“You look like hammered shit,” I chuckled.

“Thanks, babe,” he said with a laugh.

The time passed slowly as I studied the GPS the entire second half of the trip. I tried not looking for as long as I could, but typically, I’d look every ten miles or so. Talking did very little good to pass time, and in fact made it worse. After three naps, getting gas a few times, and attempting to force down a meal, I’d fallen asleep again.

The girl’s hair blew in the breeze as she held tightly to the prince’s waist. The horse galloped along the trail, leaving a trail of steam behind from the breath as it came in snorts form his nose.

“We’re almost there,” the prince said over his shoulder.

The girl gripped him tighter as she pressed her face into the upper part of his back.

“I can’t wait,” she responded under her breath.

The girl looked up, peering over the right shoulder of the prince, toward the horizon. Off in the distance, at the top of the hill, the massive castle stood.

She shrieked at the sight and clutched the prince tighter...

A hand gripped her shoulder.

Startled, she turned around.

The monster!

Incapable of speaking, she gasped for breath. The monster’s hand tore at her, leaving gaping wounds in her flesh as he ripped the clothes from her back. The prince turned and glanced over his shoulder. After seeing the monster, the prince attempted to fight with one hand as he held the reigns with the other. The prince’s attempts to fight the monster were futile. He reached for his scabbard and pulled his sword.

The girl’s screaming and fighting did little to free her of the monsters grasp.

Her eyes full of tears, she glanced up. “Help me,” she screamed.

The sound of hooves in the distance caught her attention. Now craning her neck to see over the prince’s shoulder, she saw a great white horse galloping their direction. She gasped in fear as she realized the knight on the approaching horse had no armor.

The monster ripped her dress from her back and tossed it into the wind. As his hairy hands tore at her flesh, groping and gabbing, the prince swung his sword and missed. As she screamed, she peered over the shoulder of the prince as the knight approached their side. The monster tore at her neck with his leathery fists, attempting to grasp the jeweled necklace dangling between her breasts.

In forfeiting her ability to fight back, the girl clutched the jeweled necklace, for it was her only hope. As she held it tight in her hand, she held her breath as the knight’s horse galloped closer.

The knight reached out as he passed and gripped the monster’s arm, pulling him from the girl’s back.

The prince turned, pulled upward on the reigns, and stopped the horse. The knight jumped from the horse, the monster in his grasp, swung around and slammed the monster into the base of a huge apple tree. As the knight placed both his hands around the neck of the monster, the prince kicked his heels against the flank of the horse, racing in the direction of the great apple tree.

As the prince approached, he tossed his sword toward the knight, “Kill the beast!” he yelled.

Without looking, the knight caught the sword, and raised his muscular arms high above his head.

“For the kingdom!” the knight bellowed, holding the sword with both hands. .

And he thrust the sword through the heart of the monster and into the tree.

As the knight turned to face them, the monster fought to free himself from the sword. After a short struggle, the monster gasped his last dying breath. His leathery body covered in hair, he slowly dissolved before her eyes, sinking into the moss covered ground beneath the tree.

The knight glanced upward, holding his hand outward. The prince pulled the reigns, gracefully turning the horse toward the knight. As the horse’s shoulders came close to where the knight stood, the prince reached down and gripped the knight’s hand.

The prince pulled sharply, pulling the knight onto the horse and behind the girl. As the chest of the knight pressed against the girl’s bare back, she exhaled a breath, feeling slightly protected from being naked.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. The knight, his face covered in a short growth of hair, smiled in return.

The girl turned around and reached for her jeweled necklace. As she gripped it in her hand, she exhaled. Slowly, she opened the jeweled case and peered inside. She blinked her eyes and stared in disbelief…

“Oh my God!” I screamed as I woke up.

“What?” Cade gasped.

I shook my head and blinked my eyes as I tried to make sense of the fact everything was a dream.

“Nightmare. I had a nightmare,” I said as I wiped the sweat form my face.

“I’m lost. Well, kind of. We’re here, but I missed the turn. I’m on highway one outside of Monterrey. I need to get a hotel,” Cade shrugged.

I wiped my eyes and glanced off to the left, out Cade’s window. The ocean spread from one side of the sky to the other.

Wow.

“I’ve never seen…” I said as I pointed toward the beach.

“Me neither,” Cade responded.

“Can you help me?” he asked.

“Just grab my phone and call information. The GPS doesn’t have hotels in it, or I can’t find them. Just call information or get on Google and find one on or right off of highway one,” he said as he carefully changed lanes.

After clearing my head and logging into Google, I began to search for hotels. Using the map feature on the phone, I found several that may have been close to where we were. Confused, I glanced up from the phone and studied the road.

“Pull off here, right here,” I said as I pointed to the exit.

“Del Monte. Get off on that,” I said as I pointed to the sign.

“Okay,” Cade said as he changed lanes again.

Slowly, we circled the exit. As we rolled down Del Monte Ave, I looked for hotel signs. After seeing nothing, I was fairly certain we were at the wrong side of town and my map reading skills were for absolute shit. Frustrated, I pointed toward a side street.

“Just turn on Pacific Street. Right here. And pull over,” I said as I tossed the phone in the seat.

Cautiously, Cade changed lanes and pulled off on the side street. Now sitting alongside the road, he shoved the gear selector in park.

“Here,” I said as I flipped the phone toward him, “I’m lost. I’m a girl, you do it.”

“Just take it easy. I’m as excited as you are. We’ve got all night, Rain,” he said as he grabbed the phone.

I fumbled in the seat as I tried to find the fruit. The empty package crumpled under my hand as I pressed my palm into it.

“You eat all the fruit, you pig?” I sighed as I glanced toward Cade.

He nodded his head, “you were asleep for three hours, I got hungry.”

Excited, frustrated, somewhat scared, and hungry, I exhaled a long breath and glanced up and out the windshield. A man in the distance carrying a surfboard walked along the sidewalk up ahead of us in the distance. The thought of surfing was so far from what I was used to, and if we stayed here, something I’d have to get used to. As I stared out the window, my eyes continued to be drawn to the surfer. He was far enough away I couldn’t see any details, but something about him…

I reached down and opened the door to the van.

“What are you doing?” Cade said over his shoulder.

I blinked my eyes and stared.

His hair seemed black, but I guessed it could have been wet from surfing. Something about his walk seemed familiar.

My almost inaudible response to Cade came in a shallow breath.