Elaine tripped.
Dirt curled around her as she fell down the sandy cliff. Reaching the bottom, she shook the soil out of her hair and smoothed her filthy burnt skirt.
She was in a ravine. It was ten feet deep and four feet wide. Craning her neck, she saw the green foliage above her. Here the ground was full of ferns, there the trees were most prominent. Elaine decided to follow the ravine. She walked as it wove around.
Her foot sank. Elaine pulled it out, stained with mud. Flies buzzed. She wiped her brow and listened for water. Any would be welcome at this point. The sun filtered down, turning its golden rays green. Elaine trudged on. There were no animals. She was too loud for that.
The ravine continued to decline until Elaine found a drop off. The ground had gone from the soft loam to hard gravel, hurting her feet. She panted and slipped down the drop off, sliding on her rear. Coughing in the dust, she got up.
The house.
If you could even call it that. It was huge. Thirty stone stories tall from what Elaine could see. There was a stone driveway and no landscaping. Elaine ducked behind trees as she skirted the massive structure.
One massive oak almost brushed the house. Elaine smiled. Her adventure was beginning. A window was open.
The bark was rough against Elaine’s hands. Soon they were covered in blisters. She grabbed hold a of a knot on the trunk and tried to pull herself up. Her feet kicked against the trunk as she tried. She grabbed another knot and tried hugging the trunk with her legs. Her legs soon dropped. She hung there precariously until swinging herself, she used momentum to grab a branch. Elaine’s feet touched the tree knots and she got onto the branch.
After a breather, she climbed to the next branch. It was easier now that she didn’t have to only use her upper body. Sweaty and panting, Elaine reached the window. She swung in and landed on the floor. Getting up, she realized it was empty. But there was a jug of water on the bureau. She poured it into her mouth and spilling a lot on the floor in her haste for hydration.
Wiping her mouth, she realized she had just broken into someone’s house. Her hand froze. Elaine looked around the room. There were obvious tracks from her muddy shoes and water on the floor. The carpet was a dark crimson. The walls were polished walnut. Looking in the mirror, she hardly recognized herself.
She was disgusting. Her golden hair was down and full of so much filth, it was almost brown. Her once blue dress was gray and brown, with black burns marks scattered around.. Her face was masked with dirt and mud. Elaine opened the door to the room and peered out. She could hear voices in the distance. Her curiosity induced her to step out and close the door. Creeping along, she dove into another room.
Snores assaulted her ears and she crept out. The voices grew nearer. Elaine dove into the previous room. Panicked, she slid under the bed. The voices now had footsteps. They stopped at her door.
“May she rest in peace.” A light voice said. Definitely a woman’s. Several thuds resounded against the wood.
“Hang the sign here.” The first voice said. Elaine heard something being put on the door.
“We should go now. The family will be here soon to collect the personal belongings.” A gravelly voice said. Probably a man’s. The footsteps retreated. Elaine gasped, not realizing she’d been holding her breath.
She crawled out from under the bed and walked to the door. Cracking the creaking door, she stared at the sign on the door.
AREA CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
She closed it and walked to the closet. Dresses hung inside. Elaine took one off its hanger. Peeling off her dress, she tried on the dark green velvet. It was too tight. The skirt came up to her knees. Elaine didn’t care. She had nothing to lose. The fabric was still uncomfortably tight and itchy.
She yanked open the bureau drawers with bang and pulled out a hairbrush. She pulled out the twigs from her hair first. Brushing it, she dusted out some of the dirt. She used the last of the water from the jug and poured it into the washing bowl. She washed her hair and braided it back and secured it with a hair tie in one of the drawers. By now her new dress was dirty and wet. She ripped it off and changed. Her transformation complete, she slipped out the door.
The hallway was paneled with a soft honey brown wood with bookshelves lining its walls. The sharp smell of ink and old paper hovered in the warm air. Elaine walked up to one of them. She looked at the intricate carvings. She couldn’t read what it said.
Her fingers traced them, caressing the craftsmanship. A soft curl of the wood gave beneath her touch. Footsteps came again. A bookshelf swung open on silent hinges. Elaine dove into the darkness. The footsteps rounded the corner.
“Did you hear anything?”
“Yes. It must be nothing. Hurry, we must finish these before the hour is out.”
The footsteps hurried their pace. Elaine breathed. She was in complete darkness, on a staircase. She tripped over the step and fell to the bottom. Her whole body hurt. The stone steps were cold and sharp. She’d been falling and tripping all day. Ever since she was lost. Nothing was working, and she was stealing just to stay out of trouble.
