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The Princess Bride story isn't mine.

Blossom, Michael, Gabriel, Nettie, and Crazy Benjy are mine. :) :) :)

(Excuse any mistakes you see. Thanks.)

Chapter 7

In side the Twisted Gallows…

It was quiet. That was the scariest thing. The silence seemed to ring in my ears. Stepping through the tall grass and trees, I can hear every stride I take. No birds, no animals of any kind. Just the squish and squash our shoes make as we step lightly through the muck. The sun was hidden. Only a few gently rays made it through the thick layers of trees on to the forest floor. There seemed to be a mist or a fog of some kind. Everything seemed to be slightly fuzzy as if we were in a slow nightmare. I feel my eyes strain to see through the dim air as our feet continue.

Squish, Squash, Squish, and Squash.

Michael courageously led the way as Nettie and I followed. None of this seemed to bother him. Or if it did he certainly didn't show it. He walked with ease, not even bothering to look down at his feet. He seemed so sure of what he was doing and I was glad he was there.

Nettie and I held tightly to each other. Nettie was more confident than I was. Her eyes shifted through the forest; however, not out of fright, but out of wander and interest. I was stiff and I looked at my surroundings carefully with every pace forward.

"Bandits, weeping weeds, biting bunnies, and severe storms." I said in my head, "That's what we need to look out for, right? Bandits, weeping weeds, biting bunnies, and severe storms."

At the moment I saw no signs of any of that, but for some reason that didn't comfort me at all. It just made me more terrified.

"Are you sure this is right?" Nettie asks in a whisper, but even that sounded too loud.

"We're on the right path. Don't worry. It's just a straight walk through." Michael commented.

"It's just nothing like I imagined it would be."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone always said it was like hell on earth in here. But it seems fine to me."

"That's a good thing." I pointed out to her.

"I know. I was just hoping for a little more- you know- adventure. Something more dangerous."

I was surprised, "Why would you want that?"

"I don't know. That's just the way I imagined it would be."

I had no idea what her problem was. The silence and the dark was enough adventure for me, thank you. I didn't need anything more. In fact, a part of me was hoping that it would be like this for the rest of the way, but Michael quickly shot my hopes down.

"Don't think that this is as worse as it will get." He said, still walking, "It'll get much worse believe me. And it isn't the adventure you should be worried about, it's the danger."

We talked quietly to each other; our voices were never higher than a whisper. We walk with our awkward grace.

Squish, Squash, Squish, and Squash.

We continued for hours without stopping. Soon the soft sunrays disappear. It becomes darker and I can't see ahead.

"Michael?"

"I'm right here." His voice is too far ahead and I can't make his figure out amongst the shadows.

"Stop. We've lost you."

Nettie and I squish and squash forward. Michael takes my hand when we finally reach him.

"I'm sorry. I guess we should have set up camp hours ago. The disappeared fast didn't it?"

"A little too fast if you ask me." Nettie replies.

"Don't worry. We are almost there."

"Almost there? We can't be out of the gallows that, quick can we?"

"I'm not talking about the gallows. I'm talking about something else. Come on."

Michael leads the two of us to another direction off the path.

"Michael, where are you taking us?"

"I know of a place where we can make camp."

So we walk hand in hand. As the sun fades away and a full moon mounts in the sky.

Squish, Squash, Squish and Squash.

Our shoes are once again the only sounds I hear. There doesn't seem to be a cricket for miles. Suddenly the night doesn't seem as beautiful without their song.

"Here it is." Michael exclaims with a sense of accomplishment.

I wasn't exactly sure where "here" was. I couldn't see it. But Michael edges closer and as I try to focus my eyes in the darkness I see what he means. It was a little clearing under a tree. The grass had been plucked up and a little campfire was already set with rocks forming a circle. All it really needed was some wood and there seemed to be a pile of it near by.

"It's a camp site." Nettie said.

"Yep. Come on. Let's start a fire."

Michael starts the fire while Nettie and I carefully select things from our bag to eat. The fire builds up casting an orange glow around everything. Now I can see better. My eyes are relieved and I take this moment to relax. I rest near the blaze of the fire, absorbing it's warmth.

"How exactly did you know this place was here?" I ask Michael as I take a bit of my mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

"It's my campsite."

"You camp out in the Gallows?"

"Only a few times. I was cutting down lumber in the Twisted Gallows to build Crazy Benjy's lab."

"You couldn't use the trees on Benjy's property."

