I continued down the dark, cold underground passageway, nervously shining my flashlight around in hopes of picking up advanced warnings of any terror lurking ahead. I did hear the occasional sound from nowhere that induced my panic reflex but I calmed down once I realized that it was most likely my footsteps.
Then I entered a huge circular room completely cloaked in darkness except wherever my light shone. The mood here was terrifying beyond belief although I couldn’t see anything that added to this mood. Perhaps that was made it so terrifying in the first place.
My flashlight caught a letter that was engraved on the wall high above me and next to it was another letter, then another, in fact a whole line of them. Then I saw what they said:
D D C I AM HERE P P W
I stood staring at this unusual arrangement of letters and tried to decipher their meaning. Try as I might, I just couldn’t figure it out. Then I decided to consult the book and see what it had to say.
You’re on your own with this one, bub.
I did a double take. Did the book just say that?
Yes, I just said that. Want me to say it again?
Feeling defeated, I sat down and began thumbing through the pages of the book, skimming them as I went, trying to look for any clues that could help me out of this predicament. I caught a quick glimpse of the chapter dealing with the passageway with the scores of ratss behind the doors. I chuckled at what a silly puzzle that was.
Then I found myself a recipient of a hint of inspiration. What if I’m facing a puzzle similar to the one at the passageway? It’s possible that the letters on the wall too could be scrambled. Once again I shone my light on the letters and tried unscrambling them in my mind to see what words, if any, could form. Slowly and surely some words began to form that I couldn’t comprehend being inscribed on the wall in the first place. I tried to see what other words I could come up with but I kept coming back to the same ones. I shook my head, not understanding their significance in regards to the mission at hand. What could this have to do with the evil plaguing ‘Arking Lot?
I read the words out loud.
“Whipped cream.”
I chuckled at the idea of such silly words being inscribed on the walls of a huge circular room under the spell of darkness and cold, not to mention the evil all over this place.
Suddenly I heard something slide open. Quickly I shone my light around and when I saw the source of the sound I nearly dropped my flashlight. A small panel in the wall at the other end of the room had slid open, revealing a small compartment with something in it. I slowly rose to my feet and cautiously made my way to the other side of the room. As I came close enough to identify the object, confusion once again set in.
There was a can of whipped cream inside the wall.
I reached for the can and removed it from the small compartment. It felt cold to the touch and sent my mind scrambling to comprehend the strange events so far. What could whipped cream have to do with ridding the evil from ‘Arking Lot?
My thoughts were interrupted by a thundering sound of some large doors opening behind me. The ground shook beneath my feet as a breeze roared into the room. Then I could see a light shining back at me, which startled me so badly that I dropped my flashlight. Oddly enough, the light across the room fell to the ground at the same time. Slowly I lowered myself to the ground to pick up my flashlight and saw the light ahead rise as well. Was I looking at a reflection?
Then the ground shook again as my light saw something huge move into the room. I couldn’t tell what it was at first but gradually I could make out small details that did nothing to help me decide whether to panic, wait, or panic while waiting.
The overhead lights came on and I ended up deciding to panic big time. Standing at the other end of the room stood a giant gladiator who was 16 feet tall. He held a long sword with a highly polished blade that I concluded must have been what reflected my light moments earlier. His face registered hostility as he stood ready to slice me to pieces.
I, on the other hand, nervously stood with my can of whipped cream.
This does not look good.
To be continued…
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