Chapter 1

Jacob was on his back and felt a gentle motion like the soft rocking of the waves. He must have dozed off on his board. The previous time he did that it took thirty minutes to paddle back to shore. That was a day when the surf was way down, so how could he have fallen asleep on a day like today?

He opened his eyes to blurry vision. He groaned from the sharp pain in his head. The last time he felt like this was the time he blew the grind on the skateboard. He ended up falling forward and smacking his forehead against the metal stairs railing. In the midst of his current aches and pains, there was a soft angelic murmur in his ear.

"Jennifer..." he said softly.

"He speaks," the female voice responded.

"Wh..." he said with a startle. It wasn't Jennifer. His eyes suddenly focused. There was a strange blonde woman right up in his face. She was so close that he instinctively backed away.

"Ow!" he cried out and grabbed the back of his head. What the hell just hit him? He looked behind. He had backed into a tree. A tree? What the hell was a tree doing here?

"I thought you were dead," the woman said.

He stared at the woman. She was very beautiful and wore a magnificent flowing yellow dress. She was all dressed up for a costume party and apparently she went all out. All she needed was some guy in a knight's costume. Damn, she was beautiful. If only he had an armor outfit, she might want to see his sword later on.

"Perhaps I am," he answered with a goofy smile. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he damn well knew he had to get her number before she took off.

"It appears you are not."

He gingerly sat up and looked around. This appeared to be a grassy forest area. What the fuck happened to the beach? Who replaced it with a bunch of fucking trees?

"What is this clothing you wear?" she inquired.

Jacob looked down at his red Hawaiian floral print swim trunks. "I bought this at Surf Party."

"Surf Party?"

"You know, right there on the corner. Everybody knows about it. I know the owner. Got them at a great price. I guess you're new around here."

"I see," she said but obviously didn't.

He looked around. He had no idea which direction Surf Party was located let alone where Emerald Street was located.

"I'd love to show you the sights sometime," he said.

"Do they not sell items to cover your upper half?"

"Upper half?" He looked at his bare chest. "Oh, shirts. Yeah, sure they carry shirts. They're too pricey even with a good discount. You like staying in character, huh? That's cool."

"What is cool?"

"Well, you know, like you're a medieval girl and such. I see that you're going to a party and that's why you're dressed up like that. It's cool."

"You are a strange man," she said.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot. It's cool to be strange. You know, sometimes. It depends on how someone says it. You know what I mean?"

She didn't answer. She looked puzzled.

He stood up. He slowly turned around to appraise his surroundings. This definitely wasn't the beach. He spotted something in the bushes that made him very happy.

"There it is!" He practically shouted with excitement. He went into the bushes and returned carrying his surfboard under his left arm. It was a white colored short board. "Look! I found my bag too!" He patted his duffel bag that was now over his left shoulder.

"What is that?" she said looking stunned and pointing at the long item.

"It's my board," he said proudly. He put the tail of his board down on the ground and slowly spun it around, so she could bask in the glory of it...

"The dragon," she said with a voice that wavered.

Jacob stopped the spin so she could see the red beast on the top of his board. "Cool, huh? It's a custom design. I'm into only the best, you know. I like King Arthur stuff too. I don't have a costume like that." He motioned his hand at her dress. "Not that I would wear a dress. There was that time I drank too many..." He waved his hand dismissively. " ... forget it. Tell me about you. I've never met a girl as pretty as you that was into all this Arthur stuff. You come here often?" He looked around again. Wherever here was.

The next sound was not the woman's voice, but a repetitive clomping that neared. A man on a horse appeared. He abruptly stopped in the midst of them. The man was dressed in a red tunic with a gold crown embroidered on the front. A light mesh encased his arms and legs. His costume was as impressive as the lady's.

Shit! Jacob knew this guy had to be her date. He hadn't gotten her phone number yet.

Jacob kept cool and said with a laugh to the woman, "He could be the tin man and you could be Dorothy."

It happened so fast that Jacob wasn't sure how it transpired. The man dismounted his steed and from what seemed like out of nowhere there was a sword in his hands. The man grabbed Jacob's hair, forced him down to his knees, and placed the edge of the sword against his neck. Jacob felt the sharpness. The damn sword was real!

"Let's see how you laugh at the queen without your head!" the man scornfully shouted.

"Queen?" Jacob squeaked out. What happened? Here he was having this pleasant conversation with the lady, hoping to get her number, and suddenly this guy shows up threatening to lop his head off.

"You do not know your queen?" he scoffed.

The lady interjected. "I think he is not from around these parts."

"That is no excuse," the man said.

Jacob spoke up. He rather liked his head even though a different part of his body was his favorite. "So you're like Guinevere and Lancelot as if you are sneaking away for a rendezvous to have some fun?" His face streamed sweat.

"What?" said the lady in complete shock. "What do you know about us?"

Uh-oh. From her reaction, Jacob questioned if that was a good thing to say.

"Answer her!" the man said and shook Jacob.