**Click on Back to return to the previous page. title:Love is Beautiful author:Adrianne author's email: Adrianne@thedoghousemail.com Adrianne's June Challenge Response. I, umm, *extended* the 500 word limit to around 650. I'm sorry. You may be equally sorry when you read this. Love is Beautiful He used the stream's cool water to wash away the traces of rabbit from his face and hands. He never felt guilty about eating the left-overs for breakfast, even when he had to hide the evidence. Running a hand through his hair he strolled back to the camp. Hercules was spooning a weird batter into an even weirder contraption for cooking. "Glad you're back, Iolaus. Waffles coming up." "Waffles? What the heck are *waffles*?" Hercules shrugged and handed Iolaus a metal plate. Iolaus started counting, backwards, from 10... 9... 8... 7... Hercules dropped a waffle on Iolaus' plate... 6... 5... 4... served himself... 3... 2... both sat down... 1... "Hercules! I need your help!" The young man choked out his plea. It was the usual story - a demon, a disaster, a maiden in distress. Hercules and Iolaus headed out, sparing only a moment to douse the fire - and the uneaten waffles. "OK, Selonius, let's see if I got this. Your betrothed, Pradea, woke up yesterday turned into a scaly old hag?" "Yeah, it's horrible! She's, the most beautiful girl in the world. We're getting married." Iolaus nodded for the panicked lad to continue talking as they walked. "I love her, but I don't want her look like that! I mean it's just not fair. And it has to be the work of a God, right?" Selonius nervously plucked at the ties on his shirt. "So I figured Hercules could help us. He can help us, can't he? Please." "We'll do everything we can." Iolaus promised. "Has Pradea annoyed a god?" Selonius lowered his voice conspiratorially. "No way. She thinks I'm a silly fool for praying to Aphrodite. But I do it anyway." His voice reached a whisper and he continued. "I pray to Aphrodite constantly." Reaching the bustling village, Hercules addressed the problem. If he saw a veiled face peering out of a barn door, he gave no notice. "Aphrodite!" Hercules called with a mixture of fondness and annoyance. "APHRODITEEEEEEE!" He bellowed again, annoyance winning out this time. "Yo, Bro, chill. Heard you the first time, ok?" "What did you do to Pradea?" "Umph! Herc! Like why do you think I *did* anything?" Aphrodite looked at her manicured nails. Hercules raised one eyebrow. Iolaus giggled. "Ok, so I like rearranged her karma. But it's all his fault." She pointed at Selonius. "He just wouldn't stop petitioning me. First it was to get the girl. Mortals are sooo tedious. You know I can't just *stop* listening. So, anyway, I just nudged what was already destined and BAM! Selonius and Pradea were together." She glared at the young man. "But was that good enough for him? NO! He kept right on pestering me, night and day, night and day. He wanted to make sure nobody else could ever take her away. So, duh, what could I do? Hmmm? I gave him what he wanted. And my thanks for that?" She sighed. "So, I'm guessing you want me to undo...?" Hercules nodded. Dite blinked and disappeared. Pradea gave a joyous whoop and came running out of the barn. She *was* a beautiful young women. Again. Exclaiming "thank you" she kissed the demi-god. Selonius' face turned several shades of purple and settled for green. He smacked Iolaus shrieking "Make them stop!" Hercules gently disentangled himself and carefully pushed Pradea towards her true love. They fell into each others arms, forgetting about their audience. Iolaus clapped Hercules on the back. "That was easy. I wish all our adventures we're this easy." "No you don't." They shared a knowing smile. "But you know, Herc, we have got to work on reward-equity. You got kissed by a pretty girl and all I got was a damn Sel in distress." The End *If you enjoyed this story, remember to send feedback, it's the only payment our author's get. you can find the author's email address at the beginning of this story. *Some images, characters and other things used in these works are the property of others, including but not limited to Renaissance Pictures and Universal Studios. Everything else remains the property of the artist or author. No money will be made on anything appearing on this webpage and no copyright infringement is intended. This site was created by fans for the enjoyment of other fans. *For information on reprinting text and/or artwork (including privately owned photos, photo manipulations, and other images) from this website, please contact the author or Ceryndip (ceryndip@juno.com), who will assist you in contacting the original creator of the piece. Do NOT reprint, republish, or in any way link to items on these pages without obtaining permission from either the original creator of the piece or the webpage owner. A written one-time use statement may be issued to you at the discretion of the artist or the author. Please respect the legal and artistic rights of our contributors.