Madeline and the Curse of Karim

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was a loud, high-pitched buzzing sound. The second thing was that I was no longer on the ground.

I was being carried by some kind of man. He had light brown skin, and his clothes were of a style I had never seen before - something between a toga and a kilt. His hair was long and curly, but it was mostly covered up by his headdress; he wore two large torques around his neck, and they clinked together as he ran.

The third thing I noticed was that we seemed to be running away from what appeared to be a giant fire-breathing bull. My new friend seemed oblivious to this fact, however, as he hummed happily under his breath and bounced me up and down gently like a baby in his arms.

"You're awake!" he said joyfully as he turned to look at me. "Are you feeling better?"

He had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen; although that could have been because everything else looked so odd to me at the time. My head felt like it weighed more than ten horses, and my entire body felt sore from the inside out.

"Who are you?" I asked him. My voice came out sounding as if I had swallowed a cup of sandpaper and gargled with gravel for hours upon hours before attempting speech. It also sounded vaguely French, but in a way that reminded me more of people who spoke modern French than anything else I recognized; yet another sign that I did not belong in this place.

"Oh! I'm Karim," said my rescuer pleasantly as he continued running forward at full tilt while holding me over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "I saw you lying there when I walked past on my way to the river, and I thought maybe you needed help."

That explained why someone from this strange place would be carrying me around like this... But if he took it upon himself to 'help' someone who looked like me instead of just letting them die, then perhaps there might be hope for humanity after all! If nothing else, perhaps this Karim fellow and his kindness could serve as an example or template from which future generations could learn how not to be assholes... Or at least, not be such blatant assholes about it.

But where was the bull? Hadn't it been chasing us? And why had Karim stopped running? Was he tired? How fast could this bull run anyway? And how far away was the river? Hadn't this Karim guy said something about going there? And why were there no other people around? Where were they all hiding?? Why hadn't they helped us fight off this bull??

* * * * *

"Why are we stopping?" I asked Karim once we'd finally stopped moving entirely and stood facing each other with our feet planted firmly in the ground. Up until now, our feet had been busy doing all the work of running several leagues through unfamiliar territory across rough terrain in record time with us hanging on for dear life over Karim's shoulders, so it was only natural that we would stop now to catch our breath (and so that I could catch mine). But even though we were no longer moving, we were still alone - no other people around at all, just open fields dotted with trees here and there... And where had that bull gone anyway? The last time I'd seen it it was right behind us! How far away could it have gotten in this short amount of time without making any noise?? Especially when it hadn't been able to see us at all! What kind of bull's eyesight is that bad anyway??

Once again, Karim did not seem troubled by these circumstances in the slightest; instead he smiled cheerfully at me as if everything were perfectly normal. He brushed some dirt off of my face with his hand - which was very nice of him since he didn't seem bothered by touching me at all - then pointed straight ahead and said: "There's a small town nearby with good food; let's go get some!" He started walking toward wherever it was he had pointed out and left me standing there puzzling over things while he waited impatiently for me to follow him without giving any explanation whatsoever about why we were going there or how he knew about it or anything at all really except for the fact that it existed somewhere nearby in an unknown location far enough away that we couldn't see anything in the direction where Karim wanted us to go but close enough that we could hear screaming in the distance along with something metal clanging against metal (or against rock?) repeatedly... And what did those screams sound like??? Like humans??? Like animals??? Were they even human voices!? Or something else entirely!? Why couldn't I understand them?! And what did these creatures eat exactly!? They had teeth; did they eat meat or plants or both or neither or...? No wait... It wasn't their teeth making that noise... That sounded more like rocks hitting each other... Rocks...? Rocks aren't alive...? So then who is making those noises...? What are those noises exactly??? Why can't I understand them!!!??!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!!!?????!!!!!??????????????!!!!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..