"No. Benjy was very picky about that. He said the trees kept his house hidden from the spies."

"So," Nettie chimes in, "You walked this far into the forest just for some lumber?"

"No. That's what I've been trying to tell you. We aren't that far into the Twisted Gallows. We still have a longs way to go. If anything we are still in the entrance of it all."

That wasn't very reassuring. We had walked a long way and we were still only at the beginning.

"How many days do you think it will take for us to get through?"

Michael pondered on my question for a while. He lay across from me in front of the fire. His head rested on a sack her has carrying. "I'm not sure, Princess. I would say about a week and a half or maybe two weeks at the most."

Two weeks? That wasn't too bad. I could last two weeks, right?

"Have you ever been farther than this in the Gallows?" Nettie asked.

"No."

Our talking stops for a second. I could only imagine what the two of them were thinking. They were both leaving their families to go on this ridiculous journey of mine. I on the other hand was leaving to get to my only family. My guilt comes back hard as a lump in my throat. They were doing this because of me. It was my fault.

Sleep comes to us all rather fast. Nettie and I huddle together under a blanket near the fire to stay warm. Michael is a perfect gentleman and he stays on the other side of the fire, which is slowly dying down.

"Are you sure you are okay over there?" I ask once again, hoping that he isn't cold.

"For the last time I'm perfectly fine, Princess."

"Are you sure? We have another blanket if you want."

"I'll be alright. Go to sleep Princess. We'll need all the rest we can get."

"Okay."

I take his advice eventually and I close my eyes.

I don't know how long I was asleep, but softly, slowly in the distance I hear a sound.

It was awkward in the silence of the night, but it was enough to wake me up. I couldn't actually make out what the noise was. It wasn't creepy it was…something else.

Curiosity got the best of me. I got up from my spot making sure not to wake Nettie. I edge out the campsite only a little so I could hear slightly better. I still couldn't make it out, but it was a light hum of something.

"What is that?" Nettie asks from behind me.

"What?" I ask. She had caught me by surprise.

"The sound. Don't you hear it?"

"I don't know what it is."

Nettie comes and joins me. We listen some more. A strong breeze passes by bringing the sound with it. For a second it was a little louder.

"You know…" Nettie begins but stops.

"What?"

"Nothing… It just sounds… It sounds like laughter."

That was exactly it. It was laughter; a very soft laugh like that of a shy young girl. It was giggles and mellow chuckles.

"Who do you think is making that sound?" I ask.

"Don't you mean what?"

I look at Nettie in the dark. Something cold shivers up my spine. "You think it's a thing?"

"It has to be. There aren't any people in the Twisted Gallows."

"What about the bandits?"

"What self-respecting bandit would laugh like that?"

True. It was much to sweet and innocent sounding. "You really think it's a thing?" I ask while hoping that she is kidding.

"It is." Michael says as he walks up to us.

"It is what?" Nettie ask.

"A thing. Or should I say things."

"What is it?"

"The weeping weeds."

I listen closely again. "That can't be it. I hear laughing not crying."

"That's what the weeping weeds do."

"That's bizarre." Nettie comments, "Why call them weeping weeds if they're laughing?"

"Because it's not their crying that we need to be worried about."

"I don't get it." I confess, "None of it makes since."

"I'll try to explain it in the morning." Michael said, "Come on now. We need to rest."

We got up as soon as the small rays of sunlight reached the ground. It was early, but it was impossible to tell how early it actually was. We walked from the campsite and entered the deep of the forest. As we walked the laughter became increasingly loud.

"Are we in the Twisted Gallows now?" I ask, "We aren't in the entrance anymore right?"

"Yes, we're in it now." Michael replied.

As we walked further into the Gallows light started to appear more and more brightly and the laughter became louder. Out of the blue, the tall trees seemed to stop. Up ahead, only a few yards away, was a large open field of tall stalks of that looked similar to corn. The field seemed to be endless. Without the trees the sun could be seen clearly. It was nothing like I expected. The sun was a little orange and everything was humid.

"This is so beautiful." I exclaim. "I can't believe it."

"This really isn't what I had in mind." Nettie says, "It's like a dream."

Indeed it was, a dream in the middle of the Twisted Gallows. Maybe that's why no one ever made it through. Maybe they found this place and never left.

Michael stops in his tracks, "Now we need to discuss this."

"Don't stop now." I whine, "I want to get out in the sun."

"No. You two have to listen to me. This isn't safe."

