THE MOMENT
"Whatever...," Martin rolled his eyes at the letter and even chuckled. He hadn't expected any sort of response when he drafted his letter in drunken frustration. He got so emotionally invested in the movie, that it legitimately hurt his feelings when a line of text at the end reminded him that it was based on a true story. He'd seen it mentioned at the start of the movie too; but, he was sucked in immediately and forgot. 'The Princess and the Cave' was a magical story of a young woman trapped in a video game for thousands of years; all in the name of love. It seemed almost sacrilegious to suggest such a tale could take place in the real world.
Liquor got the best of his emotions and he penned a nasty letter to the director. And now, almost two weeks later, he got a reply telling him it was a real event. Not that it mattered. Martin was clear-headed again and amused by the response.
"You hear that, Princess? You're a real girl," he chuckled to himself as he spoke to the TV. His favorite movie was playing again. It may have been impossible; but, it was still a story that he loved more with each viewing. By now, Martin knew all the dialogue. He was surprised when the dark-haired princess on screen faced the camera and went off-script.
"Of course I am," she said. "It says it at the beginning and end of the movie. 'Based on a true story.'" Martin dropped the letter in his hand and stared at the princess on the screen.
"What?" Martin asked in shock more than curiosity. His voice was timid as if he were afraid to scare off whatever magic was happening. "Are you... talking?" he asked. "... to me?" The princess on screen giggled, then glanced at the room around Martin.
"You're the only one here, Marty," she said. "But, you don't even think I'm real," she pouted. "But, that's fine. I'll just go and find someone that does appreciate me as a real person," she crossed her arms in a huff and turned her back to the camera. She began walking away when Martin stopped her.
"Princess Eve, wait!" He called out and rushed to kneel in front of the TV. The princess stopped walking and glanced at Martin over her shoulder.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," he said. The princess turned a little bit more, but still not completely facing Martin.
"For?" she asked.
"Um. Not believing you were real?" Martin asked his answer. She gave him a curt nod, but raised an eyebrow.
"...and?" she asked.
"... and...," Martin furrowed his brow. "...and nothing?" he said. He couldn't imagine any other offense he might have caused unintentionally.
"And for writing a very rude letter the to smartest, and most talented director that ever existed," the princess said.
"And writing...," Martin began to repeat the scripted apology; but, he stopped. "How'd you know about that?" he asked. He wanted to ask how she knew his name; but, he knew he'd mentioned his name on the phone a few times while watching the movie. However, it was over when he wrote out the letter, and he'd gone into the study to do it.
"Ahhh Hell, you got me," the princess said; but, this time she spoke in a deep, masculine voice. Her dark hair and pink dress fell off of her as if they were loosely glued on and a golden man in a red suit stood in her place. "Nice to meet ya, Marty. Name's Helios," the man said. When he gave his names, a few things clicked into place for Martin.
"The director?" Martin asked. He remembered thinking 'Helios' sounded like a pompous jerk who thought he was too good for a surname.
"The one and only," Helios bowed.
"What are you doing in my TV?" Martin asked. It was a ridiculous question for a ridiculous situation; but, he could not come up with another way to word it. His mind was too stunned to think.
"I just wanted to make sure you got my response," Helios shook his head. "But, you still don't believe it was real, do you?"
"I feel like I'd know if Earth was a video game the way it is in the movie," Martin said. He crossed his arms and gave Helios a smug grin. Something about his expression must have been extra hilarious because Helios burst into a fit of heavy, obnoxious laughter.
"You think so?" he said after half a minute of laughing. But, instead of waiting for an answer, Helios shook his head. "Nevermind, I don't feel like dealing with that today. I will say this though," Helios said. His head grew as he leaned closer to the camera. "No one said it happened on this Earth," he said.
"So, if it didn't happen on Earth then you just made it up and it's not real," Martin shrugged.
"Are you even listening?" Helios asked. "THIS Earth. There are an infinite number of Earths out there. Her story happened on one of those."
"Alright," Martin nodded. His mind gave up trying to make sense of things and just accept everything he was told. Either he was dreaming and it didn't matter anyway or alternate universes actually existed and he had a chance to learn something. "So if it's based on a true story, what's made up and what actually happened?"
"It all happened," Helios said. "The only thing I changed was their names. Eve is actually named Eva. Luke's real name was Jake, and the boy Owen is named Oren."
"Wait, it's all real?" Martin asked. "Even the Demon Queen?" Helios nodded.
"That's who they were trying to escape from; this story happened because of her," he said.
"So if it's all real... what happened next?" Martin asked. The movie ended on a positive note with Owen breaking Eve's curse before the credits rolled.
"I'm waiting to see if there's enough material for a sequel." Helios shrugged. "So far, not much has happened; she's still pretty mad about being trapped as an NPC for so long."