Tourist Trap

Chapter 3

Sarah felt an intense tingling sensation in her stomach and then her entire body felt as if it had turned into liquid. Bright lights of every color imaginable flashed and swirled all around her and she felt like she was accelerating rapidly. A distinct crackling noise enveloped the air around her and grew louder and louder as she went faster and faster. Just when it seemed as if the noise were so loud that her head would explode, everything suddenly slowed down and the noise vanished. She felt her body start to solidify and then the next thing she knew she was standing in the middle of a road made of bright green bricks.

There were two buildings on either side of her, both painted in very bright colors and characterized by bizarre architecture. Neither building was built in any sort of recognizable geometric shape, but rather had asymmetrical designs, with various nooks and crannies jutting out in odd directions. The building on the left had a flashing neon sign that read "Smelly Pete's Tavern," while the building on the right had a life-sized statue of a smiling lion standing on its hind legs, wearing a tuxedo, and holding a sign that read simply "Tourist Bureau." The exterior of this building seemed to be slowly shifting patterns. 

She heard another loud crackle behind her. This was followed in quick succession by a crashing noise, the rustling of leaves, and a voice saying "Ouch." She turned around to see that Zeke had materialized on top of a tree about thirty feet down the road behind her. 

"Are you all right?" she called out to him. 

"I'm a little scraped and bruised but, all right. How about you?" 

"I'm fine," she replied. "I landed gently right on my feet in the middle of the road." 

"I wonder why we didn't just arrive at the exact same spot?" Zeke mused. 

"Who knows?" Sarah said. "So how are you going to get down from there?" 

"I'm not sure," he replied. His problem was abruptly solved when the branch he was clinging to suddenly gave out underneath him and he crashed to the ground. "Ouch," he groaned again. 

Sarah pulled him to his feet and he dusted himself off. "You okay?" 

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. He looked around confusedly. "I've seen some damn crazy things working for your uncle, but this has got to seriously take the cake.  Where the hell are we?" 

"I don't know," Sarah admitted. "It's kind of freaky.  Maybe we should go to that tourist bureau there." 

"Oh yeah," Zeke said, noticing the buildings for the first time. "Wait a minute, screw that. There's a tavern across the street. Well, I know where I'm going." He started to walk towards the tavern but Sarah stood in his way. "Out of the way, woman," Zeke said. "There's beer to be drunk." 

"Hold on," she said. "We're in a strange land and we have to find Vance and my uncle. We don't know the first thing about this place. I think we should go to the tourist bureau." 

"Now just a second," Zeke said. "If Vance arrived anywhere near this spot, which of those buildings do you think he would have gone in? Besides, taverns are great places to get information." 

"Well, why don't we go to the tourist bureau first and then check out the tavern?" Sarah asked. "Unless you want to split up?" 

Zeke suddenly realized that this was a great opportunity to spend some time with Sarah. Maybe it wasn't the most ideal of circumstances, but he'd take what he could get. "No, you're right. We're in a strange place. We'd better stick together. Close together. Just promise me we'll get to go to the tavern after the tourist bureau." 

"I promise," Sarah smiled. 

They walked up a small flight of stairs past the lion statue until they came to a large purple door. Sarah reached for the knob but the entire door evaporated into thin air before her hand came in contact with it.