Lilibet’s Labyrinth - INT2024

   Argo took flight, his leash scathing Lilibet’s delicate palms as she struggled to restrain him.

   “Argo! Stop! Heel, come back… Argo… Stop!” Lilibet’s pleading dissipated in the breeze.

   As Argo ran on, Lilibet slowed as her mind raced back in time. It was exactly a year ago that her beloved nanna, Abigail, had passed. Lilibet’s mother had tried to fill the void with a puppy; a handsome and peppy Border Collie. She had named him Argo and loved him from day one, but he could never replace her grandmother.

   On this brisk and overcast autumn day, Lilibet was taking Argo to the local park for his daily exercise. She was clad in a long velvet skirt, woolly cardigan, plimsolls and a flowery silk scarf her nanna had gifted her. She wasn’t worried about Argo’s whereabouts because she knew he would be waiting patiently at the entrance of the park; running ahead had become a game to him.

   As Lilibet neared what should have been the corner of the park’s perimeter and wrought iron fencing, she was baffled. Instead of the fence there was a tall, lush, emerald green hedge, standing at least twelve feet tall. The hedge ran uninterrupted to where the entrance gate should have been. There, she found Argo, who was also perplexed and sat there gazing at a massive open hedge archway. Lilibet was accustomed to strange events in her life, so, without hesitating, she picked up Argo’s leash and decided to explore this new wondrous green domain. Once they passed beneath the arch, the sky brightened and the warming sun shined upon them.

   Quite puzzlingly, an angelic voice caressed her ears, “Lilibet, sweetie, welcome to the magical realm of The Labyrinth.”

   Argo’s ears pricked up and scanned for the source, Lilibet, too, pirouetted and looked all around until she saw, from the top of the archway, a pearlescent gold spider descending on an amber tether, stopping eyelevel with Lilibet; this beautiful creature, glistening in the sunlight, continued her introduction.

   “Don’t be afraid, my dear; my name is Ariadne and I am here to guide you on your adventure. Nod, who sends his love, allowed me to accompany you; The Labyrinth can be a dangerous place and mortals and creatures have often gotten lost inside it, never to escape its multicursal maze.”

   Lilibet felt a strange affiliation to her new friend. Ariadne had two large celestial blue eyes… and six more tiny ones around her rotund head. Fearlessly, Lilibet allowed Ariadne to land on her open palm and spoke softly, “Hello Ariadne, I’m so pleased to meet you and to know that Nod still thinks of me. I wish I could see him again, and nanna, too; I miss them so much.”

   Ariadne, gazing lovingly at Lilibet replied, “My darling, of course; Nod could never forget you, and your dear nanna is with you everywhere and always. Now, what say you, shall we explore this amazingly intricate and fantastic world?”

   “I’d love to!”, urged Lilibet, “But which way?” She looked right and left and all the grassy paths looked identical, with the tall hedges forming endless galleries. Apprehensively, she added, “And should we get lost, how do we return?”

   Ariadne smiled, “Do not fear, honey, my web will keep us safe. I will spin a strong string as we proceed that will allow us to retrace our steps. If Argo doesn’t mind, may I rest on his rump, thus allowing my golden thread to trail behind us? Now, you have but to choose a direction to start our fantastic journey.”

   With that, Lilibet pointed left and said, “Thank you, Ariadne, let’s go this way." Lilibet and Argo, with Ariadne safely on board, merrily marched onwards. They reached the end of the straight path, which eventually veered right, then left; a few minutes later, another series of meandering trails brought them to a very long, almost infinite passageway. Ariadne was an excellent storyteller and to keep her guests entertained, she recounted fabulous yarns and fables about The Labyrinth.

   All this time Lilibet had noticed Argo had been strangely well behaved, not minding Ariadne riding on him. He occasionally turned his head back to make sure she hadn’t fallen off. Lilibet also looked back to see if Ariadne’s web could be seen. Reassuringly, it was still there in all its splendid sparkling glory, resting on the short grass.

