Two Misfits on The Mediterranean

Titus was irritated. He jogged down the path, trying to keep up with the woman in front of him. They had set out an hour ago, and already Lyra was far ahead of him. He quickened his pace, determined not to lose sight of her.

She wore long robes that flowed behind her as she ran quickly through the thick forest. Her long black hair contrasted against the green grass and trees behind her.

"Lyra, wait!" he shouted up at her, but she didn't turn around or slow down. She merely continued on her way through the forest. "Come on, we have a schedule to keep! We're already late!"

"So?" Lyra called back to him. "We'll catch up tomorrow."

Titus grumbled as he tried to keep up with her. "And how are we going to get there?" he asked, catching his breath for a moment and leaning against a nearby tree.

"We'll take the boat," Lyra replied from ahead of him, "and sail across the sea."

"Sail across the sea? But I thought we were going to Egypt today," Titus said, standing up straight again and continuing after her. "You know I'm allergic to fish."

"I know," Lyra replied from ahead of him again, "that's why you shouldn't eat any while we're on the boat."

Titus sighed in frustration as he tried to walk faster. He couldn't believe that they had left so early in the morning and still hadn't even made it back to their boat yet- much less off shore! And now she wanted them to spend days sailing across the ocean- probably nearly dying of starvation before they made it back! He picked up his pace again, determined not to be bested by this woman who seemed quite content to drag out their journey instead of shortening it like any sane person would do!

"Hurry up!" Lyra shouted over her shoulder at him as she pushed through some tall bushes and disappeared from view into a clearing ahead of him. Titus saw his chance and took off after her- pushing himself harder than ever before. He reached the edge of the clearing just in time for another bush to block his view again- but not before he saw where Lyra had gone: right into a little booth with a big sign out front that read 'Welcome To The Time Machine'! She was buying tickets! He pushed past the bushes and stumbled into the ticket booth just in time for Lyra to hand over her money and walk away from it with two tickets in her hand; one for herself and one for him. She turned around just in time for Titus to bump into her with all his momentum- sending them both flying backwards onto the ground outside the ticket booth! They groaned in pain as they lay there on their backs for a moment; taking deep breaths and waiting for them both regain control over their bodies again. Finally Titus sat up slowly, pressing his hands flat against either side of his head as if he were trying to push every thought inside out through his ears. His head rang from the impact; though he felt nothing else wrong except for his pride which had been hurt rather badly by that fall! He looked over at Lyra who was sitting up now too; dusting herself off and brushing aside her long hair so that she could see better what she was doing. Then she looked at him, smiled sweetly at him with those big blue eyes of hers, then pulled a ticket out of her pocket and handed it over to him along with hers. Titus swallowed hard as he took them both from her hand then stood up slowly before helping her stand too; looking almost ashamed of himself when he said: "Sorry about that."