Do You Still Like Us?

Hair tangled thick with sweat clings to the 2 furious, little girls’ foreheads. Their chests heave with the effort, but they refuse to wilt to the heat of it’s power. As their freshly freed crew begins to stand to wobbly legs the 2 little girls determinedly climb over the freshly torn crimson curtains, now dull, muted and lifelessly piled high upon the floor. The room has become cramped and small, yet still dominated by that murky, milky mirror leaning against the far wall. The 2 little girls crawl over the heaps of fabric until they reach the other side, their 2 heavy sailor boots crash into the glass of that abominable, reflective surface, throwing tiny, newly worthless shards crashing down. A lost and old stone archway reveals itself from behind the crash, revealing a narrow and pinched hallway, coarse cold air blowing thickly towards them, everything leading to an ancient and astray place. They clearly see the Old King sitting upon it’s Broken Throne as their Captain continues to knell to it in complete adoration.

‘we already know this dumb trick’

Beyond dark. Beyond horror. Beyond forever that foul shadow sinks.

‘it goes on forever’

the crew steps through the doorway. they enter a small room with an ornate, ruby door slightly ajar, the Captain’s deep steps clearly outlined in the soggy and gray sand leading straight to the door before they disappear. the crew steps through the doorway. they enter a small room with an ornate, emerald door slightly ajar, the Captain’s deep steps clearly outlined in the soggy and gray sand leading straight to the door before they disappear. the crew steps through the doorway. they enter a small room with an ornate, pearl door slightly ajar, the Captain’s deep steps clearly outlined in the soggy and gray sand leading straight to the door before they disappear.

Thick and vicious the darkness clings to them desperately, crawling across every inch of their skin as they plunge forward. The Captain is a faint and distant muttering somewhere out front, but time thickens with dark and the sounds become warbled and oblique. Everything becomes lost, everyone alone and everything forgotten. Still, slowly over eternity, the 2 little girls push forward, 2 hands tightly clasping and 2 hands determinedly searching the darkness ahead, until they find a friend. Everyone tightly holding on as they continue forever and away they again find another lost soul. And forward and finding they go until the entire crew is united, firmly clasping hands and of the same determined and dark path. Forever finally fades to a distance as they all see an ornate, onyx door, slightly ajar, appear in the gloomy distance ahead, the Captain’s deep steps clearly outlined in the soggy and gray sand leading straight to the door before they disappear.

The shock of their abrupt landing abruptly fades as they ignore their fatigue and get to work breaking down the door. Rotted wood easily crumbles away, letting the seeping, inky blackness freely pour across the glimmering sand. Where stood the door now stands a gaping maw, quivering in anticipation. In a moment the Captain moves forward and beyond, frantically whispering, “Come on you grovel-mogels, get on it, into the deep and thick of it you fools, or we’ll never win the day.”

Endlessly their small boat rushes forward, the current now stronger than their flagging strength they can no longer direct a path through the increasingly confusing tunnels of murky, frothing water. Their only hope is the mean determination with which they are continuously dragged deeper and faster down the twisting and narrow waterways. Something is drawing them in. Cave walls become a jagged grey frenzy squeezing ever closer to the boat. Time slips farther and farther out of sync as cold moments hold and hold far past long until they have overtaken the next and the next and the next after that one. The 2 little girls turn towards the Captain and see her eyes are distant and milky, fresh spittle wet on her dry lips as she incoherently mumbles to herself. Then everything plunges into total darkness for an eternity of falling until their little boat wrenches to a violent stop at a tiny, sparkling shore of fine white sand spilling from a cramped and shallow cave. As their stinging eyes adjust to the sudden light a rotting wooden door hanging from rusted iron hinges comes into focus. From the back of the boat the Captain stands and says in a mad whisper, “Wits about you fools. There it is. And from the wink of it I think that ol’ bastard is really back.”

A brackish, still water surrounds their tiny boat, silent and still and yet still a constant dripping background, mismatched rhythms driving a maddeningly, frustrating off-beat. The 2 girls crowd the bow of the simple boat, squinting through the thickly dense fog, ignoring how sadly it weeps up the sides of their boat, silently clinging to their boots. Their eyes are small and acutely sharp, as they peer through the fog their fingers rigorously and quietly signal the Captain to the dangers ahead, directing their route through the stinking, treacherous cave. This is the course they have decided on, an endless series of flooded caves they hope will lead them towards that ancient, terrible throne. As they navigate deeper down the overwhelming sense of distance between them and their ship, anchored forever behind them, threatens to choke them to overwhelming.

Their voyage has taken a dark turn, heavy fogs hang thickly above the water obscuring all distance, muffling all sound. They have found many objects of precious and miraculous natures throughout their adventures, wondrous things that promised their ship could never be stopped. But still a sharp, electric snap crackles thicker and thicker in the air the closer they sail to the Broken Throne of the Old King. A static that bites and clings to their skin and lips and eyelids. The Captain is always at the helm, refusing to rest or eat until the crew has to force her below deck, faint and wobbly legged, so she can eat a meager meal and catch a few hours of restless sleep before it all begins anew. The 2 clever little girls have shown they have quite the aptitude for strategy and so while the Captain rests Genna, Jessie and the 2 little girls plan late into dim waxy lit nights. They search for a new and clever way to find that odious throne and steal its horrendous treasure.