This story was written in response to a challenge. The challenge was to write a story where Iolaus rescues a damsel in distress in less than 500 words.
"Fire! Fire!" the boy yelled as he rounded the corner down the path.
Iolaus heard his distress calls and dropped his fishing pole to the ground. He ran to the boy.
"What is it?" Iolaus asked.
"The house, it's burning!" The boy caught his breath, "Everybody's inside," he gulped.
Iolaus ran in the direction the kid was pointing, hoping he wasn't too late. As he rounded the bend, he could see the large white, wooden structure on fire.
On the third story large plumes of thick, black smoke poured out of a side window.
He raced toward the structure as fast as he feet could carry him. The boy followed closely on his heels.
Approaching the building, he watched as various men and women poured out of the doomed structure.
"Help! Help!" Iolaus heard a woman cry. He looked up to see where the pleas were coming from. As he searched the building, he saw a woman with wild red hair leaning out the window and gasping for breath. It was the same window the large plumes of smoke were billowing from.
"I'll be right there," Iolaus said gesturing her to stay put.
"No! Save my girls first!" The woman begged.
"Right," Iolaus nodded confirmation.
Men and women folk continued to escape the burning building as Iolaus struggled to get inside.
"What is this place?" he asked himself as he noticed the ornately decorated interior; an interior all furnished in red.
The lobby on the right was empty, but there were several doors along the left wall. Iolaus decided to conduct a thorough search as he opened each and every door.
"Hello?" he yelled as he opened the first door.
"Hello?" he said as he opened another.
He opened the last door by the stairs that lead to the second floor. A man and a woman stood in an intimate embrace. The man, was wearing what appeared to be an outfit identical to Hercules'. Without thinking, Iolaus quietly closed the door. Then remembering he was saving the occupants from a blazing inferno, he opened it again.
"Hey you guys, there's a fire!"
"I know," the man said unconcerned as he nuzzled the neck of his companion.
"No. No. I mean a real fire. Upstairs. On the third floor." Iolaus pointed upward.
Once hearing the shattering of the heated windows, the man grabbed the girl by the hand and quickly led her out of the room. Iolaus began moving up toward the second story.
The shattering glass upstairs brought two more occupants out of their respective rooms. One was dressed like a shepherdess.
"Bo Peep?" Iolaus questioned as the dark headed female scurried past the hunter.
Iolaus rounded the last corner and flew up the stairs. He choked on the smell of smoke. Locating the room that was on the west end of the house, he burst into the door.
The room was awashed in flames. Red curtains that had decorated the window were burning, causing the dark plume of smoke to escape the opening. The canopy above the bed was afire, sending shoots of flames to the ceiling.
Iolaus quickly pulled the burning canopy off the bed, careful not to singe his hands. He stomped out the fire. Returning to the window, Iolaus ripped off the curtains and hurled them out of the broken window. With the fire out, Iolaus returned his attention to the woman trapped in the room.
She was still gasping for breath from the smoke inhalation. Iolaus picked her up, supporting her hefty frame in his muscular arms. He wisked her away from the smoke filled room and down the three flights of stairs.
Coming out of the building with the woman tucked safely in his arms, Iolaus received a rousing hand of applause.
"I don't know how you did it, Mister," the boy said as he walked up to Iolaus, "but you just saved the 'Best Little Whorehouse In Hellespont'."
THE END
