SSP/Douglasthedog Habitica August-5-2020

After a long quest, I had finally reached a place that was said to hold a long-lost artifact that possessed great magical abilities. I went into the room, already exhausted from my travels. Just then, I ended up in a strange maze, and a sign was in front of me saying that the treasure was at the end of the maze. I started going through the maze when suddenly the exhaustion from the recent adventure overcame me. I collapsed.



Something wrestled me from my subconscious. I opened my eyes and there stood a young boy. I pushed myself up to a sitting position. He watched me carefully, curiously.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"Well, I am me. That is who I am. Who are you, young man?"

"Are you a Princess?"

"No, I'm a girl A warrior. A leader. A conqueror. I'm looking to exit this maze and find a great magical treasure."

"You were asleep for a long time."

"I was? It didn't seem like it. No. It couldn't have been that long."

"It was a long time."

The boy seemed very at ease under the circumstances. He was respectfully dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a buttoned down shirt. He looked to be somewhere in the 9-10-11 age range. He sat cross-legged. Something about his was calming, comfortable.

I stood. I checked for my sword on my hip and found it. The maze was a tall structure. It was well lit, especially for being located in a room inside a place. The walls that formed the maze itself were white and hard and smooth like ivory. It wasn't a scary place. There was a feeling of safety.

I poked around the area I had slept, where the boy sat on the ground. It was a central structure, an angle formed by two walls. I walked around the near wall and found another angle formed by two walls. The inner structure began to take shape. A short walk around another wall and it was the same thing. Two walls making a v-shaped angle. It was a large X I was circling. I continued on around and found the boy again, still sitting cross-legged.

"What is this place?"

"You already know what it is. It is a maze."

"What's the fastest way out?"

"What? Wait. You want to leave?"

"Well yes, of course, I'm searching for something. There's a treasure at the end of this maze."

The boy hung his head. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. His lower lip curled out in a pout. "I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay."

"I can't stay. I'm on a quest. A quest for riches and magic."

"I like quests. I like magic and treasure. We could sit and talk about all those things."

"Young man, where are your parents?"

The boy didn't answer.

"I've wasted time sleeping. And now I'm wasting time with you. I won't waste any more. Something great, something valuable, something I've been working for my entire life is at the end of this maze."

The boy was silent.

"Farewell, then," I said.



Outside the central structure, the X, there were four entrances. Each angle of the X-structure had a corresponding entrance. I chose the entrance on the angle where I slept and entered the maze.

I walked until I hit a dead end. Then I backtracked until I found another route. Then I walked until I hit another dead end. The maze was long. There was no way to tell the time for there was no sun but I searched for what felt like hours. I walked more. I backtracked. I walked more. Finally, I found the exit.

Outside the maze was a familiar structure. And a young boy. The boy noticed me.

"You're back!" The boy's eyes were wide, his smile was huge. He was happy to see me but he didn't get off the ground.

"How did I get back here?"

"You found your way back."

"I was looking for a way out."

"That's what you found. You're out of the maze, aren't you?"

"There's a treasure at the end of the maze. There's no treasure here. Only this X. And you. We are still in the maze."

"There are more important things than treasure."

"Not today there isn't. I've worked too hard for too long."

"Won't you stay a while? We could talk. No one ever stays to talk to me."

"I'm sorry, young man, my quest must continue."

I left the boy at the X in the center of the maze. There were but three entrances left. At the end of one of those was the treasure. I took the entrance off the next angle and walked back into the maze.



The second entrance was the same as the first. Dead ends, backtracks, alternate routes. The way was long but there was hope. Hope demands, hope motivates, hope drives. I searched on. There were only four entrances. If this didn't lead to the treasure, then only two routes remained. I moved fast.

And soon I was back at the center, at the X, and the little boy still sat in the same spot.

"Hello there!" He smiled and waved eagerly. "It's so good to see you again. I'm so happy you are here."

"I'm not staying long."

"No treasure?"

"Not yet but there's only two places yet to check."

"You should sit and rest. The maze is long. And it's very difficult. You might do better if you rested," he said

"I've no time for rest. I've waited for this long enough."

"What will you do with the treasure once you find it?"

"It has great magical abilities."

"You need magic?"

"Of course I need magic. Everyone looks to possess magic."

"Not everyone."

"You're too young to understand."

"Please stay."

"I can't."

The boy didn't respond. His head hung again. His sadness obvious.

What did he know of the world anyway? He hasn't been the places I've been. He hasn't seen the things I've seen. He knows nothing of what I've felt. There's hate in the world. There's violence in the world. There is evil. So there is a need for magic. And it is a desperate need.

"Only two routes left. I must be going," I said. "You'll understand better when you are grown."



The third entrance led to the same result, more dead ends, more backtracks and more alternate routes. I was back at the X again, and the little boy.

Only this time he wasn't happy to see me.

I approached with a swagger. There was only one way left. The treasure was as good as mine.

"Hello, young man."

He didn't answer.

"You won't talk to me?"

He raised his head, his eyes red with tears. "Why must you search for this treasure?"

"It is what I desire," I said.

"But it's beautiful here. You could stay. Just the two of us. We could spend the time together. It's nice here. The two of us. Together."

"That's nonsense. There's nothing good about this place. It's a maze. It's nothing but walls and angles and turns."

"But we could be here together. Don't you see?"

I sighed. The boy was too young to understand. It was no use talking to him. And there was only the last route yet to take.

"Farewell then, young man. My treasure awaits."

I left him there in the X, alone and sad. He'll grow to be a man one day and on that day he will understand.



The last route was much the same as the first three. Only this time there was a treasure waiting. And with treasure always comes danger.

I unsheathed my sword. I held it firm. I expected the dead ends, the backtracks, and the alternate routes. I approached every corner with care. Danger lurked ahead.

I moved slowly. I was in no hurry. The treasure was located at the end of this route of the maze. It was there and it was mine and it was waiting.

I traced the route back and forth and side to side and finally I reached the exit. The place where the treasure, my treasure, waited.

I walked through the exit and straight into a large central X.

The boy was gone.

I was alone.

"Boy!"

Nothing.

"Hey! Boy!"

Nothing.

I walked around the large X-shape but there was nothing there. I searched the entire maze. There was no treasure. And now the boy was gone.

I sat and waited. No one came. The maze was silent.

I sat longer still. And still no one came.

I made myself comfortable in an angle of the X. The maze was quiet and beautiful. I crossed my legs.