The horse whinnied with fear and raised up on its back legs, nearly throwing off its rider. The rider, who happened to be a powerfully built griffon who wasn't afraid of anything, held tightly to the reins. His hawk-like eyes blazed with courage. In front of him, a pack of Timberwolves were slowly advancing. An attempt to get through them would probably end in being torn apart and a gruesome death. Behind him was an enormous dropoff as the cliff suddenly ended, and plunging down that would probably end in being torn apart and a gruesome death.
Couldn't go forward, couldn't go backwards. Quite a situation. In other words, no big deal. As the wolves slowly swarmed in closer and the horse continued to buck in fright, the griffon on its back narrowed his eyes in challenge... and froze there.
Quite a predicament our Hero has found himself in this time! How will the Galloping Griffon get out of this one? Tune in next week and find out!
Gilda, barely more than a chick herself at this point and having only just gained her full colors and lost the fluff that hatchlings possessed, squealed with excitement and reached forward to turn off the radio with her small talon, pausing only when commanded to.
Hey, birdbrains! Don't touch that dial! Do you want your chance to meet The Galloping Griffon himself, live and in the feather? Don't forget, he'll be making an appearance in Griffonstone this weekend at The Cuckoo Corral, Griffonstone's most hoppin', happenin' shopping center!
Gilda made a squealing noise that she doubted any griffon had ever made before in the history of anything, turned off the radio, and ran screaming for her mother to ask for permission to go. She was a generous sort of kid, always did her homework on time, showed up for flight training when she was supposed to, even ran down a bag of groceries once a week to the cranky old vulture who had a nest down the street. Most importantly, she absolutely idolized The Galloping Griffon, the weekly radio program that always put her on the edge of her seat with eager excitement.
And he was coming here!
Her mother said yes, of course, there was no problem with that, and Gilda ran back to her room to jump up and down on her Galloping Griffon blanket with unprecedented joy. The only problem now was that today was Wednesday, the day that the new radio episode always aired on, and she had to wait until Saturday. This was going to be the longest week of her life!
Thursday dragged by slowly, and Friday was even more ridiculous. There were at least two occasions where she swore the clock was moving backwards. By Saturday she was absolutely beside herself, and the young griffon made her way towards the shopping center, The Cuckoo Corral, where The Galloping Griffon was to make his appearance.
She arrived at the front doors a whole hour early, thinking that would be more than adequate and rather proud of herself for thinking ahead, but oh, how wrong she was. The first thing she noticed was the poster outside the doors.
THE GALLOPING GRIFFON
TODAY ONLY
4PM TO 7PMARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH?
The second thing she noticed was the line, the horribly, dismally, ridiculously, eternally massive line. It ended near the front doors where she was standing, but then swerved inwards, back and forth, up the spiral staircase, and around the corner. It was primarily composed of griffons, but not even this village was that large. There were many others who had flown in just for this appearance from out of town, and THAT was the variable she had forgotten to consider. It was foolish to think that the advertisement had only gone out in Griffonstone, it had gone out everywhere.
She was lucky, however, that The Galloping Griffon had come to Griffonstone in the first place, that was probably just more marketable, since he was a griffon and all. She squawked with dismay, holding her officially licensed Galloping Griffon action figure to her chest. The only thing she could do was wait.
If she thought time had moved slowly before, it seemed to be fast forwarding now. The line moved with what felt like unfathomable slowness, but it was in fact moving. By 4:30 she was halfway through the banking-ropes, by 5:30 she was halfway up the stairs. By 6:00 she was up the stairs and down the hallway, and she could see him. Yes, it was really him! Not some other griffon made up to look like him, as she'd half expected, but really him! Of course, being radio and not television, there was no visual to make a comparison, but she knew it all the same. She just KNEW it.
By 6:30 she was around the final series of turns, and her stomach was in her throat. The line was inching closer, but so was the time restriction, and there was still a good sized crowd both in front and behind her. She could barely take her eyes off The Galloping Griffon, a strong and muscled bird, though a bit older than she'd imagined, and not battle scarred at all, which led to some disappointment. He didn't even have the scar over his eye from when he'd battled the Eagle of Envy in the Mires of Misery. Total disregard for continuity.
When at last the griffon in front of her leapt aside with a signed copy of one of the Galloping Griffon novels, Gilda stepped forward, mesmerized and starstruck. The Galloping Griffon, appearing right in front of her, gazed down at her with a wide, welcoming smile. She placed her action figure on the table, and he took it with a flourish.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Guh...Gilda," she stammered.
"Alrighty then, GuhGilda, nice to meet you."
She squawked with laughter. "No, just Gilda!"
"Oooooh, I see." He bent over her action figure, quill in talon, and pretended to write. "To my biggest fan... just Gilda."
"No!" Gilda giggled again. He was handing the action figure back to her at the exact same moment that a smell bell on the table dinged, and another, younger griffon stepped forward from behind the back of the table.
"It is 7pm," the younger griffon announced. "I offer my sincere apologies, but the Galloping Griffon has other engagements. A hero's work is never done, and he must be returning to save those who need him. Thank you all for coming." There was a loud, collective groan from the back of the line, and several younger chicks started crying.
Gilda looked down at the action figure in her talons. To Gilda - Be a BEAKon of light in the darkness. Galloping Griffon
"What about the others?" Gilda asked, feeling bad for them.
The Galloping Griffon rose from his seat, and put his talon around her shoulder. Gilda shivered with excitement, vowing right there to never wash that shoulder again. "There are rules in place," he said. "Set rules and restrictions for everything. For instance, I was only able to stay here until 7. Do you know what time it is now?"
Gilda looked up at the big clock on the wall. "7:05," she said meekly.
"Exactly. If everyone was allowed to be exceptions to the rule, they would begin to think they were special, or deserved special treatment. That's not how the world works, and sooner or later, those that begin to think they are exempt from the rules end up being crushed by them. Worse still, they never learn humility or responsibility. Do you know what I call those people, Gilda?" he asked.
Gilda shook her head.
The Galloping Griffon smiled down at her. "Those people are dweebs, Gilda," he said. "And I do not have time for dweebs. It was lovely meeting you. But as you heard... a hero's work is never done." He patted her head, went out a side door, and just like that he was gone.
Gilda returned home, the back of her mind spinning with the words of her idol and the cries of those behind her who had missed out. She placed the autographed action figure on her shelf, and stared at it.
"Dweebs," she repeated slowly.
Well, she knew one thing. She certainly wasn't going to be one of those.