“I don’t know how. But I just know that whatever path I choose, it’ll be the right one. The Tree said that.”
“Egg . . . there is no choice.”
The girl thought about everything that had just been said. Finally, she answered defiantly “I’ll let you lead. But there’s no way I’m going to let you get stuck in here. I don’t care what that stupid tree said.”
“That goes for me, too,” added Sylvia.
It sounded so wonderful . . . one for all, and all for one. Unfortunately, no one believed it for a second. But they hugged each other and pretended.
Even though she should have been terrified at the thought of being trapped in the maze, Sassi wasn’t. Oddly enough, she only felt pride. In all of Aerianna, it was she that was chosen to help her Sisters navigate the Maze so they could finish their Quest. It was an incredible honor and for that, she was grateful. She knew it would make her parents very proud.
“Egg.”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me you’ll tell my parents . . .”
“You’re going to tell them.”
“Promise me that if I can’t, you will.”
“No. I promise you that you’re going to tell them.”
“Egg . . . ”
“Listen to me Sassi. I’m Flying Girl and you and I are Hameggattic Sisters and when I make a promise . . . I’m going to keep it.”
“Your parents will know,” reassured Dazzle. After a moment, she added, “In all the time that I have known Egg, she has always kept her word. Perhaps this time will be no different.”
*****
So Sassi led the way. They walked along the path and at every intersection, she turned right. When it became obvious what she was doing, Sylvia got Egg’s attention behind the other girl’s back and shook her head and shrugged. “It can’t be this simple,” was the message she was trying to convey to her friend.
Egg understood and shrugged back.
About a half hour later, they were right back where they started.
“Oh, no.”
“Maybe we didn’t really understand what the Tree was telling us,” said Egg hopefully.
“I believe we correctly interpreted the Tree’s intent. However, perhaps the phrase ‘right path’ wasn’t meant to be taken literally.”
Egg looked to Sylvia hoping she could explain what that meant. “I think Dazzle means that the right path doesn’t mean we should always be taking the right path.”
“What?” said Flying Girl in utter confusion?
“She means that I can’t just keep taking right turns.”
“Oh.”
“So what will you do?” asked Sylvia.
“I’m not sure.”
“Sassi.”
“Yes, your Majesty?”
“What is your passion in life?”
All three girls scrunched their faces . . . mystified by the question.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I understand what you are asking.”
“If you could choose to do anything in this world, what would it be?”
“Well . . . I like to think of myself as an artist. I love the beauty in paintings and jewelry, in everything. I would continue to express myself in all forms of art. Maybe I’m a little like your sister in that respect.”
“I think that someday you and Ss’ong will be good friends. You have much in common.”
The likelihood of that ever happening seemed very, very slim. But Sassi was polite enough to just say thank you.
“Dazzle, why are you asking her about this now?’
“Perhaps it may help her in choosing the right path.”
The three girls scrunched again.
“Look around you. What do you see?”
They looked and saw what they had seen before . . . a tangled jumble of paths. But after a few moments, Sassi’s face lit up.
“Oh, Princess . . . I understand.”
“Mind telling us?” asked Sylvia.
“Look at the Maze carefully. It’s like a giant sculpture or painting. But some of it seems wrong while other parts seem right . . . at least to an artist’s eye. Isn’t that it, your Majesty?’
“As my mother would attest, I am no artist. But even I can see the rightness and wrongness within the Maze.”
Egg and Sylvia looked around again, but they could see nothing right about any of it.
“I hope you know what you’re talking about.”
“Trust me,” said Sassi.
“We do. We always have” replied Sylvia.
“So, which way this time?”
Sassi looked around again studying the colors and shapes within the Maze. After a moment, she said “This way.” And so they tried again.
*****
This time they had much more success. In fact, if you could forget that this was dangerous beyond words, it almost seemed like a ride at Disneyworld. Unfortunately, they did forget.
With her newfound confidence, Sassi was able to lead them deeper and deeper into the Maze . . . and presumably to its eventual end and to safety. Of course, they had no way of really knowing . . . but it seemed like a reasonable guess.
Apparently, the Maze was broken into sections . . . and each one presented its own challenge. The first one they encountered was like a hall of mirrors at the fun house. The rocks that lined the path were so shiny that you could easily see your own reflection. In some you looked very tall and skinny and in others short and fat. The girls even stopped to admire their new bodies . . . laughing at themselves and at each other.
But as they made their way further and further into this section of silly reflections they realized why Mobius had put it there. Everywhere they looked, for as far as the eye could see, were hundreds and hundreds of Sassi’s, Egg’s and Sylvia’s looking back at them.
Sassi finally stopped, looked around and became totally disoriented. “I think I’m lost.”
The other two girls tried to get their bearings . . . but they too couldn’t figure out where the path was or which way they should go. There were just too many reflections . . . each staring back and looking just as confused as the three sisters.
“It feels a little crowded in here,” said Sylvia looking at the cave full of Hameggattic Sisters.
