Chapter 5

Sid arrived in class early to watch the arrival of Cynthia. It was her grand unveiling - the first day in which she was going public, wearing her new wardrobe. He wondered which of the new outfits she would wear. He hoped that it was the blue dress since it was the sexiest of them.

When Cynthia glided into the room, even Sid was surprised at the transformation. The loose fitting blue dress came down to her knees, was tight at the waist, and had a plunging neckline that just begged a man to check out her breasts. As nicely as she was dressed, it was the way that she moved that drew the eye to her.

One of the young men in the room asked, “Are you supposed to be in this class?”

“Yes, I am,” she replied softly. During the trip from her car to the classroom, she had been stopped several times by young men wanting to initiate a conversation. She couldn’t believe the attention that a minor change in wardrobe had brought about.

“It’s kind of late in the semester for you to show up to class for the first time.”

“I’ve been here every class,” replied Cynthia realizing for the first time just how invisible she had been in the past.

“Hey, I would have noticed a fox like you.”

“That’s a very nice thing to say,” said Cynthia. She smiled at the compliment and looked over at Sid. He was watching her with an expression that let her know that he appreciated what he was seeing. She decided that it was time to reward her Hero. She was going to visit him that night to thank him for all of his efforts by giving herself to him.

She walked over to her normal chair and seated herself. Every male in the class watched her walk through the room. For many of them, she was the most graceful and elegant woman they had ever seen. Even a few of the women watched her, although their interest was of a very different nature. The sudden appearance of a beautiful woman in the classroom threw many of them for a loop.

One of the women looked thoughtfully at Sid and asked, “Your perfect woman, is she like her?”

“Very close,” answered Sid with a smile.

For the rest of the day, one man after another approached Cynthia in attempts to have her notice them. People turned to watch her when she entered a room. Young women who were used to being the center of attention found very quickly that she had stolen the show. The normal reaction would have been to label her a slut, but there was nothing slutty about her appearance. She looked classy.

The pamphlets that Sid had brought back with him from Crossroads were in a pile on the coffee table. He had put them there after reading each one several times. It was an interesting collection of material that included instructions on how to construct a portal. The instructions were identical to the ones that appeared in Gerald’s journal, although it included illustrations and variations.

Yawning out of boredom, Sid stood and stretched. His homework for the day was done. He still needed to look up some more material for his paper in history, but he planned to do that when he went to work in the library. He had been given his choice of several topics for his paper and had chosen to do it on early American industries.

Nature called and he headed down the hall towards the restroom. Just before reaching the door, there was a knock on his front door. In the entire time he had been living in the house, he’d had two visitors, his aunt and Cynthia. Cynthia had been to his house once. All other interactions with her had been in school or at stores when they had gone shopping together. Surprised to have company, he turned to answer the door with the hope that it wasn’t family.

Sid opened the door and looked out at his visitor. For a moment he stared at her, speechless. Recovering, he said, “Cynthia! What a pleasure to see you again.”

Sid was not being generous when he said that it was a pleasure to see her again. She looked even better than she had in class that morning. Her bright green outfit demanded a first and second look while showing off her figure to best advantage. There was enough of a cleavage to draw the eye to her breasts. The dress was short enough to show off her legs. It hugged her body sufficiently to show off her figure while being loose enough to flow as she moved.

“I just wanted to thank you. I hope it is not too late to stop by,” said the young woman. Cynthia stood on the porch, poised and confident while showing just a trace of vulnerability that was sexy. She could see by the expression on his face that she had impressed him with her appearance. It was the first time she had seen him look at any woman with more than superficial interest.

“Not at all,” replied Sid happy to see her and finding it difficult to keep his eyes off her. Remembering his manners, he said, “Please, come in.”

Cynthia glided into the room with newfound grace. She walked like a fashion model. All evidence of a duck-like gait was gone. He noticed that she stood with her back straight, head level, and her shoulders back. Mrs. Wilson had worked miracles in teaching her how to stand and move.

Closing the door, he gestured to a chair as he said, “Please take a seat here in the living room.”

Cynthia glided over to the chair and sat down in a proper manner. Sid followed her into the room. Sitting up straight, she crossed her legs at her ankles and turned her upper body to look over at her host. Maintaining eye contact, she smiled and then said, “Thank you.”

Although Sid wanted to continue the conversation, his bladder was busy reminding him of its need to be relieved. Unable to wait much longer, he said, “I was about to take care of something rather important. If you would excuse me for a minute, I’ll be right back.”

“Of course. Please take your time,” replied Cynthia with a slight nod of her head.

“Thank you,” replied Sid as he backed out of the room. Once out of sight, he raced to the bathroom. As he relieved the pressure in his bladder, he thought about the changes in behavior of Cynthia. She was almost a different person from the non-entity who had stopped at his table that day.

While Sid was out of the room, Cynthia noticed the stack of pamphlets on the coffee table. Mrs. Wilson had said that books left on a coffee table were intended to provide a topic of discussion when people were unable to find something to talk about. Curious, she picked up the pamphlet entitled, ‘Rules for Hero Companions.’ She opened it and started to read.

Engrossed in the material contained within the pamphlet, Cynthia didn’t hear Sid return. When he saw what she was reading, he said, “Ah, I see you discovered one of the rule books.”

Looking up at him, she replied, “This is a very strange little publication. It reads like some sort of a cross between a fairy tale and a driver’s manual. What is it?”

Taking a seat across from her, he answered, “Which one are you reading?”

“Rules for Hero Companions,” answered Cynthia with a hint of a blush. She had been rather embarrassed by the rules concerning the requirement that a Hero companion must take care of the sexual needs of the Hero while in Chaos.

