest anymore," Wolf replied with a grin. "It's light and I'm still there ..."
"Not Gramercy Park! I meant ... New York ... in itself ..."
"You want to leave the city? But where to?"
"Is that really that hard to guess?" Virginia asked with a smile. "Why do you think I want to contact my father and Wendell?"
"Do you mean ... do you want ...?" Home? He had only been here a day and already he couldn't think of anything better than to travel back to his fairytale land with Virginia right away. To where he knew his way. To where he could do something. To where he was at home. Wolf ran excitedly through his hair, but then stopped abruptly and looked from his seated position at his fiancée."That ... doesn't work. This ... is your home and I don't want ..." But the wolf could not bring his argument to the end when another animal interrupted him.
"Quack-Quaaaak." The little green frog was a little frightened by the sudden attention the two humans gave him. Unsettled, he stopped catching flies and hopped from the water lily into the nearby reeds to find cover. The man had definitely not looked like a food lover, and who knew if he didn't greet frog legs too?
But when the last waves had passed after the frog had jumped into the water, the surface no longer reflected the sky above, but the slightly blurred image of a man in the middle ...
"Dad?" Virginia asked in disbelief. If you talked about the devil. "Dad! It's good to see you. We just-"
"I can imagine Virginia," her father interrupted with a forced smile.“Where is Wolf anyway?” From his horizontal position he had a bad view, and that was something devastating. If you lost track, you lost your daughter's innocence - life had taught him that.
"Hello, Tony," Wolf exclaimed enthusiastically and put his arms around Virginia from behind. "How are you? How are you? Why are you disturbing?"
"Wolf!" Hissed Virginia. "Behave yourself!" And then to her father again: "How are you?"
Tony grumbled something and then smiled at his daughter. He should talk to her calmly and togetherness about her pregnancy. "Wendell kindly suggested holding your ... wedding in his castle and I thought ..."
"Wow, what a generous offer!" Said Virginia. * And no matter how fitting. *
“Yes, really very generous.” Wolf changed his position to look over Virginia's other shoulder.
Tony gave his future son-in-law a haunted look, then turned back to his daughter."We thought you could ... even though you've only been in New York for a short time ... well ..."
"I'd love to, Dad," Virginia cut him off. "Just turn on the mirror in, say, twenty minutes and we'll be there."
"I know you sure ... what did you say?"
"We need twenty minutes from here to Central Park. Oh, and let us say hello to Wendell, okay?"
"Exactly, and the old flea sack too."
"Prince is not a 'flea sack', he is a beautiful golden retriever."
"A golden retriever who can turn you into a dog too."
"That doesn't make him a flea sack by a long way."
"If you keep doing this, you won't be in Central Park in twenty minutes," Tony's voice penetrated the two fiancés as if from a great distance. "I'll turn off the mirror here ... somehow scary ... We'll see you soon." And with that, the connection was interrupted, the surface of the water cleared and reflected the bright blue sky again.~ * + ^ + * ~
"AAAAAHHHHH !!!!!" An old, shriveled hound screamed like a stick and thrashed around like mad to free himself from seemingly invisible bonds. But she wasn't chained anywhere, instead she was lying on a table made of ice that didn't even want to melt from her body heat. Her wrinkled face was contorted in unprecedented pain as the torment flashed through her body in lightning.
“Shut up, nameless witch, you won't burn anymore.” A cool smile played on the Ice Queen's lips as she contemplated her new conquest. At first glance, it might not seem terrific. Wasn't it she who let two simple children throw her into the oven? And wasn't it she who thought a bone was a finger? Well. That could all be fixed with simple varifocals.
Suddenly the witch fell silent, screwed up her eyes and tried to make out her surroundings. "Where ... where am I?"she croaked hoarsely." And ... who are you? "
"I am