"What are you talking about? It looks perfectly safe."

"It isn't. The weeping weeds are very dangerous. We should be fine if we walk around the weeds."

"Walk around them?" I look out into the field again, "But the sun only appears to reach the field of stalks. If we walk around them we will be in the dark again."

"It's better this way. Trust me."

"Please Michael. Lets just walk through the field for a while. If something happens we'll continue walking around the field." I bargain.

Michael shakes his head. He wasn't liking our plan. "You don't understand-"

"We'll be careful, extremely careful." Nettie adds.

Michael was out numbered two to one. He realized it. He was just going to have to agree. "Fine. We'll walk through it. But there are some rules."

We listen attentively.

"Don't listen to the weeds. Tune them out. Sing. Talk. Yell. It doesn't matter. Just don't listen to them. It's important."

"Whatever you say."

Nettie takes my hand and we run in front of Michael into the open field. It truly was a dream. It was as if the Twisted Gallows was just a nightmare that was finally over. I swiftly felt a rush to play in the meadow. I wanted to be a kid again and play hide-and-go-seek. I wanted to sing songs from my childhood again. I felt like I was on my parents' farm, running in the sunflower pasture with Buttercup. Buttercup. I wander how she is.

Nettie and I slow down as we touch the crop.

"Have you ever seen a better looking place than this?" Nettie asks me.

"I can't say that I have."

"How could it look so pretty when there is no one here to tend to it?"

I think about it for a second, "I have no idea."

"Come on." Michael shouted from far up ahead. He has beaten us, "We can't stop. We got to keep moving."

We catch up with Michael and continue our journey through just as before. However, this time we weren't walking in silence. We were walking in a sea of laughter. It was like a laughing crowd of people except there were no people in sight.

As we walked I occasionally glanced at the stalks of corn. I got a closer look only to realize that they weren't corn after all.

"Michael?" I ask, "What type of crop is this?"

"Crop? Those are the weeds."

The weeds were so much taller than me, at least seven feet tall.

"These tall things are the weeds!"

"Yeah. They grow only in the Twisted Gallows."

"Gosh," Nettie says, "And I thought my garden back home was bad. Could you imagine having these things in your garden?"

The overgrown weeds continue to laugh uncontrollably as we march through. There was no clear path through the field. We were constantly dodging the weeds and trying our best to squeeze through. Their laughter seemed to liven everything up a bit. It was almost encouraging in a way. Plus the sound was much more pleasant to listen to than the squish squash of our shoes.

"You know what makes them laugh?" Michael asks after some time has pasted, knowing full well that we didn't know the answer. "It's the wind. It passes by on the top of the weeds. The weeds rustle together and from down here it sounds like laughter."

Amazing. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't hear the wind. I could only hear the laughing, which was growing more intense.

We persisted nonstop until the sun started to go down.

"It'll be night time soon. I say we make camp out of the field."

I moan.

"Come on Michael, lets just stay in the field." Nettie begs, "We've been traveling all day and nothing has happened. Why don't we just save ourselves some trouble and make camp here?"

"I don't think so."

"But it's so warm out here. The humidity is so hot. We won't have to build a fire. We can just lay here, eat, and fall asleep."

Michael was once again out number two to one. He wasn't happy. I could see the intensity growing on his face. But he was a gentleman and he was not about to argue with us. "Fine. I'll be right back."

Nettie and I smile at each other in victory.

When Michael left for a little privacy, Nettie and I collapsed on the ground under all the tall weeds.

"I love it here." Nettie told me.

"I know. I love it too. It was like a whole new little world that no one knows about except us."

The sound of the laughter increased. It wasn't just a little giggle any more. The laughter was more of a group of all different kinds of laughter. There were giggles, chuckles, snorts, snickers, and just plain, loud balls of laughter. I could hear a man, a old lady, a baby, a group of young children and all other sorts of people just laughing together in odd harmony.

Soon I found myself laughing too. I wasn't sure what I was laughing at. There really wasn't anything funny. I was just…laughing. Shortly after Nettie joined in too. The weeds happiness was becoming contagious. I laughed until my tummy was stinging in pain. I laughed until my throat ran dry and my faced ached with a throbbing sensation. Yet, even then I couldn't stop laughing and neither could Nettie.

"Michael doesn't know what he's missing." Nettie says between her airy giggles. "The weeping weeds are nothing to be afraid of."

She was right.

