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Authors: Rona Jaffe
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instance, with a bottle in the pocket containing a potion that could be either magic giving all knowledge or poison … real lanterns, real swords, real costumes, and a real treasure … They could all chip in for the treasure. That would give them more of an incentive to find it. The little charms, amulets, statues, writing on the wall, hidden scrolls, he would purchase himself and hide all around. The monsters, of course, would have to be imaginary, but there would always be the real danger of getting lost, or slipping and getting hurt, or even drowning. He shivered, partly with fear, partly with delight. He was a genius!
The caverns weren’t so cold and terrible. They were actually rather cool and pleasant, and he imagined they retained the same temperature all year round. They would be perfect to play in on warm days, and not too bad if they began the new game in winter. Of course, he’d have to wait until they finished playing Daniel’s game. Daniel had worked so hard on it they couldn’t just abandon it, even though now it seemed very dull and colorless to Jay Jay compared to what he had just concocted. First, he would have to talk the others into his plan. He was sure he could do it. Nothing scared Kate, Robbie was a follower, and Daniel liked difficult problems to solve. After he had convinced them, Jay Jay planned to let his character get killed in Daniel’s game. That would make the game much less interesting for the others. It would be a kind of sacrificial suicide. He laughed aloud, very pleased with himself. The sound rang off the walls, echoing in a pleasantly diabolical way. How funny that he had come here planning to kill himself and had ended up with a greater desire to live than he’d ever had before.
He picked his way carefully out of the caverns into the mundane world. The early winter dusk had fallen. He got back on his motorbike and rode into town, where he bought some sandwiches and sodas, and a dozen boxes of Pepperidge Farm croutons to drop as bread crumbs so he wouldn’t get lost. He also bought extra batteries for his flashlight. Tomorrow, when the hardware store was open, he would buy a real lantern. This would do for now.
Back to the caverns, his own adventureland of endless possibility. Jay Jay hummed happily as he began to investigate the first three chambers, dropping his croutons, arranging little piles of stones to give himself added clues to direction. He was aware how dangerous these mazes were, and he had no intention of ending his life. He felt a little frightened, which pleased him, and also very elated. At nine o’clock, ravenously hungry, he sat down with his back against a large rock and ate his sandwiches and drank his sodas, which were still cool. White paint, he thought, would be good for a secret message, or perhaps even luminous silver paint if he could find it. He knew there wasn’t anything he couldn’t find if he wanted to. He would invent ancient runes—aha!
Feeling very tired and cozy after his supper and his athletic and intellectual efforts, he lay down, pulling the hood of his coat over his head to act as a sort of pillow. It wouldn’t do to go back to the dorm tonight, then nobody would worry about him. He would go back tomorrow. And meanwhile, somehow it seemed as if sleeping here gave him proprietorship, making the caverns his own. He slept, and dreamed of the game, dreamed that they all loved him. A whole tribe of Sprites was sitting on little stone mushrooms, all applauding for him. You are the cleverest of all, O Freelik the Frenetic of Glossamir ! they cried admiringly in their tiny voices. They were wearing silken robes in pale, iridescent colors, and every one of them looked just like him.
The next morning was cold and clear. Jay Jay rode back to the dorm in triumph, his motorbike a charger; feeling that he had indeed discovered a treasure. He was gratified to see that the others were very upset over his disappearance, particularly Kate.
“Where
The caverns weren’t so cold and terrible. They were actually rather cool and pleasant, and he imagined they retained the same temperature all year round. They would be perfect to play in on warm days, and not too bad if they began the new game in winter. Of course, he’d have to wait until they finished playing Daniel’s game. Daniel had worked so hard on it they couldn’t just abandon it, even though now it seemed very dull and colorless to Jay Jay compared to what he had just concocted. First, he would have to talk the others into his plan. He was sure he could do it. Nothing scared Kate, Robbie was a follower, and Daniel liked difficult problems to solve. After he had convinced them, Jay Jay planned to let his character get killed in Daniel’s game. That would make the game much less interesting for the others. It would be a kind of sacrificial suicide. He laughed aloud, very pleased with himself. The sound rang off the walls, echoing in a pleasantly diabolical way. How funny that he had come here planning to kill himself and had ended up with a greater desire to live than he’d ever had before.
He picked his way carefully out of the caverns into the mundane world. The early winter dusk had fallen. He got back on his motorbike and rode into town, where he bought some sandwiches and sodas, and a dozen boxes of Pepperidge Farm croutons to drop as bread crumbs so he wouldn’t get lost. He also bought extra batteries for his flashlight. Tomorrow, when the hardware store was open, he would buy a real lantern. This would do for now.
Back to the caverns, his own adventureland of endless possibility. Jay Jay hummed happily as he began to investigate the first three chambers, dropping his croutons, arranging little piles of stones to give himself added clues to direction. He was aware how dangerous these mazes were, and he had no intention of ending his life. He felt a little frightened, which pleased him, and also very elated. At nine o’clock, ravenously hungry, he sat down with his back against a large rock and ate his sandwiches and drank his sodas, which were still cool. White paint, he thought, would be good for a secret message, or perhaps even luminous silver paint if he could find it. He knew there wasn’t anything he couldn’t find if he wanted to. He would invent ancient runes—aha!
Feeling very tired and cozy after his supper and his athletic and intellectual efforts, he lay down, pulling the hood of his coat over his head to act as a sort of pillow. It wouldn’t do to go back to the dorm tonight, then nobody would worry about him. He would go back tomorrow. And meanwhile, somehow it seemed as if sleeping here gave him proprietorship, making the caverns his own. He slept, and dreamed of the game, dreamed that they all loved him. A whole tribe of Sprites was sitting on little stone mushrooms, all applauding for him. You are the cleverest of all, O Freelik the Frenetic of Glossamir ! they cried admiringly in their tiny voices. They were wearing silken robes in pale, iridescent colors, and every one of them looked just like him.
The next morning was cold and clear. Jay Jay rode back to the dorm in triumph, his motorbike a charger; feeling that he had indeed discovered a treasure. He was gratified to see that the others were very upset over his disappearance, particularly Kate.
“Where
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