   As they continued on this longer trek, Lilibet’s tummy lightly rumbled, she had not eaten anything since breakfast and this excursion had made her hungry. The sage Ariadne intervened, “Lilibet, you must be peckish, if only we had brought something to eat, we could stop for a break.” To which Lilibet sadly replied, “I’m sorry, too, I hadn’t planned on being out so long and it’s that time of day that I normally give Argo his biscuit treat. We’ll just have to be patient.” Lilibet had hardly finished speaking that Argo suddenly shot off like a rocket, yapping excitedly; Ariadne clinging on for dear life.

   Lilibet picked up her skirt and chased after them. As she caught up, in the middle of the path, amazingly, there was a waist-high stone circular column pedestal. Atop of it there was a glorious red cherry pie, with a long triangular silver spatula next to it. Lilibet’s eyes widened, “Ariadne, look, do you think that is for us?” Ariadne chuckled, “Well sweetie, The Labyrinth can be cruel, but at times it is benevolent. It sees inside people’s souls and fulfils their desires; but only for the kind-hearted and gentle in nature.”

   “Well, then I thank The Labyrinth Spirit for its generous offering. We will only take what is necessary to nourish us for the remainder of the journey, the rest we shall leave for other weary travellers. Lilibet proceeded to cut a slice for Argo, who sniffed it and then, quite contently, chomped away. Lilibet picked up Ariadne and placed her on the pie, which she couldn’t eat, but slurped its tangy-sweet cherry nectar and to which she exulted, “Oh my, this is heavenly! It takes me back to…”, she stopped mid-sentence.

   Lilibet, who had taken a small slice of pie for herself, paused eating and squinted hard at Ariadne, feeling a comforting sense of home as she focused on Ariadne’s deep blue eyes… akin to diving inside a snow globe and finding a beloved place frozen in time.

   Ariadne, teary-eyed, all eight of them, turned her gaze and began walking in inward-spiralling circles from the edge of the pie to its centre; spinning a thick web that covered the exposed pie, “There we go, that will keep the pie fresh and the pesky flies away.”

   As Lilibet finished the last crumbs of her sublime slice of pie, she helped Ariadne back onto Argo’s back and said melancholically, “I’m so happy you are with us, Ariadne, we would be lost without you.” Still cleaning the cherry sauce from her legs, Ariadne replied, “Sweet Lilibet, it was my deepest wish to be with you on this special day.”

   With renewed vigour, the intrepid trio continued their quest. The paths seemed to be getting shorter with every new turn; Lilibet felt that they were nearing the centre of the maze. What they would find was still a mystery. Ariadne, continued to narrate the mysteries of The Labyrinth; tales of heroes, monsters, fair maidens, brave knights, mystical creatures, goblins and unicorns… the stuff dreams, and nightmares, are made of.

~~ continued ~~

   Lilibet listened intently, trying to remember all the details to complement her diary, custodian of the adventures she had had in the Land of Nod. Her deep concentration was rudely disrupted by a bellowing roar that shook the ground and the leaves of the hedged walls. Trepidatiously, they all looked at each other and Ariadne exclaimed, “Oh my, I think we are upon the Den of Tavros.”

   Lilibet now trembling, “Tavros… who… what… is it?”

   Ariadne continued, “My Lilibet, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention Tavros earlier. He is a lonely Minotaur, with the head of a bull and the body of a man, and The Labyrinth is his home. Unfortunately, I know not if he is friend or foe.”

   Lilibet, always one to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, “Well, for now let’s call him our frenfoe.” Bravely, she took the lead, heading in the direction whence the tremoring sound had come. Thus, it was that Lilibet turned the last corner and found herself at the entrance of a vast square yard. It had the same jade coloured hedge all around, but the floor wasn’t covered in grass. Instead, there were black and white chequered ceramic tiles. The pattern was disorientating due to the three dimensional effect of the design.

