Prologue

Chester Archer looked himself in the bathroom mirror, his long blonde hair cascaded down over his shoulders, wet & heavy after his hot shower. The rest of him was relatively dry thou and the towel had been wrapped around his hips. He looked good for his age. Chester opened up the bathroom cabinet and poured a pair of anti-depressants onto his palm which he swallowed before taking a cup of water and gulped it down as well.

Chester's life had always been a struggle and so it would always be. Despite all his progress he still needed pills, he still needed counselling and he still went thru periods of depressions. Still, it was days like this that made Chester appreciate all he had.

Today had been his and his wife's twenty-fifth anniversary. It had started with breakfast in bed and later, when they had come back from work Zoey had surprised them with a gift. Earlier, they'd told their youngest daughter she didn't need to buy them anything but true to her kind and caring nature she'd bought them a ceramic cat sculpture which Abby said looked exactly like Hairball, the kitten of her youth. Chester didn't see it but kept quit. After dropping Zoey off at one of her friends (where she was currently sleeping), the couple had dinner at a nice restaurant.

After brushing his teeth, he walked to the bedroom where the love of his life was currently sitting with a portable computer in her lap and dressed in her lavender coloured nightgown.

"Are you happy with your anniversary, dear?" He asked as he stepped inside.

Abby seemed genuinely startled by his arrival. Whatever was on that laptop was apparently so enthralling that she didn't notice him coming in. She smiled at him. "Yes, it was great."

Her blonde husband leaned over their bed. "I'm glad to hear that." He kissed her cheek. "I love you, beautiful."

Abby responded by kissing his lips. "Love you too, darling."

Chester gleaned at the laptop screen. "What are you reading?"

His wife tilted the screen to give him a better look. "It's an anniversary gift from Lily. A fantasy story she's written."

Lily was their oldest daughter, currently enrolled at Grey Matter University. She had inherited her mother's beauty but also her father's melancholy as well as her uncle's nerdyness (not to mention the intellect of all three). In high school she had picked up the hobby of writing short stories and playing D&D which was a bit surprising. A lot of people thought of her as a dispassionate computer in human form. Not that her parents ever thought so but it still wasn't the way they expected their methodical daughter to express herself.

"Really? What is it about?" Chester asked curious.

"It's about the time we met." The worried look on his face made Abby smile mischievously. "Don't worry. Lily knows that's classified information. The Grossologists have been replaced with elves and wizards and the rot with magical spells. I think this one has a happier ending thou."

With a warm smile, Chester climbed into bed and cuddled up to his wife. Abby settled the laptop in front of them so they could read their daughter's story together.

Author's Note:

This was originally supposed to be a one-shot for Unconditional simple titled Fantasy but as I kept working on the story, it became too long to be a one shot. Just a heads up, I have never played D&D and I am not really the biggest Fantasy fan so if I get something wrong feel free to correct me.

I guess this is also a good opportunity to mention my other projects. If you haven't notice, there's currently a poll on my Profile regarding More Legs, More Trouble. Reason being that I have absolutely no idea whether to finish it or rewrite it all together. I always strive to make the best stories that I can and with that one I feel like maybe I could have done better. If you've read it, feel free to cast your vote.

I also do have a few other Abbster short stories in the pipeline for both Unconditional and For Every Holiday, I just need to plan out their scripts.

Please leave a review for this chapter. It does not need to be long and it does not need to be positive as long as it's honest. Any feedback is very much appreciated. Thanx.