:The Dirt Road:

Sheldon watched Leonard, Howard and Raj silently. The three men looked everywhere but at their tall, lean friend. Finally Leonard sighed. "OKAY! Fine! You were right and we were wrong! Happy?"

Sheldon crossed his arms across his chest. "We are still stuck, in a dead car, 24.7 miles from Pasadena. 8.3 miles from the nearest town. 3.9 miles from the supposed 'greatest comic book store in the entire world' which turned out to be a two table yard sale in front of a broken down shed. What part of that makes me happy?"

"Oh! Look!" Raj pointed to a sign just down the road. The sign pointed to a dirt road that branched off. They gathered around the weathered sign and tried to read it.

"Happy Hill and Toll Bridge" Howard read. "Okay. That's good. A toll bridge must have someone there to man the toll booth. And it's going in the direction of town. We should follow this road."

Sheldon looked at him incredulously. "A dirt road? With a toll booth? Ridiculous!"

Leonard had looked skeptical until Sheldon spoke. Then his contrary nature took over. He was tired of Sheldon's attitude. "I say we go. Who's with me?"

Leonard put up his hand. Howard threw his up too. Raj hesitated. He agreed with Sheldon, but Howard was his best friend. After a couple of seconds he sighed and raised his hand, too. Sheldon glared at them all.

"This is going to end in disaster!" He warned as they started down the road. After a few seconds he hurried to follow them.

Xxx

They had been walking about 30 minutes when they heard lilting voices singing a ballad. They stepped off the path and looked through the high grass. A small pond lay before them. There were three nude women splashing about. One was a brunette, one was a blonde and one was a redhead.

Sheldon immediately stepped back onto the road, his cheeks a bright pink. Leonard, Howard and Raj stared open mouthed at the view. The women glanced up and saw them. The guys started to dunk down, but the women giggled.

"Hello," said the brunette. "Would you like to join us?"

The blonde smiled and moved a bit closer. "The water is nice and warm."

The redhead waved them down. "We'd love to have you."

Sheldon tapped Leonard on the shoulder frantically. "Leonard, let's go. We need to get back to town."

Leonard pushed his hand away. "We have plenty of time, Sheldon. I wouldn't mind a little rest."

Howard and Raj were already pushing their way through the brambles toward the pond. Sheldon huffed angrily. "I'm not staying," he warned. "I'll leave you three here!"

Leonard nodded. "Okay. See you later, Sheldon." Then he hurried to catch up with the others.

Sheldon narrowed his eyes and looked around. It was only early afternoon, but he had no interest in staying here. He was annoyed with his friends for choosing three obvious floozies over him. He straightened his shoulders and started to march down the road. He hadn't gone more than a dozen yards when he heard screeching. He turned and started to head back but a voice stopped him.

"If you're smart you'll turn back around and head for town."

He looked around but didn't see anyone. "Who's there?"

"Up here, doll."

Sheldon looked up and blushed. She was sitting on a large branch over his head. Her golden skin was barely covered by the little cotton dress she was wearing.

"Hold out your arms," she said. Sheldon frowned and put his arms out straight. She scooted forward and hopped down to the ground. Sheldon's heart missed a beat as she plummeted to him.

Or rather, flew down to him. He gawked at the wings on her back. She slipped into his arms, hers settling around his neck. His eyes went wide as she grinned at him. "Wha …what are you?" he asked with a stammer.

She laughed. "Didn't you read the road sign before coming this way?"

He nodded. "Happy Hill and Toll Bridge."

She shook her head and laughed some more. "HARPY Hill and TROLL Bridge." She leaned in close and licked his bottom lip. "There are three female trolls out by the pond."

Sheldon frowned. "They are trolls?"

She smiled. "Not all trolls are hideous. Some actually care about skin conditioning. By now, they've eaten your friends. Then there's me, the harpy."

Sheldon felt a bit faint. "You're a harpy?" She nodded and tilted her head to sniff his neck. Sheldon gulped. "As in flesh eating, mythological, half woman, half bird creature?"

She ran the fingers of her right hand down his chest to his waistband. "Lucky for you," she whispered in his ear, "I'm vegan."

Sheldon almost sagged with relief. "That's a good thing right?"

She smirked and gripped his belt with both hands. Her wings flapped and she pulled him into the air. "I'm vegan," she laughed. "But my chicks aren't!

You'll notice I didn't name any of the females here. I'll let you decide who is who among them all. You have plenty to chose from. Stephanie, Leslie, Alicia, Missy, Ramona, the hooker from Vegas, Professor Plimpton, Penny, etc.