   Opposite the entrance there was a massive stone throne and sat upon it, Tavros, looking just as Ariadne had described, but much more imposing. Now that Lilibet could see him, she noticed he was not roaring, but snoring, fast asleep as he sat on his throne.

   As she, Argo and Ariadne tentatively moved forward and stepped on the tiled floor, Tavros awoke from his slumber and bellowed, “Halt, who goes there? Who dares to enter my domain?”

   Lilibet, taking a deep breath, “Hello, my name is Lilibet and these are my friends, Ariadne and Argo. We mean you no harm.”

   Tavros stood up, his ginormous stature, about 8 or 10 feet tall, cast a shadow that blanketed Lilibet and the others in darkness. As he didn’t care for visitors or friends, in his wrath he avowed, “Well, I hope you enjoy your stay because it will be forever once I finish devouring all of you.” Tavros began to lumber towards his visitors, the ground shaking with each step.

   At this point, Argo, who we remember had been tranquil throughout the adventure, sprung to attack Tavros. With all his Border Collie acumen, he began to run in circles around the Minotaur, who, as cumbersome as he was, couldn’t catch him. As Tavros kept turned to keep up with Argo, he stumbled and fell backwards, hitting awkwardly his stone throne. He was out cold and his left arm was bleeding from having struck one of the sharply edged armrest.

   Ariadne, speechless until then, implored Lilibet, “Please, honey, let us depart before Tavros wakes up!” Lilibet knew Ariadne was right, but she couldn’t help feeling sorry for Tavros. After all, they had irrupted into his world and they should not have disturbed him. Lilibet hesitantly approached Tavros to take a closer look at his injury. Her initial fears were dispelled when she saw how fragile he was, notwithstanding his outward brutish appearance.

   She decided to treat his wound by taking a clean handkerchief from her skirt pocket. She dabbed away the blood and made a makeshift bandage with it. However, it would not stay in place, so, quick-wittedly, she took her silk scarf and began tying it around Tavros’s arm. Lilibet looked back at Ariadne, wide-eyed, nodded at Lilibet, acknowledging a job well done, even if it meant bequeathing her silk scarf to the beast.

   Tavros began grumbling and moving his limbs. Lilibet hastened to tie the scarf securely and re-joined Ariadne and Argo, and exclaimed, “Ok, now we should go… Tavros will be in an even worse mood when he wakes up.” All three made a speedy retreat back through the maze, following Ariadne’s golden string that had never lost its lustre. As they rounded each corner and the paths became longer, they knew they were nearly home and dry. In the distance they heard Tavros’s roar as he was now fully awake and started after them.

   They arrived at the stone pedestal, strangely, the red cherry pie was not covered with Ariadne’s cobweb, but instead was whole again and radiated as if it had just come out of a hot oven. They slowed down to marvel at the delicacy, but there was no time to waste. Tavros was nearly upon them when he reached the pie. He stopped abruptly and took a whiff of the delicious aroma.

   Lilibet and company looked back and were happily surprised to see that Tavros was eating slices of pie. He looked at them, rubbing his bandaged arm and in a compassionate, baritone voice said, “My dear Lilibet, I’m sorry I frightened you and your friends. Please feel free to visit me whenever you want… and thank you for your kindness and regard for my wound.”

   Ariadne was relieved, "You see, Lilibet, with your empathy, thoughtfulness and respect, you conquered the heart of a beast; I always knew you were an ingenious and special little girl, now a beautiful young lady; you make me very proud."

   Lilibet was taken aback by Ariadne words, she spoke as if she had known Lilibet all her life. She shrugged off the feeling, thinking she was seeing too much into this surreal adventure.

   With Tavros happily munching on his pie, and now that they were safely back to The Labyrinth's entrance, Ariadne thanked Lilibet and Argo for their company on this lovely and lively day, "My darling Lilibet, I think it is time for you and Argo to be heading home."

