THE MOMENT
"That's weird, right?" Stan asked mostly to be sure the others saw it too. Not that they could've missed the strange town up ahead, but it'd snuck up on them. Stan, Mike, Jay, and Cliff were on a roadtrip when their car broke down. It was a cold evening with a blizzard on the way. They decided against staying in the car and they started walking, hoping to find help in a nearby town. They followed the road through the darkness and discovered a most unexpected settlement in broad daylight.
"Yeah...," Mike nodded. "That's weird." Mike was the oldest of the group and a natural leader. As soon as he acknowledged the oddity before them, he began walking forward.
"Wait, what part?" Jay asked as the other three followed behind Mike. "The road suddenly ending or old west village that shouldn't be here?" He didn’t even mention the bright sunlight, the town obviously had its mysteries.
"All of it," Cliff answered Jay's question as each of them took in the sight. They had walked along the blacktop road, the one that should've taken them straight to Las Vegas, except the road just stopped to make way for a dusty unpaved main street with a saloon on one side and a bank on the other. And even more curiously, the townsfolk all seemed to be bustling about. A group of women was hanging draping decorations on the saloon, while a different group of women was constructing a wooden stage at the town square.
"I don't see any men...," Stan voiced something they'd all noticed. But even that minor detail paled in comparison to the sudden sunshine. The four friends stopped walking immediately as soon as the weather changed. "Cloudy night...," Stan had taken a step back and looked up at the sky. Then he took the single step forward again. "... sunny noon...,"
"No way," Jay immediately copied Stan by moving back and forth. "Guys, it's like magic!" he said.
"Chill, we've been spotted," Mike said. Stan and Jay moved to the sunlight and saw a woman approaching them with a broad smile.
"Hello, welcome," she greeted each of them with extended eye contact, just long enough for them to feel special and warm. "You guys are a bit early, but I'll make sure you're comfortable. My name's Annika."
"You were expecting us?" Cliff asked. But, Mike decided he had a more important question and spoke up before Annika answered.
"It looks like everyone's busy... what's the occasion?"
"You don't know?" Annika reappraised each of them, and smiled. "That's quite a coincidence," she giggled. "You boys don't know how lucky you are that you found Noon Town today of all days. Come on and get comfortable, first round's on me," she waved them toward the saloon and walked forward to encourage them. The friends exchanged glances and shrugs before Mike nodded, and they all followed Annika.
"I've never heard of a place called Noon Town," Stan commented as the four of them sat down at the bar. Annika walked around behind it and began pouring beers as if she belonged there.
"It's not a place that's easy to find on purpose," Annika replied. "It's owned by the most powerful vampire in the world, Noon," she said.
"A vampire?" Cliff asked.
"That's a name?" Jay had a different question, and Annika nodded at each of them and set a filled glass before them.
"So, a magic town run by a vampire...," Mike nodded with a chuckle. He only made as much peace with the ideas as he needed to. There were other happenings to discuss, and now that there was a vampire involved, they needed to be extra careful. "What's all the excitement though?"
"Noon's facing a challenge," Annika replied. "That almost never happens so everyone's excited to see her show off."
"Her?" Jay asked. " Where are the men? I haven't seen any since we arrived...,"
"Oh, there aren't any who live here, but I'm sure there'll be plenty coming to watch the match," she replied with a smile.
"Why aren't there any men?" Jay asked.
"Dude, there just aren't," Cliff answered him. "It's not that big a deal."
"Sorry, it's just..," Jay started to apologize, but Annika smiled and shook her head.
"Oh no, it's quite alright," she said. She took time to reassure Cliff with a smile before focusing on Jay again. "It's good that you're asking questions, but your friend is correct. It's actually not that big of a deal. It's merely a preference Noon has. Since she runs the town, she gets to make the rules, and that generally means 'No Men', except for special occasions like today."
"That is lucky...," Stan commented with a relieved sigh, and a laugh. "... I'd hate to think about getting turned away from a whole town after our car broke down." He wanted to steer the conversation back to them getting help, even if he wanted to stay for the festivities.
"Don't be silly," Annika shook her head. "You wouldn't have been turned away," she playfully reached down to touch Stan's forearm. "Noon's a vampire... any other day, we kill men on sight."