The dragon flapped its huge, green, scaly wings and hurled gigantic balls of fire towards the attacking knight. The chivalrous knight in the silver armor shielded himself with the shield as tall as him. But the fireballs were too heavy to counter, so he coiled backwards to receive the force. He stood up quickly and looked at the crest on his shield, it was now all black. He threw the shield and tried to face the huge dragon with his mighty sword. While the sword flashed in the sunlight, the dragon was blinded and with unremarkable agility, the knight slew the dragon, and rescued the beautiful damsel.

The TV show was over. The knight would have to live happily ever after with the rescued damsel, just like before. Zack turned pressed the off button on the remote and took the last sip of his soda. It was already half past two in the morning.

"Why does it all have to end this way," he turned to Jerry, sleeping on the couch. Jerry never did like watching fantasy, but Zack liked almost any kind of movie. He likes to criticize the way the movies end, and if there were some way for him to alter the ending, he would.

Zack licked his finger covered with chocolate from the pretzel he's been eating. "You know something Jerry, movies nowadays are just a poor copy of the originals back when the cinema was young. They lack originality in every way. If it weren't for those damn CGI's, I wouldn't watch movies anymore." Zack talked to Jerry, making a point, as if Jerry was wide awake, listening to his criticisms. "Well, it's almost three o'clock, and I'd better be leaving. Mom's probably home now," he stood up and reached for the basement window. "Bye, Jerry."

Zack's house was only a few blocks from Jerry's. It was quite cold and the sun wasn't up yet. Zack was the only person awake in this town at this unholy hour, he realized. The street was so silent, and he couldn't see any signs of people around.

As Zack walked, he felt as if he was walking for hours now. It would usually take him about two minutes to reach his house, but this time, it was like he was going round and round the block; it was as if he was walking for hours and he still couldn't find his house.

"Weird," he thought out loud with a slight shiver. As he walked past some other lanes, like a bird out of nowhere, a huge truck speed by, almost catching Zack beneath its wheels.

"FUCK!"

"Asshole," he said as if the driver was still there to listen to his remark. He strolled on as if nothing happened. He thought about the truck that almost crushed him, and the street that he's been on for hours, for all he knew. As his curiosity caught his attention, he took a look at his wristwatch, just to be sure when�

"What's the time, young man?"

A tall, dark man with a black cape suddenly popped out of nowhere like the cursed bus.

"Huh-" was all that Zack could say after all the confusion.

"Doesn't show the time anymore, does it?"

He looked at his watch and saw that it was true. His watch had stopped. He slowly lifted his head to take a look at his intruder. But, like an unseen force, his head was mysteriously held back downwards. It wasn't him or the strange man's hands, but his muscles refused to cooperate.

"What the-"

"No," the figure said. "Keep your head down, young man."

Zack didn't want to, but his senses confirmed that this strange man was the person responsible for his incapacitated muscles.

"Who- who are you?" Zack's head was still tilted downwards.

" I understand you like movies, yes." The man's voice was mysteriously harmonious, like that of a harp. But it was cold at the same time.

"So what," Zack said impatiently. "Look mister, I don't know who the FUCK you are, or where the HELL you're from, but if you don't release me thi--" Zack's mouth was zippered, literally.

"You want to know who I am, fine. My name is xxx, and I'm here to grant favors, that's all. I just want to make people's lives a little bit spicy." As odd as it was, Zack could feel a sinister smile upon him.

"What do you want," Zack could speak again.

"The question is, what do YOU want?"

"I don't want nothing from you, motherFUCKER," Zack literally screamed. "Lemme go!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk�" the man paused. "Such awful disrespect. All right, young man, if you really are so shy to ask, I might as well give it as a gift." In that, the pressure on Zack's neck vanished, and so did the strange man.

He continued his walk towards the street, and took a look at his watch. It was working now, but it's hands still showed the time. 2:30am. It didn't move. He looked at the streetwatch to confirm the time. No use. If he hadn't known better, time stopped. Strange, he thought. He was about to cross the street when again, two headlights blinded his already wasted heart. A truck came out of nowhere, but this time it didn't miss.

