Hannah's Tale

After running into Alex, my fiance, I returned to the Darknight booths to take Beth's place at the register while she went on break. Todd's instincts about this year's Kubla Con had been right. The line of people waiting to buy stuff was quite long. I expected to be busy.

I'd only been at it for a few minutes however, when Randal tapped me on the shoulder. "Todd wants to see you. He's with Amy. I think it's time for you to change," he said.

He was trying to supress a grin. Todd has a reputation as a joker, so I got suspicious. "All right, what's he up to this time?"

"I can't say, but it has to do with you hating sushi."

"Oh Lord." I rolled my eyes. I would have grilled Randal further, but I didn't want to keep the customers waiting. Todd had made a fuss some time ago about me not liking sushi, and didn't seem to want to drop it. Well, one doesn't introduce a girl (or anyone else for that matter) to something new by plopping a tentacle down on her plate. If he had started with a Calafornia roll or something like that, I might have tried it, but I don't eat Cthulu, especially not raw.

When I got to Amy's booth, she was working on Todd's new costume. He had been a ringwraith all morning, and at six foot five, the effect had been quite awsome. Now he was being done-up as a Hobbit. Yes, a Hobbit. At least he wasn't afraid of poking fun at himself as well as others. Todd's not a bad guy, in fact he's a pretty good boss, once you get past the practical jokes. He's honest, fair and, sometimes, even considerate. His business instincts are also good. He had built his publishing firm up from nothing. And, after less than four years, it was now one of the top five producers of fantasy and sci-fi books and games in the country.

Being on Darknight's back doorstep, Kubla Con always played an important part in Todd's plans. This year, with all the additional resources plowed into it by Eric Winters, the Con was going to be much grander and Todd was prepared to go all out to match. We rented space for ten tables and brought books and materials to fill them all twice over. Some of that space had been given over to Amy. Todd decided, almost at the last minute, to hire Amy to create costumes and make-up for him and all the Darknight employees in honor of this Con's costume theme. Beth, for example, was Arwen from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films, Randal was a Star Fleet medical officer from the early Trek, I was made up as a female Vulcan officer from Wrath of Khan, with the red jacket and everything. Amy was a real pro, she had actually worked for Universal before she went free lance. In other words, we looked great.

She was working on Todd's hairy prosthetic feet blending them in to the flesh of his ankles. It was fascinating, I had to pull up a chair and watch. In fact, there was almost as big a crowd watching her as there was buying stuff. A lot of her business cards were being picked up and passed around as well. Todd was just as absobed as everyone else, watching her work, but he finally turned to me and grinned. "Ready for your next role?" There was more than a little mischief in his voice and look.

"Um-huh," I nodded, still watching the feet being done.

Amy pointed to one of the tables with her brush. "It's under there, in the cardboard box."

I reached over and picked it up. On top, written in black sharpie was the word 'mermaid'. Todd giggled like a school girl.

"You're kidding, right?" I pulled it open, fully intending to take the tail and strangle him with it. I was already preparing my defense, justifiable homicide. It was pretty though, no, it was gorgeous. I couldn't help but, "Oooh" when I pulled the tail out. The scales were translucent tourquoise and silver in alternating stripes. The fin was large, delicate and lacey, with violet and gold veins. "This took a lot of work!" I said.

"Yes, it did," Amy beamed. "It was actually made for someone else, but Todd happened to see it and said it would be perfect for you. I have to agree."

"You don't say."

"Let us know when you're ready," Todd grinned even more evilly. "We'll carry you out and put you on a table. With some ginger and wasabe."

I gave him an "I'll kill you later" look, but said, "OK, I'll wear it." I do look pretty good in a swim suit. If I couldn't take my eyes off it, how would Alex react? I was already imagining him drooling all over his Jedi robes.

I took the box into the curtained off part of the booth and set to work. I removed the dark Vulcan wig and got my hair into some semblance of order, then stripped down to underwear and teeshirt. The tail was a tight fit, evidently made for a slightly smaller woman than myself. It just barely reached to my hips. I feared it wouldn't zip, but it did. At that moment, there was a 'pop'. It was more something in my head than a sound, but it got my attention. It must have gotten everyone else's attention too, because it got very quiet for a few moments. Then, all Hell broke loose.

There were screams, bellows, shouts, curses, roars and other less defined noises. There were also a few crashes. Something bad was happening and I wanted to face it mobile. I tried to unzip, but there was nothing to unzip. I struggled to roll the edge down, but I couldn't get a grip on it. There were more crashes and I heard Amy scream. Something bumped hard against the curtain just above my head. One way or another, it was time to move. I noticed a small space between two crates of books. I rolled off the chair I was sitting on and crawled/wriggled my way into it.

That was all that I needed for me to realize what had happened to me. No one with legs could move like I just did. I felt a scream comming on, but used both hands to stop it. Revealing where I was just when I couldn't run away seemed like a bad idea. The curtains fell and blocked the light. I heard the crashing of bookselves being knocked over. It all felt and sounded like a mine cave-in. I made myself as small as possible and waited.