Fantasy Broken

Susan walked across the quad and headed for the student union. Wilmont College was a beautiful place with a beautiful campus. She had loved it when she first arrived here for her freshman year and after she had met Dennis, it was even better. She joked about love at first sight with him, but truly believed that was what happened. “Hey Susan,” Jason yelled at her as he ran to catch up. “Hold your horses. Going to breakfast?” he asked. Susan tried not to let Jason see the tears in her eyes. “I’ll go with you if that’s ok.” Jason was hoping Susan wasn’t mad at him for everything that had happened. “Are you ok?” Jason asked. Susan nodded her head again and swallowed hard before she looked at Jason. “I’m okay. Trying to get back to normal.” Susan started to cry and Jason reached out for her. “I don’t know what’s normal anymore,” Susan sobbed as she reached back for Jason.

“I’m sorry,’ Jason said. “That was a stupid question.” Susan smiled weakly at Jason. They continued walking toward the cafeteria. Susan knew they were going to have to pass the library on their way and she shuddered at the thought. She was suddenly happy that Jason was with her and she wouldn’t have to make the trip alone. Still not at ease walking around campus, she seemed to be alone a lot more than she wanted. Everyone was staring at her and wondering how she was doing, but no one actually had enough compassion, or even curiosity, to ask her. Her heart breaking again and again and her thought process permanently damaged, she knew she needed to put this all together and behind her to have any hope of moving forward.

She met Dennis during her freshman year. She had just walked into a “welcome back to campus” party and a young man approached her almost immediately. “Hi, I’m Jason. You’re new, aren’t you? To school, I mean.” Jason stammered and blushed a little. Susan nodded her head and said “ya, I’m a freshman this year.” Jason offered to show her around campus and she said she might just take him up on his offer. She noticed Dennis almost immediately after talking to Jason. He is gorgeous she thought. Tall, dark and handsome she believed was just a fairy tale, but she was looking at it right now across the room. That good looking young man was headed directly for her. She fidgeted a little and ran her hand through her hair quickly. “Hi, I’m Dennis.” “Uh hi, I’m Susan.” Dennis had been watching her from across the room. He saw a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes in a light green blouse and blue jeans that hugged her body rather nicely. “Can I get you something to drink?” Dennis asked.

They became inseparable after that. Going to all the football games, campus parties, out for pizza on Fridays and to the flea market on Saturdays. Jason was always nearby and Susan really liked him but wanted to spend more alone time with Dennis. Jason understood but he was a bit of a nerd and didn’t have a lot of friends, so Dennis indulged him and Susan gave in.

Dennis liked going to the library to study with Susan, only Susan didn’t really like the library. Something about it gave her the creeps. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she got weirded out every time she walked through the large wooden front doors. There were two lions on either side of the great building, large and fierce looking, and gargoyles on the roof. She always an affinity for gargoyles since she was little and her grampa told her they weren’t evil like everyone thought. They were intended to look evil to keep real evil spirits away. She grew up loving gargoyles, mermaids, dragons and everything mythical.

She had always loved that story when her grampa told her. She learned to like all kinds of gargoyles…cement, stone, marble, winged, horned, claw footed and even little ones with silly grins on their faces. Her mom had several that she kept around the yard and in her gardens. She always told Susan “that if grampa was right, then her flowers and her pets would be safe from all the evil spirits that lived at our house.” When she was 10, her grampa took her to the National Cathedral to see those famous gargoyles. Susan just stood there and stared at them for almost a half hour before Grampa insisted they continue their tour of Washington. Dennis never fully understood her affinity for gargoyles but he humored her and bought one for her as a gift for Valentine’s Day. It was one of the ones with a cute little grin and was green and gray in color. She kept it on a nightstand along with a feather they had found while walking toward the quad, a very sharp rock Dennis had described as a dragon tooth and several acorns.

Susan and Dennis became the IT couple on campus, popular, wanted at all the parties, helping others with homework and volunteering at the student union. Susan was a little embarrassed by all the attention, but Dennis was used to it. He was always the popular boy in high school. He thought back to his high school girlfriend and the dates they went on, kissing and over the top PDAs. His relationship with Susan was so much better than that. He still liked the public kisses, but their alone time was so much more intense. She kissed him like he had never been kissed before. Susan had determined very quickly that she was in love with Dennis so their relationship only got better every day.

On their six-month anniversary, they went to dinner at their favorite restaurant. Susan always ordered the same thing, Chicken Caesar Salad. Dennis was a little more adventurous and was methodically working his way through the menu so he would have a chance to taste everything. After dinner, they headed back to Susan’s off campus apartment. Dennis pulled her close and gave her a gentle kiss that became more urgent. He so wanted to be much closer to her. Susan kissed Dennis back and felt the urgency in Dennis’ kiss. It was obvious to her that Dennis wanted this to happen as much as she did. They made their way to her bedroom and fell into each other. Susan lost all track of time. When Dennis finally looked at the clock, he practically jumped out of bed and starting dressing. I have to get to work at the union and I am already late. “I will see you for breakfast in the morning”, he yelled on his way out the door. Susan rolled over and smiled.

