Domed. (Previously Pageant To The Death)

T W O - Hidden Treehouse in the Big Ol' Tree

T W O - Hidden Treehouse in the Big Ol' Tree

After diving into the water, we swim downwards. A large boulder comes into view and either side of it is a dark abyss. As we get nearer to it, I start fiddling with the end of my braid. Securing it is bobble with a charm on it. The charm is shaped as a tree, and I push it into a little dent the same shape in the rock. A hole immediately appears in the centre of the boulder and I swim through. As soon as I pass the surface of the hole, I am met with air. Water cannot penetrate the force field Ingrid put there. Nothing, but humans, could, unless if the human was holding something, then there were exceptions. It is a bit of a fall, but I am prepared for it and put my legs out in front of me. They sting a bit at first, but the pain soon dissolves away. I stand against the hard wall of this room so I am out of the way when David falls in.

We are now in a cylinder-shaped room, with bare, raggedy rock walls. After a minute, the hole shuts automatically as always and all light is lost, but having done this thousands of times and knowing the hole would leave no light after closing, I have already grabbed the torch that was wedged between a space in the rock. In between another crevice in the rock there is also a towel that is always there. I pick it up and start drying my hair which is dripping everywhere. I hand it to David and begin searching. By the time I find what I was looking for, David is done drying himself.

What I find is a little clump of moist moss. The rock walls are dry and bare (despite being underwater) so this little piece of moss is what we use to hide the secret door. Once I've found it, I know that right above it is the little tree-shaped dent. Grabbing my bobble, I fit it in again and a little round hole appears. I fix my bobble safely back on my hair, before hiking up my dress and squatting before the hole.

"See you at the bottom," I say to David, before disappearing into the hole. I am going at top speed once inside because the hole leads to a slide. The slide is dark and that's why I took the torch; I am scared of the dark. David doesn't mind though. It takes about 30 seconds to get down a slid that is probably about 6 miles. It is very, very steep. It gradually gets slower as the slide becomes less steep. At the bottom, I land in a pool of clear water. It isn't very deep as it is only there so David and I don't get a nasty fall after the slide. The water only makes my legs up until my knees wet, and my arms up until my shoulders (because I fall forward and my hands land first). It feels a bit of a waste to keep the towel up there instead of down here where we get wet again, but there is no where to put it down here.

I quickly get to my feet and run out of the water so that David won't land on me. He comes after a couple of seconds and lands in the water exactly as I did. I help him to his feet and we walk forward. This tunnel we are now in is rather like a drain pipe. It s damp, water keeps dripping from the top, it is long and cylinder, the walls are smooth and rounded. Did I mention this place reeks? The smell is sour and rotten, but I soon get used to it. The rock room at the top of the slide is a vertical cylinder, while this one is a horizontal one. That one is dry, this one is damp. That one is rock, this one is concrete. That one has little crevices, this one is completely smooth.

We walk for about a kilometre before finally getting out of the other end of the pipe. Now, we are met with a completely bare room made of dirt. Unlike the other one, this is square and is underground. The dirt is black and so resulting in a dark room. David feels along the dirt for a toadstool, and when he finds it, he twists it. The dirt he is standing in front of forms into a door, with the toadstool transforming into a shiny knob. He pushes the door open and the whole room is lighted by the sun outside. I switch off the torch and hide it in a dark corner of the room, before following David out.

From here on, things are simple. We are in my favourite place in the world; Ingrid's garden. This is where I learnt what trees look like. This is where I learnt how beautiful and green real grass is. This is where I learnt how to read, write and learnt the songs of olden times. In the centre of the garden is a humungous tree, and without hesitation, David and I walk straight to it.

I knock on the bark using our secret knock, and a rope ladder comes flying down. I grab a firm hold of it and begin making my way up. This tree is huge, and goes way high up. When we reach the middle branches, I catch sight of it. It being Ingrid's house. And said house is a gorgeous, wooden, treehouse. I climb quickly up, excited to meet with her.

When I get to the house, the door is already open and I can smell something delicious inside. I enter the house, calling out cheerily, "Isn't it an gorgeous day, Ingrid? How are you?"

She is seated on her little chair on the balcony, looking out over her garden. "I agree, Adrianna, it's a fantastic day."

I go onto the balcony and give her wrinkly cheek a little peck. Ingrid is old, very old. But she still has a young sparkle in her eyes. "Where's my grandson?" She inquires, knowing I never come without him.

"I'm here, Gran," David calls from what sounds like the kitchen.

"Don't touch the blackberry pie, now," she warns him and I am sure I hear him cuss at being caught in his plans.

I look curiously at the happy, old woman. "You baked a pie?"

"That's not all, my dear, I baked cookies, cupcakes, made fruit salad, the whole lot."

"You've had a busy day," I remark, thinking how much effort she must have put into it in her old age. The tastiest sounding was the fruit salad. At the city there are no fruits or vegetables, no one even knows what they are. But Ingrid grows them right here in this little garden of hers, and I treasure any chance of consuming them.

"Only the best for you love."

"For me?" I ask, frowning in puzzlement.

"You think I forgot your birthday, you soon-to-be-woman?" She chuckles.

"It's tomorrow, Ingrid." I remind her.

"I know! But with all the hustle and bustle of you being a woman for the first time, I don't think you'd have time to come see me."

"Of course I'd come see you, Ingrid."

"No, you'll want to come see me but your mother wouldn't hear of you going out. Not on your 18th birthday." That was true. "So I thought ahead."

I pull my arms over her shoulders, "I wish you were my Grandma."

A sudden loud clang from the kitchen brings us apart and we look worriedly in the direction it came from. "David!" I scream, running to the kitchen, praying he is okay.

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Dedication for the AWESOME cover to the side! I wish I could still use it but I changed the title for this book. Anyway, go follow her and read her really great story too!

Hope you are having a fantastic day, cheers! Xx