T
The Gorgon’s garden was not overgrown. It was immaculately kept. The hedges were trimmed, the paths were raked, and the statues were dusted daily.
Medusa wore sunglasses. Big, designer frames that hid her petrifying gaze. She hummed as she watered the roses.
"Good morning, Sir Lancelot," she said to a statue of a knight frozen in mid-swing. "Looking heroic today."
A young man jumped over the garden wall. He held a mirrored shield and a sword.
"Die, monster!" he shouted.
Medusa sighed. "Tuesday. It's always a Tuesday."
She turned around. "Put the sword down, kid. You'll hurt yourself."
"I am Perseus the Second!" the boy declared. "I have come to claim your head!"
"My head is attached to my neck, thank you," Medusa said. "And my hair has just been conditioned." The snakes hissed in agreement.
The boy charged. He tripped on a garden hose. He fell, his shield clattering away. He looked up, right at Medusa.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't look!"
But the boy had lost his glasses in the fall. "I can't see anything anyway," he mumbled, squinting. "I'm legally blind without my specs."
Medusa opened one eye behind her shades. " really?"
"Yeah. Everything is a blur."
Medusa relaxed. "Well, that's a first."
She helped him find his glasses (keeping her eyes averted). She made him tea. They sat on a bench next to a statue of a terrified goblin.
"So," the boy said. "You're not eating people?"
"I'm a vegan," Medusa said. "Do you know how much cholesterol is in a hero?"
The boy laughed. He came back the next Tuesday. Not to kill her, but to help with the gardening. He was the only man who could look at her (without his glasses) and see a friend.