As the sun came up over campus the next morning, she couldn’t stop smiling. She headed toward the dining hall to meet Dennis for breakfast. He smiled broadly at her when he saw her coming down the stairs. She blushed a little and all but ran into his arms. He held her close for a minute and whispered “I love you”. She drew back and just looked into his deep brown eyes. She reached up and kissed him and said “me too”. She giggled with joy like a little girl on Christmas morning. They sat and had breakfast together and then had to go their separate ways for the majority of the day. They agreed to meet up at the union at 6:00 to make some plans for the weekend.

Susan headed toward the library, feeling like she was outwardly glowing after what Dennis had said. I can’t believe I am this lucky she thought. The most perfect guy in the world and he loves me. She looked up from her daydream and almost ran right into another girl. “I am so sorry”, she laughed. She smiled at the girl and kept walking cross campus. When she got near the library, she looked up to see the gargoyles. She took a step back and almost fell to the ground. Am I going crazy? Did that gargoyle just wink at me? She looked up again and got another wink from the gargoyle on the left whom she fondly had been calling Griff. She was frozen, staring at Griff and wondering if she was going crazy. Jason happened along and Susan yelled at him. “Jason, come here”. She asked Jason to look at Griff. He knew she had named the gargoyles but always thought that it was a little more than odd. Jason just looked at her and said “what?” “Nothing, never mind” Susan said as she glanced up, looking into the sun and followed Jason into the library. Lightning never strikes twice in the same place she thought. Must have been the sunlight.

Susan wanted to tell Dennis, but didn’t want him to think she was completely crazy. How do I broach this subject without him thinking I have really gone around the bend? I am positive that gargoyle winked at me, TWICE. She decided before she talked to Dennis about it, she would go back to the library tomorrow and just see. Susan waited until about 10:00 am when most of the students were either in class or at the union. Walking toward the library, she tried to convince herself she had only imagined that wink. As she approached the library steps, she looked up and saw Griff turn sideways. What is going on? She looked up again and Griff was looking down at her and smiling. OMG, I have totally lost it, she cried. What now?

After dinner that night, Susan asked Dennis if they could walk by the library on the way back to her apartment. He replied “it’s a little out of the way, don’t you think?” “Please, just for me” Susan asked. He didn’t understand but he said sure to make her happy. As they drew closer to the library, Susan was afraid to look up and see what she feared she would see. She was right to worry when she glanced up and Griff winked at her again. “So what are we doing here?” Dennis asked. Susan couldn’t bring herself to tell him, so she smiled and said “I just wanted to walk with you awhile away from everybody, so I could have you all to myself”. Dennis smiled and took her in his arms. Kissing her gently, Susan looked up and saw Griff frown at her. She broke and said “Dennis, look at the gargoyles”. He smiled at her, looked up and said “What? Am I supposed to ask them if it’s okay to kiss my favorite girl? he joked.” Dennis laughed and kissed Susan again, said “let’s go home” and they started toward her apartment. Glancing back over her shoulder, she would swear to this day that she saw Griff make a fist and shake it at her and then settle back into his place on top of the building.

Saturday morning dawned as beautiful as ever and Susan was still very confused. Did I actually see that happen? Was Griff mad at me because I kissed Dennis? She laughed at herself and thought, I am being ridiculous to think that the gargoyle is jealous. She headed off to the union to meet Dennis for breakfast and made it a point to go by the library again. She glanced up and saw Griff smiling at her again. With a quick wink, he went back to being frozen as other students approached the large wooden doors. She ran all the way to the union where there were lots of other students and Dennis. She adored him and with one kiss, made the thought of gargoyles go right out of her head.

After their morning classes, they met up for a quick snack. Dennis mentioned that he needed to go by the library to pick up a book. He was studying Physics and needed some reference material for a project. She was dreading the idea of going back there again, but decided she was safe with Dennis by her side. As they approached the library, she refused to look up. She didn’t want to see what she knew she would see. At that moment, Dennis grabbed her and dipped her for a kiss. As she looked over his shoulder, she saw Griff frown and shake a fist. She ran inside the library and Dennis followed.

Her life changed completely the following morning as she headed to the student union to meet Dennis. There were five police cars, an ambulance and yellow tape everywhere. She noticed Jason standing nearby and walked over to ask what was going on. He grabbed her by the arm and led her away from the police activity. “What’s going on Jason?” “Let’s just stay over here and wait to see what’s happening”, he suggested. “Susan, no!” Jason yelled as she pulled away from him and ran toward the yellow tape. She screamed when she saw what the police were doing. Dennis was laying on the ground and looked like he had been taken apart by vicious dogs. Susan knew better and as she passed the library later, Griff smiled and winked at her.

So, I guess the moral of the story is don’t ever anger a gargoyle.