The Rescue

Epic - Part II - Chapter 2

The Rescue

"Is that what I think it is?!" Cried Fatima Buritto and jumped out of her hammock. Too bad it was her first time in a hammock and noone had really told her that one cannot actually jump out of a hammock.

She rolled and twisted helplessly. Fine nylon strings stretched and tightened with each attempt of hers to break loose -- like a bratty 8 year-old kindergarten toddler trying to open her cellophane-wrapped, saccharine-infested throatkiller candy.

George Balooney watched with a slightly amused smile as Buritto lay trapped in a nylon cobwebbed contraption that was now beginning to resemble a Merchant Ivory low-budget prop cleverly disguised to mimic a Ridley Scott production refuse.

No, perhaps a Scorcese rehearsal junk, hahaha, Balooney corrected himself and chuckled. But still, Ismail and James were never shy of using family members as cast or crew, either!! Hahaha!!

He laughed at his own little private joke, even when he knew he was the only one who would get it.

"Hey, don't just sit there!" Pleaded Buritto, now a complete mess, dangling like a Keith Floyd maincourse: layers of seasoned, tender-loin parchments stuffed with fresh garden veggies and chef's very own exotic garnishing, tied beautifully with twine and all set to be skewered or baked to perfection.

Yuck! Balooney was never a big fan of English cuisine, the very term he considered an oxymoron anyway, though apparently Buritto's entire family had their privileged sons and daughters hogging on nothing but yorkshire puddings and marmalade soaked muffins.

Buritto decided it was best to try and regain her composure as elegantly as possible. Surely the heiress to a fortune can't possibly ignore the possibility of some desperate Sunset Boulevard or Beverly Hills paparazzi hiding in Haleji Lake bushes trying to get a picture or two? Oh, the press! The press! And what with Balooney being an icon and all.

She struggled nonchalantly. Balooney couldn't watch anymore and finally rescued her by untwisting the hammock, whacking her out of it, letting her land on the recliner he'd placed under the hammock, just in case.

"My hero!", said Buritto. She was going to ask her three maidservants to take down that thing and burn it until not a fibre of nylon saw the light of another day.

Such is the wrath of us Burittos. She resolved, completely satisfied with her vengeance plan. Equally and secretly swooned at how gallantly Balooney had rescued her.

"What made you jump out of the hammock anyway?" asked Balooney, sipping a tall glass of sweet yogurt and milk Lussie cocktail as the maidservants liked to call it. Still, he always spiked it generously with an Absolut straight out of the Burittos' well stocked bar.

"Oh yes, Gosh!" Buritto suddenly remembered, sat upright on the recliner, and pointed her finger towards what she'd seen. "Can you see?"

Balooney, leaning back on his recliner comfortably, groaned and followed his eyes.

Something at a distance, on the Haleji Lake. He squinted to focus.

What the...?

Then like a bolt of lightening, Balooney rose up straight. This can't be...!

The Lussie cocktail glass dropped, crashing on the limestone pavement.

Oh my sweet lord... Balooney felt his heart stop. This is impossible!


To be continued...

Labels: epic