Monster's Ball :Shadow In Time by Priscilla Poole Rainwater Page B

railing, she spotted several couples taking a stroll through the beautiful gardens.
     
    Taking a seat at an empty table, Medusa motioned for a waiter dressed like Frankenstein, and asked if he would bring them some Ouzo and cold water.
     
    Glancing at the man, Rena thought it was a nice touch that the entire staff had dressed up for the event as well. Looking back at Medusa, she took a seat, unable to tear her gaze away from the realistic looking snakes on her head, which continued to writhe slowly, and somewhat hypnotically. Her intense dislike for all reptiles making her shudder, she thought about a date she had had once. The man had taken her to a theater to see 'Snakes on Planes', but she had ran out of the place twenty minutes into the movie. The man had never asked her out again.
     
    As if sensing her thoughts, Medusa purred, “Don't worry Rena, they aren't poisonous.” Taking a small bite of her baked cherry tomatoes with Feta cheese, she added, “They only strike when they feel my fear, or, as you humans sometimes say, when I'm royally pissed. When they strike it can be very nasty, as painful as any bite would be, but it won't kill.”
     
    “I'm sorry, that's so very rude of me to stare.” Rena apologized.
     
    “It's perfectly understandable, dear.”
     
    Taking a bite of her lettuce leaves stuffed with rice and lambs meat, Rena looked at the regal woman thoughtfully for a moment, then reminded herself to play along with the charade. It was, after all, a Halloween party. “If I may say so, you're certainly not like the Medusa I read about in school. I never pictured you being so…well, beautiful. The stories I read, they were about how Athena made you so ugly that just one look from you turned people into stone. And I thought Perseus took your head and presented it to Athena. So how can you be here looking like a runway model?”
     
    “Perseus? That lying sack of horse crap!” She snorted indignantly, then poured a generous shot of the Ouzo and tossed it back in one gulp. “That was a lie that bitch Athena started! You see, Perseus is nothing more than a cheating ass of a camel. I mean, he makes even Zeus look like a vestal virgin, compared to his whoring hide! Perseus, at the time, was wed to Andromeda, who's an uptight shrew. He's also screwed Athena, and any other goddess or human that would spread their legs for him. Personally, I don't know why anyone would sleep with him. He’s not only uncultured, but he's an unwashed brute as well!”
     
    The Sci-Fi channel should hire her as a writer! Rena thought as she leaned forward, enjoying the story the woman was weaving. Picking up a piece of mystery meat from her plate, she took a bite. Despite the fact it was like chewing a piece of rubber, she liked the taste.
     
    “I see you like the Htapodokefteds.” Medusa commented as she poured more Ouzo for them both.
     
    “Yes, it has an unusual texture though. What is Htap..doke..whatever, anyway?” She asked, taking another bite.
     
    “Octopus balls.” Medusa said, tossing back another shot.
     
    Face scrunching, Rena snatched a napkin up and put it to her mouth, spitting out the morsel with as much dignity as she could muster. Grabbing her Ouzo, she drank it in one gulp, grimaced, then took a sip of water. “I didn't know Octopus' had balls, yuck!”
     
    Throwing her head back, Medusa laughed uproariously, the sound seeming to reverberate throughout her entire body. Even her snakes seemed amused as they danced about her head wildly for a moment. “You're the bee's knees, Rena.” she sniffed, the laughter finally subsiding. “I was just kidding. Actually, it's baked baby squid.”
     
    Lowering her head in embarrassment as her face heated up, Rena sputtered, “Oh.  You were saying about Perseus?”
     
    “Right. Anyway, the first time I met him, my mother, Gaia, was having an earth day celebration. I was very young then, and true to the rumors about him, he came on to me. The only head he