Lover's fate

                                  by Longshot
                                (f/m, qs, grim)


The  day  had begun beautifully. The sky was blue, the air was fresh and clean,
and  James  probably  couldn't  have found a more perfect clearing. She and her
boyfriend  James  had decided to head out for a picnic on this normally perfect
day.  One  would  normally assume that a picnic would be a normal event, mostly
unspoiled  save  the  attack  of ants. Terri and James were no exceptions. Both
young,  James  at  twenty  and  Terri nineteen, they were enjoying the prime of
their young lives and of their love.

James  smiled  to  himself  as her fingered the small velvet covered box in his
pocket. He'd waited several months for this day, planned and schemed, trying to
decide the perfect moment, the perfect place. Here was his choice. A small ring
of  trees  in  a  secluded  forest.  He'd come here many times as a child as it
seemed  to  have  a mystical quality, it had been the perfect place to live out
his  young  fantasies as a knight in the court of Camelot. Today it would serve
as the place where he would ask his lady Gweinivere to marry him.

James  set  down the basket as he watched Terri marvel at the sights. He smiled
to  himself  as  he  looked  her over. She had long brown hair, which seemed to
shimmer  just  a  little  in  the few rays of sunlight that slipped through the
trees.  Her  smile was warm, her lips a ruby red. Her blue eyes seemed to laugh
at  a  joke that the world told her that only she got. She was mostly slim, not
perfect in figure, but James had never cared. He loved her for her personality,
her intelligence.

Terri  seemed  to float around the clearing, her white sundress seeming to flow
around her ankles. Her white keds never seemed to touch the ground. "Oh James,"
she whispered. "It's beautiful! However did you find it?"

James  smiled  and  blushed  a  little. "Well actually I used to play here as a
kid."

Terri laughed softly. "Leave it to you to find someplace like this." She leaned
over and kissed him softly. "You did well, M'lord." She smiled at him.

James smiled back. "Thank you M'lady."

The  two  had  an  on running joke that had turned into their pet names for one
another. James was deep into the medieval fantasy. It was a hobby for him. He'd
even  gone  so  far  as  to build his own suit of armor, out of a slightly more
lightweight  metal than steel. Terri thought it was a little funny at first and
had  started  calling  him  M'lord  as a joke. To get back at her teasing James
called  her M'lady. The names had stuck, and as Terri had fallen more deeply in
love  with  James  she  herself  had  found  herself wrapped up in his medieval
fantasies. She didn't mind, it was all part of him.

Terri  smiled  as she looked over James. His hair was a short cut dirty blonde.
His green eyes always held a certain sadness however, she'd oft times asked him
about  it,  but  he passed it off as nothing. She knew deep down that something
troubled  his  soul  but she could only wait until he was ready to tell her. He
was a a little on the stringy side, not fat, just no muscles either. She didn't
care,  she  had  had  one  of  the oversized muscle bound freaks as a boyfriend
before.  It had lasted about a week. She hated the fact he would treat her like
some  sort  of brainless maid. James was nothing like that, he treated her like
she was someone special, worthy of his devotion and respect. She had never felt
better about anyone in her life.

Lunch  was  a quiet uneventful affair, they ate sandwiches, talked about things
going  on  in  college and work. About their possible future together. When the
conversation  switched  to the future, James reached into his pocket. "M'lady I
have something for you."

Terri  looked  up  at  James  rather  surprised. As her eyes met his, she saw a
sudden  spark,  something  she  saw so rarely, but a sign she knew meant he was
happy  about  something.  "And what would that be M'lord?" she played along for
now, wondering what James could be up to.

James  smiled and pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened it where
she  couldn't  see  the contents, and then gently took her left hand in his. He
kneeled  before  her  and  began  to  speak. "M'lady, I ask of you to make this
knight a happy man and allow him the pleasure of your company for eternity."

Terri  felt tears of joy coming to her eyes. He was actually proposing, she had
waited  for  this  for  so long. She tried to speak but the words choked in her
throat so she just nodded her head.

James  smiled.  "Thank  you  M'lady,"  he took her hand and gently slid a small
diamond  ring  onto  it. The diamond was small, barely a quarter carat, and the
ring was a plain gold band.

Terri however wouldn't have been more thrilled if he gave her a ring four times
its  size.  "Oh  James!"  she  cried and hugged him tightly. She suddenly got a
mischievous  grin.  "But  M'lord  it's  bad  luck  to  see the bride before the
wedding." Before James could protest she took off into the woods.

