snoo8

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The King gazed on from a throne that was never ending or did it just not start? A big cake with flames on it had to be put out. The Prince was absent. It was to be his wedding day. He had been lined up with a bride. For 3 years they had pretended to be in love. Reading the old ways from the manual they had found many years ago. With a bold �things don�t change� attitude Marylynx and Puddles were given a copy and told (by Force) to fall in love. Both found this hard � they�d never been much good at studying and today was the day of their final test.

The armoured people clanged their weapons predictably. Formed patterns that each other could anticipate. The result was it was more of a dance that a fight as everyone knew what other people could do. Puddles and Marylynx were nervous. Puddles looked deeply into the mirror. His eyes painted an ugly, hollow resemblance as his imagineless mind tries to remember why he loved her.

What was he to say? What was the code to follow? Yes � love. That was it. He thumbed through the section of the book. Remembered his long teachings. It was tradition and in a world deprived of individualism was the only way to know. Marylynx was in the opposing tent. She was beautiful or was she? Puddles was vigorously remembering his marriage training course. In the other tent Marylynx was a never ending smile of happiness. Yes � she�d remembered that so far but when the moment came would she be able to convince everyone? All these people. She had to revise � fast!

Yes �she thought the world of him that was it. Her mind clicked into rehearsal. Running by the possibilities that she might be able to prove. With the whole system designed solely to please elders (who actually, weren�t really pleased but knew they had to pretend to be pleased) she felt under enormous pressure. A panic flew through her. All reasoning left her body and fell to the floor. Like a shadow that was alive � but lay dying on the floor in a twitching state of confusion. It sapped inside her. She wasn�t ready.

The jitters before the test were unbreakable. Her whole body started to shudder. Puddles, trying to be cool, looked nervously out of the flap of the tent. His eyes fixed beyond the mayhem of the armoured people trying to might and onto the blue tent he knew (or did he?) that his love was in. Stammering he tried to remember his lines. Yes. Love � good. Wife � good. He tried to calm himself. It was like hosing a volcano.