***

Zack awoke to the sound of heavy guitars and loud screaming. It was just his clock radio, which he set to alarm at 8:00am.

"Just a god-damn DREAM," he cried out loud.

He reached for the remote from beneath his bed and turned on the TV. He flipped from channel to channel, but all he saw was news. Hell, the movie channel was even deleted. All he saw were violence, and other sort of crap. Those shit on the television showed reality, the god-damn fucking NEWS. In other words, there was nothing on.

Regretfully, Zack got out from his messy bed and stood up to stretch. He took one cigarette from the pack close to his bed and lit it. He took a few puffs and then threw it out the window, hiding it from his mom. He opened his door, but it was unusually dark in the house. He reached for the light switch, but it wasn't even there.

"What the-"

He felt the walls were sort of different, as if they were plain stones.

"Mom?" he yelled out. "Yo, mom!"

There was no answer. He glanced back to his room, but to his surprise, it disappeared, as if it wasn't even there in the first place. In its place were a huge bed covered with elegant purple bed sheets and a drawing of a gold crown in the headboard. On the west of the room stood a silver armor, with a shield and a beautifully-crafted sword that glittered in the sunlight. Aside from that and the window, there was nothing else. He figured that he could still be in the dream, and he decided to play along.

He tried to put on the silver armor, but it was quite heavy. Strange as it is, it looked quite like the same armor he saw on the knight on TV last night. Although it was heavy, he succeeded in putting on the armor. He started to walk and it was quite hard for him. But after a few minutes, he started to get the hang of it.

Zack stepped out through the door and saw a white horse. He didn't know why, but he felt as though he needed to ride it. So he did. As he was riding the horse, he kept thinking about the strange man he met the last night, and what he said.

"Nah,"

The horse led him past through many forests, and when at last. He saw a black smoke coming out from the deep regions of the forests. He knew at once that this was the dragon, and he had to slay it and rescue the damsel in distress. He was in a strange dream, he thought, also, he was in the movie.

Zack rode on until he could hear the sounds of fireballs flying in every direction. He could almost see the dragon when he heard a cry. It was the beautiful damsel.

"Oh yeah," he said in excitement. "As soon as I kick the dragon's smelly ass, this bitch could be mine." His teenage mind immediately triggered his restless hormones and he thought about sex. "Yeah baby."

He rode past trees and with the heavy sword and shield on his right and left hand respectively, Zack was the knight in shining armor.

The screech of the dragon was becoming louder and deafening by the second. And when Zack was the least ready for the fight, a huge boulder popped out of nowhere, like the truck and the strange man. But the boulder wasn't just any boulder, for it was the head of the dragon. It had swallowed him up.

But the dragon realized that Zack didn't taste good. So he spewed him out. After that, the dragon disappeared. And everything went black. Zack heard the familiar sound of the loud guitars. He realized that he had awaken from the nightmare.

"Just a god-damn - HUH?!!" He realized that he was having a deja-vu. He was going to say the exact same words again.

"Deja-Vu. Wow. Never thought this was real."

He stood up and lit a cigarette and after a few puffs, he tossed it out the window. He stepped outside but found that it was dark. He unwillingly turned his head to look for the room that wasn't there.

"Fuck."

***

The smell of foul breath filled the air when Jerry yawned and stretched. He scratched his head and found that Zack was gone.

"Right."

He picked up the remote from the table and turned the TV on. There was the fantasy show again. He was irritated by these movies. Since he had a diverse taste than that of Zack, he changed the channel to the local news. But he could not explain that something was wrong with his head. He could hear a peculiar sound in his head. It seemed to cry out for help, calling his name.

He could figure out a few words though: "Don't change the channel."

Jerry picked up the remote and presses the little red button that read: POWER. He put on some clothes and went outside.

The End

Copyright 2001 by Dominic Sanchez.

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