James  blinked. "Terri wait!" he called after her, but it was too late. James's
eyes  widened  as  he  remembered the near childhood tragedy he'd faced here so
long  ago.  He'd decided that he'd go on a quest that day. He was six or was it
seven  then.  It  didn't matter really, but what had happened was the important
part.  He'd stalked along through the forest, towards a river, which bordered a
small  marsh.  Having decided in his six year old mind that the cave just north
of  him  was  the  perfect  place  for the dragon to live he headed towards it.
However  he  didn't  quite make it. In his fantasy world, the dragon had cast a
spell  that  made  the  earth  try to devour him. Later he learned the area was
laden  with several tiny quicksand pools. Alone none of them were near the size
to  worry a man or even a seven year old, and if one was careful and knew where
to  step  you  could walk through safely. Together however they created quite a
deadly trap.

James  remembered  how  he'd almost drowned before his mother came to save him.
She'd  gotten  worried when he didn't come home for dinner. She'd gotten him to
safety,  but  it  had cost her her life. He remembered pulling at her hand with
all  his  strength.  She'd  somehow managed to be strong, she smiled at him and
told  him  she loved him very much. She also told him that it wasn't his fault,
but  he  would  have to leave her to go get daddy. She reassured him that daddy
could  save  her.  Dad however was too late, by the time they'd gotten back his
mother  had  disappeared,  only a few locks of her hair floating on the surface
and  a ring, slightly muddied, which had been tossed to the nearby solid ground
remained.  Since  then  James  had  sworn  to  himself that he would never fail
another  lady,  not  the  way  he'd  failed his mother. James tore after Terri,
screaming at her to come back.

Terri laughed as she heard James calling to her. "There might be a dragon ahead
M'lord!"  she called back playfully. "You may have to rescue me from it." Terri
shook  her  head, she was acting like a kid, and it felt wonderful. She glanced
ahead  and  saw  a  cave.  Oh that will be perfect for the dragon's cave. Terri
laughed  at herself, she was playing into James's medieval fantasies again. She
barely  noticed when the ground shifted under her feet, until she tried to take
another  step  forward.  "Huh?"  she  mumbled as her foot refused to follow her
command  to  move  forward.  "What the?" she heard a soft slurping sound as her
foot  came  free.  Her white shoe was black with a slimy mud. "Oh gross. Well I
wanted  an excuse to get new ones." Her next forward step pulled the shoe right
off her foot.

Terri  blinked  as  she  found  herself  barely  balanced, one foot in the air,
covered  only  by  her  white  sock,  the other buried ankle deep in black mud.
"Maybe  this  wasn't  such  a good idea. James? M'lord I need some assistance."
Terri  began  to  loose her balance, and set her left foot down. She could feel
the warm, wet mud oozing through her sock. "Oh yuck!" She tried to move forward
again,  but  it was like trying to pull her feet out of glue. Terri looked down
worriedly,  especially  as she felt the mud sliding over her socks and onto her
bare  legs.  She  began  to  pump  her  legs trying to pull them from the muddy
ground.  "James?  Please!  This isn't funny! I'm stuck! I need your help! I ...
I'm sinking, James!"

James  frowned  to himself. "Where are you Terri?" he could hear her voice, but
the way it echoed through the forest it was hard to pinpoint. He'd wandered for
several minutes. She sounded like she was playing, the exact words hard to make
out. Then her voice turned, scared and frantic. James's eyes widened again. She
couldn't be, but she had to. There weren't any other really dangerous things in
this small forest. He looked around trying to get his bearings. Why did he have
to  draw  a blank now? When Terri needed him the most. "I'm coming M'lady!" her
called, hoping she might answer, or at least it would calm her a few moments.

Terri  watched  in  horror  as the blackish mud began to slowly engulf her. Her
dress  began  to fan out on the surface of the mire, and the more she sank, the
more it seemed to fan. She grabbed her knees, dress and all, and pulled at them
with  all  her strength, but to no avail. She only sank deeper. She shivered as
she  mire  began  to  claim her thighs. She was a short woman, barely five foot
three.  She'd  always  loved  being  short  before,  but now she wished she was
taller, a lot taller. "James!" she cried worriedly. "Please help! It doesn't do
any  good  to  loose  the  damsel on the first day of engagement!" She began to
squirm again as the mire crawled up her thighs.

Terri  found  quickly the more she fought the faster she sank, although staying
still  didn't  stop it completely. Staying still was torturous. The mire seemed
to  have fingers that tickled her legs as it pulled at them. It was like a warm
loving  embrace  all  over her legs, except this embrace could kill her. It had
finally  entered her mind that she was in quicksand. What little she knew of it
was  from  the few movies it had been in of James's. In all of them, the damsel
had  sank  helplessly,  until someone rescued her, if they rescued her in time.
She  wondered how the actresses managed. Terri felt the mire beginning to cover
her  waist and she screamed. It was partially involuntary, just the pure terror
overwhelming  her. The rest was the realization she was half buried, and before
long the rest of her would be following.

