Midnight Picnic by patricia51
(Penny really isn't sure why Amy wants to picnic in the woods in the middle of the night but the other girl wore her down so she agreed to go along. But she had no idea what was on the menu. Horror.)
(Just a wacky idea I had for Halloween. By the way continuity of characters went right out the window on this so I could have off-stage appearances of other characters. Oh and the line that Penny thinks of is from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" Act 1 Scene 2.)
"Right this way. Watch out for that branch."
Penny managed to duck under the tree limb stretching across the path. Not for even the tenth time she wondered why in the world she was following Amy Farrah-Fowler down a path into the woods in the middle of a very cloudy night. Although it wasn't supposed to rain what else were those clouds doing up there anyway if it wasn't to rain?
The whole thing was just weird. A picnic, in the middle of the night almost, near midnight anyway. And not in one of the parks but out in the woods. Way out in the woods, they had just finished an hour-long drive to get here and were now hiking up a dirt trail that didn't look like it was used much.
She really shouldn't have agreed to such a wacky idea. But she had probably had too much to drink the other evening when Amy had proposed the idea and the other woman had been so enthusiastic about it that Penny had weakened from her original intent to say "Not only no but Hell No". After that Amy had wheedled and cajoled and outright begged until she had given in. She had no clue why this was so important to the neurobiologist but it seemed it was and she had surrendered.
So she found herself trudging along behind her friend. She admitted that Amy was doing most of the heavy lifting, toting an enormous picnic basket as well as having a large pack on her back. She was also lighting the way, although Penny had her own flashlight as well.
Finally, the other woman announced, "Here we are!". She put everything down, opened the basket and spread a blanket for them to sit on. Amy then produced several covered dishes and opened them. Penny admitted everything smelled great and dug in.
Strangely, the biologist seemed to have no appetite at all, ignoring the food on the plates. The light from the battery powered lantern on one corner of the blanket outlined Amy's face. When she thought Penny wasn't looking her expression reminded the waitress/actress of a line from a play she had studied once before trying out for a part. "Someone," she couldn't remember whom, "had a lean and hungry look."
"Aren't you going to eat, Amy? It's delicious."
Amy smiled. "Not nearly as delicious as you are bestie. I could just eat you up." She winked.
Oh no. Amy had brought her up here to hit on her again. Penny swallowed an annoyed sigh. Yes, it was flattering that Amy was so attracted to her, always complimenting her but really, she just couldn't seem to take the hint that she wasn't attracted to Amy that way. Well, the other girl was staying on her side of the blanket so Penny would just have to avoid allowing her to get too close.
Penny finished eating and started packing the basket back up. Keeping her voice as non-committal as possible she asked if there was anything else and mentioned that it was getting late.
"We just have to wait a little longer," Amy advised her.
"For what?"
"For what's going to happen next."
"Okay, golly, be mysterious," Penny mumbled.
A lock of her hair floated against her nose. The breeze was picking up. It strengthened and the clouds drifted away. A couple of stars appeared and then the moon, bright and silvery and obviously full. Penny leaned back on her hands and studied it.
"Wow, it is really big tonight. Isn't it Amy?"
There was no reply from the other woman. Then there was a sound that froze Penny.
"Amy!" Unconsciously her voice dropped to a whisper. "Did you hear that? It was a growl." She pushed herself to her feet. Looking back and forth, she strained her ears. No more growls but she could hear a heavy, rasping breathing nearby although she could not pin down the sound's location. Instinctively she back towards Amy's side of the blanket. She clenched her hands, looking for the flashlight that she had dropped somewhere.
What was that? Was it the breeze on the back of her neck? No, it wasn't cool, it was warm. In fact, it was nearly hot air as though that breathing was right behind her. She spun around.
What was that? It was dark and tall and she couldn't see. She reached out with one hand only to touch what her mind realized was thick, dense hair. The moonlight flashed off teeth, long curved teeth that were more like fangs than she had ever imagined. She took a deep breath and commanded her suddenly shaking body to move. Then the creature in front of her lunged. The lantern was knocked over and only the darkness heard what happened next.
Amy woke as the sunrise peeked through the trees. She stretched and groaned. Getting to her feet she made her way to the blanket where her backpack was sitting. Opening it she pulled out a set of clothes including shoes and put them on.
"Goodness Penny, I can barely get these slacks to fasten and I deliberately brought along a pair two sizes too large. Oh well, a good meal is worth a little discomfort."
Moving around the campsite Amy began to hum her favorite song; one that she often played on her harp. As she packed up she finally broke into song.
"Now the world don't move to the beat of just one drum."
She produced a plastic bag and stuffed it with the torn remnants of both women's clothing. Along with everything else it disappeared into the oversized picnic basket she had lugged out here.
"What might be for you, might not be right for some."
Satisfied with her clean up she shook her head as she examined the expression on Penny's face.
"I don't really know why you look so surprised bestie. I told you that you were delicious and that I was just going to have to eat you up." Amy looked thoughtful and sighed. "But then I suppose I could have told you that I'm a werewolf. I doubt you would have come out here with me then especially if you remembered last night was the full moon."
She carefully picked up the severed blonde head, the eyes still wide open in shock and the mouth frozen in a scream that had never been released. Amy admired her handiwork.
"That first bite just took your head right off Penny with just enough of your neck left to allow me to mount you on my secret trophy board. I promise bestie that you will have the place of honor. I have a line of three; Leslie Winkle's and Alex Jensen's heads with that pesky Ramona Nowitzki's in the middle but you will be above them all. You'll look great there." She wrapped Penny's head in the blanket and placed it in the basket. She burped and covered her mouth in surprise.
"Oh Penny, never think that you were anything but delicious. It's just I got so carried away I just had to eat every bit of you and now I'm paying the price. Don't worry, a little indigestion is a small price to pay for how much I enjoyed you."
Picking up the basket she checked the area one more time and nodded. A thought struck her.
"I wonder. In a few months after all the excitement dies down again, I wonder if Emily Sweeney would like to go on a midnight picnic in a graveyard?" She giggled. "Wouldn't that be appropriate?"
Slinging her backpack she picked everything else up and left the clearing. Her voice could be heard for a while as she moved away.
"It takes diff'rent strokes, it takes diff'rent strokes to move the world."
(The End)