Chapter 14: True love's kiss
Stepping up to the wooden podium Mayor Meanswell cleared his throat. Immediately the babble from the small crowd died down to a few hushed whispers.
'Thank you residents of Lazytown for responding to my urgent summons in this dark hour" he proclaimed, 'It's with sadness that I can confirm that the rumours are true, Sportacus has indeed fallen into a deep sleep and cannot be woken except by…' the Mayor paused to double check his notes '…except by true love's kiss'.
Someone let out a loud wolf whistle.
'Quiet please,' continued the Mayor.
'I shall therefore ask you, as citizens, to perform your duty and help rectify this situation. Anyone over the age of 18 shall therefore be required to assemble at the town hall immediately,' he declared.
A soft murmur ran through the crowd. The majority of the group started to make their way across Lazytown.
'Can I come too?' Ziggy pleaded, perturbed at the prospect of being left behind.
'No Ziggy, you know you're too young' Stephanie answered, shaking her head.
Meanwhile, down below Robbie's lair was shaking with the thud of numerous footsteps. What on earth? he wondered. People were supposed to be being lazy now that Sportacus was out of the way. What was going on? Peering into his periscope he looked momentarily baffled by the sight of so many people shuffling about. Then, almost immediately, his puzzled expression lifted. Ah ha, he thought, obviously they must all be going to pay their last respects to Sportacus before bricking him up away in a tall tower. Robbie thought it would be amusing to witness the grim send-off and wasted no time in getting above ground to join the procession heading for the town hall.
The small group crowded into the town hall and spread out around a large wooden table upon which Sportacus was laid out still sound asleep.
'Right let's get to it then shall we? There's only one way to go about this, we'll all just have to take it in turns and hope for the best. Goodness me, I wouldn't have thought that I could be Sportacus's true love but I'll give it a go,' the Mayor said eagerly.
Pixel's chewing gum involuntarily fell out of his mouth onto the floor as he froze in shock at the Mayors words. They all watched in disbelief as the Mayor blundered up to the sleeping Sportacus and gave him a big smacker on the lips. The Mayor stepped back a few paces looking hopeful as Stingy edged towards the doorway an expression of horror etched onto his face. After a few minutes however the Mayor was forced to admit that it hadn't worked 'Oh dear, that's no good,' he exclaimed dismayed. Stephanie distinctly heard Miss Busybody mutter something about having a long talk later.
'Right then,' The Mayor continued, not dwelling on his lack of success.
'Who's next, let's see…hmm… Robbie Rotten,' the Mayor chose.
'WHATTT?' Robbie screeched, coming to the realisation that he'd been terribly mistaken about this being some sort of farewell gathering.
'This is no time to be shy Robbie, Sportacus needs us,' the Mayor insisted.
'YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!?!', Robbie's jaw hit the floor in horror.
'We need to rule everyone out and that includes you too'
'NEVER!' Robbie retorted.
'Well then as Mayor of this town I order you to kiss Sportacus,' the Mayor commanded finally getting aggravated at Robbie's refusal to comply.
'NOOOOOOO!!!!' Robbie yelled clutching at his heart certain he was going to have a heart attack. This was worse than anything he could ever have imaged in a million years. He was backed into a corner with nowhere to run and there was only one thing he could think of to save his skin.
'I'm not Sportacus's true love, she is!' he fumed, pointing a long finger at Stephanie.
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. 'And here's the proof!' he said unfurling the note. 'Hey where did you get that?' Stephanie demanded, recognising her own handwriting and instantly smelling a rat. Robbie ignored her and instead shoved the letter under the Mayor's nose for him to read. 'Look it says here – love Stephanie… make her kiss him!' he barked.
The Mayor took a few seconds to read the note. 'Oh my, Stephanie is it true? Do you love Sportacus?' he asked.
Stephanie blushed a bright pink that matched her hair as all eyes turned on her.
She hadn't really thought about it before but reflecting on the indescribable grief and despair she'd suffered at having thought she'd lost Sportacus for good, she realised that she did.
'Yes,' Stephanie admitted meekly in a barely audible squeak.
'Oh well that's good,' the Mayor said surprisingly unfazed at the revelation.
'Quick now, go and give Sportacus a kiss,' he urged.
Obliging, Stephanie stepped up to the sleeping Sportacus and looked down at his serene expression. She had always dreamt of kissing him but in her dreams it had happened in a special place where they were alone together, certainly not with a whole room full of onlookers. She hesitated. The suspense in the room was palpable.
'You can do it Stephanie!' the Mayor inappropriately cheered her on.
Closing her eyes she bent down and brought her lips to his.