“Upon my word, you must think me a fool!” said she and slammed the door.
Mercy looked at the limp bouquet of wildflowers in her hand, and shook her head back and forth.
‘This is his grand gesture for my affection?” she said angrily out loud, then fell to the floor in tears.
But – the floor opened up and she tumbled down a -
chute, but surprisingly enough, she landed on her feet. When she came to, she found herself looking at a rather cramped space with rough walls where moisture was evaporating … dripping … There was a big, heavy door though and a little bit of light was trickling out underneath it….
enough light so that she could see that one of the heavy pieces of wood at the bottom was rotten. She tossed the wilted flowers aside and knelt before the door. She dug her fingers into the rotted wood, gave a frantic yank, and fell back on the wet floor. Rising, she kicked at the splintered wood until, when she knelt and peered through the hole, she could see what lay beyond the ruined door. Her eyes grew round with wonder and fear for she found herself looking straight into the eyes of
a person that seemed familiar, all too familiar. She closed her eyes for a second or two, then looked again.
“Yep,” she thought to herself. “This time I’ve really lost it.”