On her wedding day, Althea woke up with a terrible headache and the sensation of something scaly slithering against her cheek.
Then she heard the hissing.
Her eyes snapped open and she brushed the thing aside. It hissed again.
At the sound, she sat up hurriedly and faced the bedside mirror.
For a moment she simply stared. The mirror reflected a horror she could not comprehend- her once-lush dark curls had vanished, replaced by a nest of slender writhing serpents.
One particularly large snake winked at her.
"Morning, ssssunshine."
"EEK!" she shouted. "AHHHHHHHH!*
"Well, that's not very nice," said another snake.
Althea screamed.
"SSS-SNAKES!"
"AHHHHH HUMAN!" the snakes hissed back
"Issss sssshe mocking ussss?" said one of them, sounding outraged.
Her maids came rushing in.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed and ran out, terrified.
Althea seized the snakes on her head and tried to pull them off. It hurt.
"Owa Ow!"
"SS-Stop that."
"What'sss wrong with her?"
"Ouchie!"
"Sssstop it, human! You're hurting usssss!"
Althea only stopped when one of the snakes bit her on the hand.
"Stop that!" she said hotly. "This can't be happening on my wedding day! All I wanted was a good hair day! Was that too much to ask?"
"Oh well, we'll just ssslither away and come back sssome other day." A snake said sarcastically. "We're ssstuck with you asss much as you're ssstuck with usss, sssstupid lady!"
"At leassst you can move around. We're sssstuck to you."
Althea glared at the snake in the mirror...
"You think I can go around like this? With talking snakes on my head instead of hair? It's my wedding day! And now I won't be able to get married. John will run away screaming."
"Well if he truly loves you, he would marry you even if you were a worm! At least you're still human!"
"If my fellow snakes corporate we can do like a fancy hair do. If we don't move, no one will ever know!" one suggested helpfully.
"No! This is not how I want to get married! Gah! I wish I could sue the gods!"
Althea went to the window and screamed, "YOU SUCK!" at the sky.
Or tried to. One of the snakes gagged her with its body. Together the snakes pulled her back.
"Are you trying to anger the godsss?" one hissed. "Do you want to have usss sssnakes on your head forever? We don't know about you but we aren't planning to ssstick around here. We all know how misssserable the snakes on Medusa's head became."
"But what can we do?" Althea asked when she had calmed down a bit.
"You said you wished for a good hair day. Which deity did you pray to exactly?"
"Umm, all of them? Why?" asked Althea.
"All of them?" The snakes spluttered in shock. "Why would you do that? Are you insane?"
"Oh dear. If she's insane, will we get infected by her insanity?"
"Shut up! One thing at a time."
"I figured maybe one of them would listen to my prayer."
"Looks like all of them granted you your wish for a good hair day and their divine magic somehow got mixed and created this!"
"Are all humans this foolish?"
"But what can we do?"
"We must go to Mount Olympus and ask for forgiveness. The gods are highly jealous creatures but maybe you can ask them for forgiveness and they'll undo their magic."
"Alright, let's go!"
Right now?"
"Yes and we've got to get back in time for the wedding."
"Insane," one of them muttered.
Althea covered the snakes with a towel and summoned her maids. They came, looking terrified.
"It's going to be alright," she soothed. "I have been cursed and I'm going to get this undone.You must hold the fort for me. Prevent anyone from coming in here. Tell them I'm getting my beauty sleep and that I am not to be disturbed on any account. I will come back in time for the wedding."
"But, Miss. Where are you going?"
"Mount Olympus. To bargain with the gods."