“That is the rule book for people from Earth who choose to accompany a Hero on his adventure on Chaos,” replied Sid. He spread the other pamphlets out on the coffee table and explained, “These are the other rule books that I brought back from Crossroads. You might want to take them with you and read them.”

Looking over at him with an amused smile, she asked, “You brought them back from Crossroads?”

Sid had not meant to say that, but he wasn’t about to take back the truth. He answered, “Yes.”

“Interesting.”

“Would you care for some coffee or tea?” asked Sid wanting to change the subject away from his accidental slip.

“I would enjoy some tea,” answered Cynthia confidant in her answer. On her first trip to his house, she had been made uneasy by the question. Mrs. Wilson had explained that being offered the choice was exactly what it implied. She was being asked which of the two beverages she preferred and there wasn’t a wrong answer.

“Excuse me while I prepare some tea,” said Sid.

“Of course,” replied Cynthia. She watched him leave the room and then returned to reading the pamphlet wondering if he had really been serious about having brought it back from Crossroads for her. She reached the part where she was required to have sex with the caretaker should the woman make the demand of her.

She looked up and thought about what was in the pamphlet. She frowned at the idea that he was using that as a means of sleeping with her, but that is how it appeared to her. She wondered why he was doing it that way. Of course, the part about having to take care of the camp, carrying his goods, and cooking sounded like some medieval treatment of a woman. She didn’t know what to think about the whole thing.

Putting the pamphlet to the side, she picked up the rule book for heroes. She giggled at the adolescent fantasy that it appeared to represent. Aloud, she said, “Gaggles of women, all wanting to sleep with the Hero. Right.”

Entering the room with a tray on which he had the tea and pastries, Sid smiled at the characterization of the adventures. Setting the tray down on the coffee table, he said, “Yes, I suppose it does sound like a teenage fantasy.”

“Is this some sort of game like Dungeons and Dragons?” asked Cynthia.

“It is real, but I don’t expect you to believe me without experiencing it yourself,” answered Sid.

“Why would I want to do that?”

“You asked if Sally Caretaker could teach you,” answered Sid, “and I investigated how you could meet her. Being a Hero Companion is the only way.”

She stared at him in shock. Her thoughts raced, ‘His perfect woman didn’t really exist? His perfect woman was some sort of fantasy woman? This guy actually believed in this fantasy world? What have I gotten myself into? I don’t want to be involved with someone who’s crazy!’

Cynthia came to a decision. She wasn’t going to thank him in the manner she had planned. There was no way she was going to give up her virginity to a madman.

While Cynthia was trying to make sense of what she had just learned, Sid calmly prepared a cup of tea for her. He interrupted her thoughts when he said, “Here’s your tea.”

Automatically, she accepted the tea and said, “Thank you.”

“I imagine you think that I’m crazy,” said Sid.

“I’m sure of it,” replied Cynthia immediately regretting it. The words slipped out of her mouth before she had a chance to think of the consequences of calling a crazy man crazy. She wondered if she should drink the tea.

“I will make a deal with you,” said Sid watching the expression on her face. He knew that she wasn’t going to believe him until she stepped through the portal and experienced Crossroads for herself. If he really wanted to convince her that he wasn’t crazy, getting her to step through the portal was the biggest problem he faced.

“What kind of deal?”

“Think about what is in the rule book. If you think that you could act as required by the rules upon proof that Crossroads is a real place, then come here next Saturday. I won’t ask you to do anything until you are satisfied that Crossroads is a real place,” Sid said with calm assurance.

“I will think about it,” replied Cynthia thinking that it would be best to play along with him.

“If you wish, you may bring someone with you to my house to make sure that I don’t do anything to you that you don’t want to have happen. All I ask is that they wait for fifteen minutes in the living room while we go on the adventure,” said Sid realizing that he wanted her to go with him.

“Fifteen minutes?”

“I’m sure you noticed that the rule book said that no matter how long you are in Crossroads or on Chaos, only fifteen minutes will pass here on Earth,” explained Sid. He added, “I don’t know how it works, but my experience shows that it’s true.”

Cynthia wondered what could happen in fifteen minutes if she had someone waiting for her outside the room. Her imagination filled in plenty of details, none of which were pretty. A shiver went through her body. She repeated her question, “Fifteen minutes?”

“Yes, fifteen minutes,” answered Sid not sure what her question meant.

Deciding to act as if she was taking his fantasy seriously, she asked, “So what do you get out of it?”

“Out of what? Going to Crossroads or having you come with me?” asked Sid.

“Going to Crossroads.”

Despite having been there three times, Sid hadn’t really thought about an answer to that question. His first thought was that he went back to be with Sally Caretaker, but that wasn’t really the whole reason.

He said, “In a way, it is a male’s fantasy world. Firstly, there is Sally Caretaker. She’s a beautiful woman, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. She’s also smart and very knowledgeable about many subjects. I could spend the rest of my life talking with her.

“Secondly, there are the Damsels in Distress. It’s not the reward for rescuing them that attracts me, although that is a very pleasant benefit. I really feel good about rescuing them from danger. The first Damsel was about to be sold into indentured servitude. She’d have ended up a prostitute if I hadn’t saved her. The last Damsel would have been killed or maimed by the man holding her against her will.

“Thirdly, there is the adventure itself. I’ve seen things that I never thought possible. I’ve watched men digging for clay along a riverbank. A blacksmith was smelting bog iron on my last trip there. I’ve even spent an evening in an inn watching people in a world where electricity doesn’t exist.