Dazzle came to their rescue. Her ghostly being didn’t cause any reflections so she was able to search up and down, left, and right looking for the path. It took her awhile, but she finally found it and led the girls to safety.
“Thank you, your Majesty.”
“I have contributed so little . . . it feels good to be of service.”
“Maybe the Sisters will give you a medal,” teased Egg.
“I would wear it proudly.”
The next section they called Snakes Tongue . . . because it forked about every twenty feet.
But Sassi never faulted and chose left then right then left then left then right . . . well, you get the idea. And before long, they had made it out.
“So far, so good . . . don’t you think?” asked Egg hopefully. Maybe the stupid Tree had been wrong about Sassi getting stuck in here.
“Yeah. Sassi, you’re doing great,” added Sylvia.
As they entered the next section, Egg said, “Wow, this is pretty awesome.”
But then awesome changed to awful . . . and Disneyland turned to the House of Horrors.
“GREETINGS.”
The girls jumped at the unexpected sound. They looked up to see a grotesque creature standing above them . . .
“Oh my gosh.”
“What the heck is it?”
“Whatever it is, I doubt it wants to be friends.”
“It is dangerous . . . I feel it. Sassi, choose your path and run. All of you run as fast as you can.”
“Do not Go . . . I mean you no harm.” But then it laughed at its own joke.
Chapter 9 - Auld Lang Syne
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING IN SUCH A HURRY?”
Dazzle responded to the question by urging her sisters, “You
must run faster.”
And so they ran but the monster simply jogged behind them . . . easily keeping up. “ISN’T THIS FUN? I so enjoy a little exercise before i eat.”
“Eat?” Egg screamed. “Is he talking about eating us?”
“Did you want to stop and ask him?” Sylvia managed to say between deep gasps of air.
“I’m too shy . . . you do it.” The silly talk was their way of trying to keep from total panic. The truth was that they were as afraid now as they had ever been. This was by far the most dangerous creature they had met.
After ten minutes of running as fast as they could, they were getting exhausted. But fear of that horrid thing was enough to keep them going.
“What are we going to do?” yelled Sylvia.
“You cannot outrun the creature . . . so you must find a way of losing it in this maze.”
“Sassi,” Egg called to her friend.
“There’s a new section just over there. Maybe we can find someplace to hide. Follow me.”
So Sassi made left turns, right turns and U-turns and in short order they were in a different area . . . hopefully one that the creature was less familiar with.
“Quick, this way,” and she ran up a path that led to a rickety wooden bridge that crossed over what seemed to be a river of fire.
“Do you think that thing is safe to cross?”
“Let’s hope it’s strong enough for us . . . but not for you-know-who,” answered Sylvia.
“Maybe after we cross, we can cut the ropes that are holding it up.”
They stopped at the edge of the bridge and stared at the dilapidated thing. It didn’t look very safe at all. Unfortunately, this was now the only way out.
They would have liked to have a little time to catch their breath before trying to cross over. But they could hear the stupid creature behind them singing. And if that wasn’t bad enough, it had just a terrible voice.
“I will go up ahead to see where this path leads. Cross one at a time . . . and do not look down.” With that, Dazzle drifted across the bridge and disappeared around a turn.
“I’ll go first.”
“No you won’t. I will.” Egg wasn’t going to let her sister put herself in any more danger than she already had. So she gingerly put one foot on the bridge and tested the first rotting wooden plank. It held. She put her second foot on . . . and nothing bad happened.
“Don’t run,” warned Sylvia.
“And hold on to the ropes,” advised Sassi.
“Okay . . . just be quiet. You’re making it worse.”
Egg’s heart was beating about a bazillion times a minute as she grabbed a rope in each hand and started to walk across. The bridge creaked and moaned and swayed . . . and scared the heck out of her. Even so, she was unable to stop herself from peeking over the side. And far, far below she saw the seething river of fire. “That’s it. No more. Nope, nope, nope, nope. This is my first and my last quest,” she muttered to herself as she continued to shake with fear. (Actually, this wouldn’t be her last Quest. But that’s another story.)
She was about three quarters of the way across when the board she stepped on cracked under her weight. “Yikes” she yelped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. One of the boards just cracked . . . but I think it’s okay.”
“Be careful.”
“Duh,” she replied a bit sarcastically. Then she disregarded everyone’s advice and virtually ran the last part. “I’m across,” she yelled back to her friends as she stepped onto solid ground . . . hardly believing that she actually made it.
“You go next,” Sassi told Sylvia.
So Syl stepped onto the bridge . . .
“Helloooo…anybody out there? I’m getting Hungry,” called the monster cheerily. They couldn’t see it . . . but by the sound of its voice, it had to be very close.
“HURRY,” Egg yelled to Sylvia.
The girl didn’t have to be told twice and she got onto the old bridge and scampered across.
“Oh, THERE YOU ARE.”
“Sassi . . . run, run.”