Elaine curled into a ball and cried. Her forehead touched cool glass. She stopped and groped. Something metal slid across the floor, the sound grating the darkness There was something. It was cold and hard. Her other hand found something small and wooden. She heard something fall out of the small and wooden thing. They felt like small sticks with sandpaper on the tip. The side of the small box felt the same way.
She struck one of the sticks against the side of the box.
Light burst out of the stick. Elaine blinked. She noted that the cold and smooth thing was a lamp. She lit it and the light turned green. Holding it up, she glanced around at the place she was. Behind her was the staircase. Before her lay a dark hall. She scooped up the remaining matches and placed in the box.
Elaine followed the hall. It quickly turned into another staircase after a turn. Elaine followed it higher and higher. She couldn’t see the end. Finally a wall came into sight. Elaine found a door to her side. Setting the lamp on the floor, she cracked it open. Light filtered through a thick cloth. It was the back of a tapestry.
Elaine scooted behind it. Poking her head out, she gaped. She was near the roof of the biggest room she’d ever seen.
Far below her, men and women sat at long tables. They were all writing, all copying from something else. The roof was made of glass and filled with pictures. Elaine scooted back to her tunnel. She closed the door and sat down, breathing hard. She’d been up so high.
Creeping back, Elaine simply wanted to hide somewhere and figure out a plan. She snuck back to the original door. Blowing out the lamp, she stepped out. It was silent. No distant footsteps. No distant voices. The sunlight filtered through the light blue curtains and sparkled on the carpet. Elaine reached into a beam of sunlight, seeking the small and swirling mites sparkling. The polish on the honey-hued walls gleamed in the evening sunset. Elaine wandered into another narrow hall. Here she saw a stair going into two different directions.
She advanced to the left. She found another dilemma. Elaine chose left. Now the wood had changed to a deep red cherry hue. There were no windows here, only shelves filled with exceptionally thick books. She traced a spine with delicate touch. A light coating of dust was left on her fingers. Here there was no carpet. Elaine continued. At the end was a narrow stair case leading right. Here the dust was thickly coating the steps. Elaine hopped up, scattering little clouds of grey.
At the top was a cedar golden door. The knob was a curled tendril, made of polished silver. Elaine pushed the door open. The sweet smell of cedar wafted up her nose. Shutting the door behind her, Elaine slid down the door, inhaling the scent. A tear rolled down her cheek. She traced the familiar wood panels. Here there were no shelves, but the walls were covered in old pieces of art. In one alcove, there was a marble statue of a woman with her hand outstretched, silently screaming at something in the distance. Elaine stared.
Another painting was of a storm. Elaine could feel the wind and salt spray. She took a step back and wrenched her eyes away. Another was a cottage, surrounded by azaleas, snapdragons, and sunflowers with trailing jasmine up the side. A blond woman waved in welcome from the door. The warmth of the summer day permeated the hall. Elaine clapped a hand over her mouth. Another painting was of a giant fire. The charcoal silhouettes of the trees were slivers against the red and orange hues. A house burned. Elaine stepped away.
She ran to the end, ignoring the cries of the art.
At the end of the hall were two doors.
One was made of solid walnut, dark and gleaming.
One was pine, sweet smelling and fresh.
Elaine stood there. Her hand rested on the pine’s promising handle. Her forehead rested against the wood, tears streaming.
Two choices lay before her.
To change.
To remain.
Her hand curled around the walnut knob.
She slammed through the pine door. The door slammed shut behind her, melting into the wall.
She was in a glass room. The sun streamed through the distortions around her. It was a octagonal room. One side had a glass shelf with books. One held a glass statue, another had a glass table with a colored-glass map carved into it.
One had a door.
Elaine reached for the handle. The door swung open to the cedar hall. Elaine turned to run back, but all that remained was a wall of cedar. She slammed her fist into it.
Around her the scent of jasmine grew stronger, mingling with a salty spray. The hall heated and a faint cry could be heard. She turned.
Four choices.
She walked to the one picture she had refused to look at. It was mountains against a sunset. The sky was tinged with gold, blue, and pink. The mountains were dark indigo, edged with grey mist at their feet. A lake reflected it, surrounded by a forest.
The thick smell of pine drifted around Elaine. She closed her eyes.
The birds sang in the branches above her. Green light filtered down, dappling Elaine and the forest floor in greenish-gold. Elaine walked through the woods.
“Lass, what are you doing here?” A woman asked. Elaine turned to where she was standing by a creek, a basket of dirty clothes beside her. Elaine smiled.
“It all began when someone left the window open.”
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