James turned suddenly at the sound of a scream. He'd been wandering through the
woods the last twenty minutes. "Terri!" He turned and ran towards the sound. He
knew where she was. The river, the marsh, it was all coming back to him, and if
he didn't hurry, he'd be too late.

Terri  looked  around,  there  was nothing to grab onto. The trees reached high
into  the  sky,  the  nearest branches had to be fifty feet above her head. Any
other  time  it  would  have been a beautiful sight, right now, it was the most
distressing  thing she could see, except for the mire covering her rib cage and
her  dress  disappearing  into  the blackish ooze. She pushed down on the mire,
hoping  to  somehow  push  herself  out. Her arms sank to her elbows before she
could  think  to react. She tried to pull them out, struggling frantically when
they  appeared  to be stuck as well. Another frantic bout of struggling brought
her  down  to  the mire touching her lower breasts. She let out a sigh, she was
totally  trapped  now,  her arms pinned at her sides, her legs pushed together.
She  felt like a signpost. Breathing was becoming harder, and screaming was out
of the question. She did the only thing she could. She cried.

James  burst through the clearing to see Terri, buried up to her armpits in the
same  pit  of quicksand that had claimed his mother so many years ago. "Terri!"
he cried.

Terri  looked  up, her pretty face splattered with mud, and stained with tears.
"Help  me  please, James!" Her voice was barely a whisper. The look in her blue
eyes showed how terrified she was.

James  took a few slow steps towards her. "Terri can you get a hand free? Don't
struggle to do it, if you can't we'll deal with it."

Terri shook her head. "I can't."

James  nodded,  he  edged up as close as he could without falling in and kissed
her forehead. "I'll get you out, I promise."

Terri looked up at him, scared to move. "I ... I know you will," she whimpered.

James slid his hands under Terri's arms and began to lift her from the mire. It
was  a  slow,  tedious process, but after thirty minutes of fighting with it he
seemed to make very little progress.

"This  isn't  working  James,  and  it hurts. It feels like I'm being ripped in
half."

James  nodded.  "I know M'lady. I'm going to have to push you out." He stood up
and began to walk into the mire next to her.

Terri's eyes widened. "James! What are you doing?"

James  shook  his  head at her. "Better leverage, it's the only way." He leaned
down  and began to pull again. Terri felt a drastic improvement. Her body began
to  slide  out  of  the mire. She tugged her arms free and began to claw at the
ground  in front of her. She felt something solid under her feet and used it to
push  off, further freeing her from the mire. A few minutes later a breathless,
muddy young woman lay at the bank of the quicksand. She turned to James and her
eyes  widened  with horror. She wanted to scream out his name but couldn't. She
sat there trembling as she looked at him.

James  was  almost  buried  in the mire, his face surrounded by a ring of black
mud. She extended a hand. "Please James, take it!"

James whispered. "I can't. I can't move."

Terri blinked, she was in shock. "James ... I ... I can't leave you there ..."

James whispered. "You have to. Get help, if you can. I'll be still."

Terri shook her head. "You'll drown before I get back!"

James  looked  at  her  with that pained look. "My mother did this for me. It's
only  fitting  I  should  redeem myself by saving you when I was unable to save
her."

Terri shook her head. "But you can't leave me James! We ... we just got engaged
... I love you ..."

James  felt  a tear roll down his cheek, he somehow managed to get a hand above
the  surface  and  slip it into hers. "I love you too M'lady. But, it's my time
I'm afraid. I've done what I needed to clear the shame that's haunted me for so
long."

I  sat  at  the  edge  of  the  bog  a  long  time  after  James disappeared. I
contemplated throwing myself back in after him so many times, but it would have
ruined  his  purpose.  I  found  out  later  that  the  ring he gave me was his
mother's.  I  feel honored that his father let me keep it. It was sort of funny
when  I drug my dirt covered self up the hill that led to his house, alone. His
father  was there, and he seemed to know what had happened. He explained things
to  me, how James had lost his mother there, and how James had always felt that
sense of loss. It helped a little, knowing I filled a hole in his life, even if
just  for  a  few  moments. But now I have to wonder, who will fill the hole in
mine?

Well,  diary, that's the story of how I lost the best man I'll ever know. James
was  something very special. It's been a few weeks, his funeral was lovely, and
his  father  and  I  have grown close. He keeps calling me his daughter in law.
It's  nice  to  at  least still feel like I belong. I did however do something,
that  would make James happy. I put up a sign, warning about the quicksand, and
giving  a brief synopsis of the tragic story that took place there. If it saves
one person then I know the hole in my life will be filled again.