“Come on, hurry.”
The girl sped across but a second or two later, she stepped on the cracked board . . . and fell through. “SASSI,” Egg and Sylvia screamed.
As she fell, Sassi was quick enough to reach out and catch the edge of the board . . . but only with her fingertips. It wasn’t enough to maintain her grip . . . and her hands started to slip.
She looked down at the sea of flames far below her, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes as her hands finally lost hold of the rotting wood.
But to her surprise, she didn’t fall. She looked up to see Egg and Sylvia staring back at her. Each girl had grabbed one of Sassi’s wrists and they were trying to pull her up.
“NO . . . Let me go. Run before that thing gets you.”
“Oh, just shut up,” yelled Egg. She was tired of everybody trying to be a hero to save her.
“Egg . . . on the count of three,” urged Sylvia. And she counted, and they pulled and Sassi popped up through the hole where the broken plank had been.
“Okay . . . now we run.”
“This way,” called Dazzle as she returned from her survey of the path.
They followed the Princess and just before they rounded a turn, they stopped to look back. And there was the creature half way across the bridge.
“Food, Food, Food” chanted the ugly thing.
“Maybe if we left some of our supplies, it would stop chasing us,” suggested Sassi.
“Doubtful . . . but it is worth a try.”
Sassi reached into her backpack and pulled out some dried meat. “Where should I put it?”
“Not here. Further down this path are two chutes. You shall tell us which one to take. Then we will place your bait in front of the other.”
“Dazzle . . . what do you mean chutes?” asked Egg.
“You will see. Follow me.”
So they ran deeper into the maze until they came to the end of the path. And there they were . . . two chutes side by side. Actually, they looked more like spiral slides that went on and on and on.
“Oh my gosh.”
“Ditto,” said Sylvia.
“Sassi, which one shall we take?”
“Definitely this one with the earth tones” she said pointing to the chute on the left. “That one with the primary colors does not belong here.”
“Are you certain? Once we enter . . . there is no turning back.”
Sassi didn’t hesitate. “I am absolutely sure.”
“Food…Food…Food.”
“Quickly, Sassi; place the food. Egg and Sylvia, hide behind that rock. Hurry.”
So the girls did as they were told, and by the time the creature appeared, they were all safely hidden behind the boulder. As it approached, it sniffed trying to identify the scent that hung in the air. Realizing it was food, it lumbered over to the meat that Sassi had planted.
It picked up the first piece and ate with gusto. Enjoying the taste, it then advanced to the one that was just on the edge of the chute and bent down to get the yummy morsel.
“I’m going to knock it down the slide,” whispered Sassi.
“No. Do not approach the creature.”
Ignoring the Princess, Sassi ran from her hiding place straight at the creature. At the last second she lunged . . . trying to knock it off balance and down the slide. Unfortunately, the monster saw her coming and stepped out of the way.
Sassi was unable to stop herself.
She flew past the creature and into the chute . . .
. . . and disappeared from sight. Her last words were, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.”
“NO,” screamed Egg.
The creature turned at the sound. “More FOOD,” it said happily.
“Sisters, down the other chute now,” commanded Dazzle.
“But what about Sassi?” Sylvia stammered.
“Our sister is gone. Do not
allow her sacrifice to be in vain.”
As the monster came closer, the girls made a mad dash for the slide, dove in and, like Sassi, disappeared from sight.
*****
They slid down and down and down and down . . .
It took a very long time, but they eventually began to see the end of this dizzying ride. “Brace yourselves,” yelled Dazzle.
The chute ended and the girls, who had been sliding at an incredible speed, flew through the air . . .
. . . and landed with a splash.
. . . in the Never ’Glade.
They stood up; brushed off what mud and water they could . . . then hugged each other and cried.
They cried for their lost sister.
They cried because they had made it out alive.
They cried because there was only one more challenge.
They cried because they were tired and discouraged and wet.
They cried because they were in the middle of this scary glade.
And they cried because they were nine years old . . . and that’s what nine year olds were allowed to do when they missed their moms and dads and Grammys.
*****
They managed to find a bit of dry ground to make camp. After setting up the tent, they started a fire, took off their wet clothes and hung them to dry.
At that moment in time, there were no two unhappier girls in the world. It took Egg a full twenty minutes of silence before she could muster the energy to talk.
“Dazzle.”
“Yes, Egg?”
“Do you think she’s okay?”
“I believe that Sassi is well. At least as well as one can be trapped in the Maze.”
“What do you think happened to her when she slid down that chute?”
“I would hazard a guess that she came out in a different part of the Maze.”
“So maybe she can still escape . . . if she finds our chute?”
“No, Sister. I do not believe that will happen. I believe the Myst Tree has foretold her fate.”
“What about that crazy monster?” asked Sylvia.
“I believe she will avoid contact with it. She now knows where it lives.”
“Dazzle.”
“Yes, Egg?”
“How do we get out of this place?”
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 69