Back at the entrance of the Twisted Gallows…

Prince Humperdink was mounted on his black noble steed. He and his army had been galloping through the Gallows most of the day. Now the sun was starting to set. He tells himself that he would have caught his princess by now if it hadn't been for that Crazy Benjy.

The lunatic had once again attacked him and his army. Benjy turned half of them into useless pigs. However the Prince managed to sneak by unharmed. Now he and about thirty other soldiers were making their way through the forest.

"This would be a lot easier on me if there weren't all these bloody trees. We need to be moving faster." Prince Humperdink complained to his butler who he had mounted on a horse next to him.

"Well sir, the forest is known for having a lot of tall trees." The Butler replied nervously. When he applied for the position as butler to the Prince, riding into dangerous forests isn't what he had in mind nor was it his job description. The poor old man held on to his horse for his dear life as he tried to cope with this uncomfortable situation.

"What do you suggest I do?" Prince Humperdink asked the man.

"Wait a minute your highness." Captain Yellin demanded. The man was still a newt since Benjy refused to reverse the spell. The other guard was still carrying him around. "I'm your right hand man." He insisted, " He's just a butler!"

"Correction. You were my right hand man. You don't actually think I could let you continue to give me advice now that you are in that state. I won't have my people thinking that I am crazy because I talk to a lizard. Have you gone mad man?"

This hurt Captain Yellin because after all it was Humperdink's fault he was like this. "Then at least take advice from someone who is more capable for the job! All this man knows is how to dress you or serve you wine! He has no experience of how to lead an army!"

"Don't yell at your Prince!" Humperdink demanded. "Anyone could do your job! Believe me." So Prince Humperdink, with his fiery eyes, turned back to his butler, "What do you believe we should do?"

The butler had no idea. Yellin was right; he had never experienced anything like this before. However, he did know that being on this stupid horse all the time was giving him motion sickness. He would put a stop to that if he could. "If it pleases my lord," the butler began, "I say we forget the horses. They'll never make it through the thick of the trees. It would better if we walked."

"Forget the horses!" Yellin shouted from the guard's hand, "That's the most stupidest thing I've ever heard! It's-"

"Brilliant!" Prince Humperdink exclaims, interrupting Yellin. "Wonderful. Everyone! Off the horses!"

"But your highness," Yellin pleaded, "Going by foot will only slow us down. The men will grow tired."

"What are you complaining about? You'll be carried the whole way. Now shut you mouth."

"But-"

"My decision is made, Yellin. Besides I much prefer the hunt on foot. With a horse it would just be too easy."

"Your highness this isn't a game."

"I have had enough of your lip." The Prince said, "If you don't keep quiet it will be the end of you. I'm quite sure that everyone here is just as found of barbeque newt as I am."

The soldiers give a little cheer. Yellin shivers in the palm of guard's hand.

Everyone obeys his fearless and brainless leader, Prince Humperdink, into the forest on foot. They walk in silence as Prince Humperdink talks with the royal scribe he has brought along. The scribe was to record the adventure of Humperdink and his army as they rescue the princess.

"Make sure you describe the one on one combat I had with the Wicked Benjy." Prince Humperdink tells the scribe.

"One on one combat sir?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't fight him your highness. You ran."

"Did I ask for your comment? I told you to write about my battle with Benjy."

The scribe takes notice of his tone and doesn't say anymore. "And what about the other men that were turned into pigs. What am I to say about them?"

Prince Humperdink ponders a bit. "They tragically died a heroic death to save their future Queen, Buttercup."

"Blossom."

"Right. That's what I said. Make sure you get that in there."

"But won't their families want to know the truth?"

"The truth is what ever I decide. Understand?"

The scribe nods and that was that.

Somewhere amongst the Weeping Weeds…

The night was ever so peaceful. The stars seemed bigger and more beautiful from my spot on the field floor. There were still no crickets or any other insect singing their songs but the weeds made up for it. Even in the night they continued to laugh like a big family gather around the fireplace on Christmas Eve. Jokes would be exchanged and each child was allowed to open one Christmas present that night before opening the rest the next day. The laughing seemed to have that magically feeling.

I listen more closely and I can almost hear my mother laugh. I listen even harder and I can hear Buttercup and father too. It was weird. I was actually starting to recognize the voices.

"Do you hear that?" I whisper to Nettie.

"Yeah," she says immediately picking up on what I meant, "It's like being home."

It was, except the home that I was hearing didn't exist anymore.

I close my eyes as my family's laughter puts me to sleep like a lullaby.

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