   Lilibet was deeply saddened, "Dear Ariadne, can't you come with us? It would be wonderful if you could stay with us." Ariadne, trying to hold back the tears, "I would love to, but I am not permitted to leave The Labyrinth. Nod will be waiting for me and I have many other assignments to complete. However, return here next year, same place, same time and I'm sure we'll meet again. I may not be a spider by then, but you will recognise me. Lilibet, always remember to look deep into the eyes of the people and creatures you encounter, for they are the windows to the soul and there you will find their true identity and purpose."

   Ariadne, crawled back into Lilibet's palm, caressed it gently with her legs and kissed it, "Now, Lilibet, please get close to the hedge so that I may crawl onto the leaves."

   Lilibet did as asked and Ariadne lithely climbed back up to the top of the archway. Lilibet took Argo by his leash and they slowly backed out of The Labyrinth. As she did so, the hedge and archway began to glow silvery-white... gradually brightening until Ariadne was out of sight behind the blinding aura. But, her celestial voice spoke one last time, "My sweet Lilibet, next time, be so kind as to bring the sweetest tea... you know it's my favourite. In return, I'll gift you a new silk scarf. Farewell until we meet again, I love you, Lilibet."

   Lilibet fell to her knees; she wept with a heavy heart and a flood of memories, yet, those same remembrances filled her with joy. As the light dimmed, the old park and wrought iron fencing reappeared. She rubbed her eyes, taking a second to contemplate about her nanna. Then, she and Argo took flight together, homeward bound, with her thinking to herself, "Dear Diary, you won't believe the tale I'm going to write you."

~~ The End ~~

I'm in tears... the good kind. Fabulous, Encia! I loved everything about your story.

excellent !

a reply to: zosimov

That's very kind of you to say, Zosimov! I hadn't intended for the story to be a tearjerker, but I let my emotions take over the narrative and it just went in that direction.

a reply to: 727Sky

Thank you very much, 727Sky!

a reply to: Encia22

Well I don't only cry when I'm sad; I'm a big sap. When something strikes me as especially beautiful or profound I cry, too

Very well done. I love all my mythology you wove in.

a reply to: zosimov

Ok Zosimov, then that's even better if it brought out those strong emotions. Your feedback really helps me gauge if I'm on the right track with my storytelling.

Yes, mythology, I bit off more than I could chew. As usual, I ended up having to do a deep dive to research this. Unfortunately, the myths are numerous and so I mixed and matched from various legends. Other elements are sourced from the two previous stories; making it a bit more difficult to reference previous events and characters, yet keeping it sensical as a stand-alone tale.

Thanks again!

a reply to: Encia22

I love this! Can I use your name in my story? You are a major part of it! Encia can I use?

a reply to: JJproductions

Thanks very much, JJ!

Absolutely, please check DMs...

a reply to: Encia22
A maze the attraction of unknown path that lies ahead especially if there are mythical creatures living inside of it .

It reminds me of David Bowies Labyrinth
Excellent story

a reply to: 0bserver1

I appreciate your feedback, 0bserver1.

Yes, I saw Labyrinth when I was a teen and watched it again a month ago for inspiration.

However, I was a bit disappointed as it didn't inpsire and I wasn't able to take anything from it. My Lilibet was already an established protagonist in my previous stories, so I didn't want to make her similar in character to the girl in the movie...too overpowering.

At least Bowie could always be counted on for the music.

Encia,

A brilliant series of stories, your talent should reach greater audiences.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

I'm touched and humbled by your message, F2d5thCavv2... if only my old English teacher could read this; I was his #1 flunky, lol.

I'd love to get my stories out for more people to enjoy; perhaps the greater audience would be more of Munchkin stature. Maybe an illustrated children's book somewhere down the line, as has been suggested by others...

By the way, your evolving story, The Past Is Calling, has great potential as a novel, or even the Big Screen! With bated breath, I await the next installment.