Then Melanie and Robert leave the golden room with their new companion, Perl, behind them. However, the moment Perl walks out of the room of gold, its door disappears. The hallway they are in vanishes and is replaced with one of mirrors, and suddenly the three find themselves surrounded by a thousand images of each other. It becomes impossible to tell the real person from the reflection, and every mirror looks like a hallway or door. Then the mirrors shatter, and the three begin to fall through darkness.
When they awaken, they are in a world completely unfamiliar to them. They are lying in plush green grass, and a clear blue brook burbles a short distance away. Windmills slowly turn on a hilltop above them.
“Where are we?” Melanie asks in amazement.
“Let’s find out!” Perl exclaims excitedly. She jumps up and begins running through the grass wet with morning dew in her bare feet. Butterflies and birds dance overhead, and a silver trout breaks the surface of the water with a splash.
A dirt path winds up the hill to the windmills. Melanie smiles at Robert, “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all,” she admits. Then the three begin to explore their new world as they trek up the hill towards the ancient mill blades sleepily turning in the summer breeze as the sun and Author smile overhead.
The Author: Within the Labyrinth Page 3
