Swan Song

Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall Part 3

Lock found himself standing at the beginning of a pathway made up entirely of yellow bricks. He looked to his left, and saw a red wall there. Next he looked to his right, only to find a similar looking wall there, too. Finally, he realized he was standing in an alleyway, and had only one direction in which to head, so he took a step forward and followed the brick path. It lead him toward a garage, where a note was waiting for him. Bending down, he picked it up and started reading aloud.

"Some search for me their entire lives.

The heart is where my power thrives.

If you find me, you will know

When I die, I do it slow."

Looking around to check if anyone was there, Lock thought about the riddle. The answer came to him fairly quickly. "Love," he said, and the garage door open - only it didn't lead into a garage. Instead, the yellow pathway kept stretching across a grassy field, so he followed it further. He walked across the field, passed by several trees, and saw someone running in front of him, where the grass got thicker and taller.

"Wait!" he yelled, running after the person. It was hard to see, as the grass was taller than he was, but he pushed through it as best he could. He got so carried away that he barely stopped himself from falling into a creek that split the field in half. The other side was covered in snow, and he saw the same figure running through it, noting their hair to be blond. He looked around, but couldn't find a bridge, and the creek was too wide to be jumped over. Suddenly, an otter and a beaver jumped out of it, staring up at the boy.

"Hi," he said, but they didn't respond. In a few more seconds, planks started flying upward from the creek, assembling to build two separate bridges, one behind the beaver, and the other behind the otter.

"Halt!" the beaver said, speaking in a peculiar accent.

"To pass by us, thou must solve a riddle first!" added the Otter, clearly British.

"Why can't I just walk around you?" Lock asked, and the two animals burst out laughing.

"Oh ye can, me lad, but ye don't want ta," the beaver mused.

The otter continued, "Only one of the bridges will lead you toward the fields of ice. Walking upon the other will lead to a death most fowl, for it will crumble away before thou cross it."

"Ta find out which is which-"

"-thou must think and ponder-"

"-the riddle we present ya."

Frowning, Lock looked from one bridge to the other, unable to find a difference. "Ok then. What's the riddle?"

"Ask of us a wee question," replied the beaver.

"Thou must ponder it carefully, for one of us always lies."

"And the other tells the truth."

They pointed at each other. "He's the liar!"

Lock nearly asked them if the point was to figure out which one was lying, but then stopped himself, realizing that would've been the single question he'd been allowed. Instead, he thought about it, knowing he'd heard of the riddle before. It was a popular one, and several adventure books he'd read had contained it.

If I ask which one is telling the truth, they'll just do the same thing, he thought. I can't ask them to tell me which bridge leads to safety, either, 'cause then one would point to that one, while the other would lead me to my death.

"Aha!" the boy exclaimed, raising a finger. "Which bridge would the other one point me to if I asked them to point me to the bridge that leads me to safety."