THE DEAD GAME CONTINUES — PART 1

I’m falling down a dark hole,  
Beneath the spot where End House had once stood.
I’ve reached the bottom of the rabbit hole.
Pea soup darkness envelopes me.

Shadowy forms are swaying in the distance.  
With the tunnel’s wall at my back,
I walk toward the strange objects.  
They look like lamps with brightly lit shades.

They aren’t lamps but tall mushrooms.  
Mushrooms in a variety of shapes and colors.  
A whole field of them,  
Sparkling far into the distance.

I could just imagine what Alice had felt  
About her Wonderland.  
Mine is too dark for my taste.  
But I must find the truth.

The mushrooms loom around me,  
Facing me with their iridescent spots and stripes.
A town lies up ahead,  
Pale lights flickering in the windows.

The town looks oddly familiar.  
The church is quaint and so are the stores.  
It’s my town, the town of Oasis.  
An underground town built to resemble the real town.

The stores are empty.  
The streets are deserted.  
Night is here without its blanket of stars
Or the protection of the moon.


I’ve found the beach but its sand is ice cold.  
The ocean is even colder.
No birds.  
No sea breeze.

He’s here.  
I knew he would be.  
“Linda, Welcome to my Oasis.  
Have you decided to join us?”

I step back.  
“No Wolf, I will never join you.  
Please let me go.
I don’t belong here with The Dead.”

His lips tighten as he moves closer.
He is not going to let me go.  
Ever.
I’m his prisoner.

Wolf watches my face.  
He sees my fear and my defeat.  
A small smile forms on his lips.
“My dear, our games have just begun.”

THE DEAD GAME CONTINUES — PART 1