Wishful Thinking

A Very Loud Voice

Stephanie had begun to regret her decision to head into the swamp after seeing some of the local flora and fauna. The swamp was unusually hot and humid compared to the rest of the Labyrinth. It was also dank and dismal, and reeked of a blend of sickly sweet smells and the stench of rotting meat and flesh.

At first, Stephanie thought it was perhaps from the slime that was still clinging to her or that something had died, but she soon discovered that the plants were to blame. Each possessed a scent that was equally as strange as its appearance. Although this was clearly a swamp or marshland, many of the plants seemed tropical and were very colorful and oddly shaped. It was only after looking very closely that she was able to determine what many of them were supposed to be: from stringy red moss and brightly colored fungi, to black flowers that looked like bats and orchids that looked like skulls, to plants that looked like they had corpse's fingers hanging from them and cone-shaped flowers as tall as human beings, to various pitcher plants and mutated Venus fly traps and other carnivorous plants, to flowers with eyes and cabbage-like plants with actual teeth—all ranging from average to unbelievable sizes. And then there were the insects, which more than a few of the plants snapped at with a greedy hunger. Not only was the air buzzing with your run-of-the-mill mosquitos, treehoppers, and lantern flies, but there were also some real freaks of nature fluttering around. Describing the majority of them would be far too upsetting. Aside from these strange plants and insects, not much else seemed capable of living in this harsh environment. In short, the place was an absolute horror show.

It was just as well she had to keep her eyes on the ground in front of her to make sure she avoided any puddles of acid that may have seeped to the surface. The corrosive substance that had made such short work of the metal gate and garbage sludge seemed to be everywhere. The soil was damp with it in most areas, so she could never escape it completely, and it had begun to eat away at the soles of her shoes.

Stephanie paused when she heard a suspicious rustling sound behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, and then promptly took off running as fast as was possible while avoiding acid puddles and snapping plants. What Stephanie had failed to notice up until this point, was that the small trail of blood drops dripping from her wounded hands had not gone unnoticed, and she was, even now, being pursued by a creeping mass of suspicious vines and tendrils that had been sent out in search of food by an unseen predator. Whatever it was, Stephanie had no intention of finding out. She had no doubt that if the vines seized her, she would be dragged back to their source and devoured.

She was able to put a fair distance between herself and the mysterious predator, but her escape route was abruptly cut off when the path she was on, framed by two free-standing stone statues at disparaging heights, ended right at the edge of what appeared to be an enormous lake of acid.

When she skidded to a halt, a small rock tumbled into the water with a soft plunk and a sizzle. Panting and desperate, she was about to turn and attempt to go around it, even though there was no end to it in sight, when a voice spoke.

"Don't disturb the water!"

Stephanie blinked and glanced back at the two statues. Looking more closely, the grotesquely carved figures appeared to be holding objects that vaguely resembled musical instruments, but none like she had ever seen before. The short and squat statue was grinning cheekily at her, while the tall and bony one watched her with a dour expression.

It was the tall, bony one who spoke. "The Swamp Beast lives in there, girl!" he said in alarm. "He's your worst enemy in those waters."

The short and squat one spoke next. "Well, we say water, but it's really acid. He's the only beast that can survive living down there, and he's your only way to the other side. You are looking to cross the lake, right?"