Wevwet's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Wevwet couldn't stand still. His hands were sealed shut, fingers laced under a wad of pink gum. He couldn't grip a thing or twist anything free. Panic took over. He ran off the porch and across the yard, his trapped hands stuck out in front of him like a boat's prow. He crashed through brush and stumbled over roots. A lush fern slapped his knees as he ran past it. He kept going, because stopping meant thinking, and thinking only made it worse. He broke into a clearing and nearly fell over the edge of a small watering hole. Clear water rippled inside a rim of stone. Two fish, one orange and one gray, slid under the surface. Wevwet dropped to his knees, gasping. He stared at his laced fingers. Maybe water would loosen the gum. It was worth a try. He plunged both hands under the surface. The cold hit him. Then the world tilted. The watering hole was gone. The trees were gone. Wevwet knelt on cracked stone between two tall walls. Weathered gray blocks rose high on either side, carved with faded curling lines. A maze. He was inside a maze, and he had no idea how. He lifted his hands to his face. They came apart. The gum was gone. His fingers spread wide and free. He wiggled every one of them and laughed, a raw, surprised bark. He flexed his hands open and shut, again and again, just because he could. Then he looked around and stopped laughing. The walls went up past his reach. Passages branched left and right into shadow. He didn't know which way led out. He picked a direction and walked. The first turn dead-ended. He backtracked. The second bent left, then left again, and he found himself where he'd started. He pressed one hand flat against the cold stone wall. His father had taught him a trick, years back. Keep one hand on the wall and never lift it. Follow every turn it makes. The wall would carry you out. Wevwet set his right palm on the stone and walked. He kept his hand there through each turn, each dead-end, each long straight stretch. His legs ached. His palm scraped raw. He did not lift his hand. The passage curved one last time, and light spilled across the floor ahead. He stepped out through a gap in the wall. The trees stood around him again. The watering hole sat quiet at his back, the two fish gliding under the surface. Wevwet held up his hands and turned them over in the light. Clean. Free. The gum was gone for good. He pressed his fingertips to his scalp, feeling the bare skin where the chair had been. His hands were his own again. He breathed hard and grinned at the empty woods. For the first time all day, nothing was stuck to him.