• The first thing you feel is the scent of wood flooding your nostrils. Your head pounds with both confusion and emotions. You can barely feel your arms and your legs. However, you try to get up to your feet. It is only now that you realize it. Your sight is blocked! You are wearing a blindfold but your hands and feet are not tied up together. You have no memory of how you got here, wherever here might be, or of anything before that. Your legs burn and sting burdened by your own weight. It seems that your muscles are completely numbed. You let yourself fall to the floor as you try to calm both your mind and your heart. "Why am I here?" you ask yourself.

    Fear floods the core of your soul. You feel abandoned, scared and confused. Too many questions rise up in your mind and you can answer none. One of them is pounding obsessively inside your skull louder and louder. "Why am I here? Why am I here? WHY AM I HERE?" you cannot stop asking yourself but the morbid silence around you is the answer each and every time. You start to touch the floor bit by bit with your fingertips. It feels familiar, like wood, but that does not make you feel any safer. You hesitate but finally decide to release yourself from this current state. You take a deep breath and slowly take off your blindfold with both hands, letting it drop to the ground. It seems to be an eternity before your eyes open.

    Your eyes are caressed by a gentle light which comes from three lit candles lying in a corner on the floor. Strangely enough you find yourself in a windowless and doorless room. Even stranger is the fact that the room is entirely made out of wood, wood which does not seem to be divided into planks or tiles. The walls, floor and ceiling of this cube-like room appear to be 'carved' in a very large block of wood. "How did I get in here?" you wonder but, before you are able to think of an answer, a strange chill wraps around your spine like a snake. You no longer feel alone and, as you turn, you find a little girl standing behind you. Through her brown curly locks two sparkling green eyes gaze into yours. "Hello!" she says joyfully "Do you want to play a game?"

    The little girl listens to your question and her smile fades a little as she stares distantly into the three candles. It seems that this question has a great meaning for her. "What type of game?" she mutters "Hmmm…" her joyful smile reappears on her face and the girl acts more excited than before "While taking into consideration the numerous factors involved…" she starts with mock serious tone "… as well as our own traits and properties, I am compelled to reach to the conclusion that the answer to your short but very meaningful question may be only one: a Game! So… Do you want to play a Game?" she asks excitedly barely managing to hold in her laughter. You are completely and entirely befuddled.

    You never thought a little girl could be so intimidating. Right after you answered her second question her eyes grew darker with what seemed to be a very deep and powerful rage. She remained in that state staring in your eyes, through your eyes, pinning you to the wall behind you. The Wood Room is dead silent. Her mind seems to be far away now and you do not want to disturb her. She is not an ordinary little girl. "She's going to move sooner or later…" you comfort yourself "She looks really scary, her eyes are almost burning inside hear head… I wonder why…" "Do you want to play a Game?" she suddenly asks you with a very angry tone. "She's scary! Well… That was unexpected! What should I tell her this time?"

    As she hears your voice, the little girl blinks and smiles. She looks as if she had never been upset in the first place. Somehow this does not surprise you… Not many things have ever since you awakened. A feeling of calmness settles inside your soul and you feel ready, knowing that something will soon change. The Game begins… She takes your hands and smiles. Her feet leave the floor and she pulls you up towards the ceiling. A powerful light blinds your eyes. Her voice speaks gently. "My name is Marind. I hope I have all the answers you need but I wish to ask you a favor in return: a long time ago, my life was taken without my will… I was murdered… Please, seek out the name of the one who killed me! You will allow me my eternal rest by doing this. You are my hope…" she lets go of your hands and vanishes.

    Your vision starts to slowly clear, but you feel dazed and confused. It is daylight outside. You can see the bright Sun shining over your face. You find yourself in the middle of a Carnival, crowded with smiling faces that all seem to move in the rhythm of an enchanting music. You look around to your left and to your right, up and down searching for the small Wood Room, but find nothing. However, you see something shine on the grassy floor. As you pick up the item, you realize it was not a Gold Coin as you first thought, but a strange Wood Box. The Box feels familiar to the touch and for a second the idea of you being pulled out of such a small cube passes your mind. It gives you chills and your stomach churns with nausea, as you imagine yourself slowly and painfully getting out of the cube. You faint.

    When you open your eyes the Sun is still up. You are lying on the grassy floor, next to the alley you were on. The crowds of the Carnival keep moving on and nobody seems to notice you. You feel rested, but apparently, the Sun has not moved at all from where it was. In your hand you find the weird Wood Box. As you look at the strange item you feel the nausea in your stomach. You quickly put it in your pocket and try to think of something else. ‘What is this strange place where people ‘come out’ of Boxes and night never comes?’ you wonder. The music makes you lose focus and you are afraid. You are alone, tired, thirsty and hungry. ‘How can I be thinking of food at a time like this?’ you ask yourself out loud.

    Everywhere you look, you see crowds of happy people smiling cheerfully. A few clowns juggle and walk on stilts, entertaining the public and, in the distance, you see a couple of vendors selling balloons and other Carnival trinkets. ‘No food, huh? And even if they had food, I have no money to buy it… Maybe, if…’ Your thoughts are interrupted by someone behind you, who keeps poking his finger into your shoulder. It is a clown, wielding a gigantic Mallet. He takes a swing and the bloodlust in his eyes makes you freeze in panic and close your eyes. As the Mallet hits your head, you hear a loud “Squeeek!”. The clown and the crowds around you start laughing. Embarrassed, you confiscate the strange Mallet and give the clown a mean look. It is just a party trick! You feel yourself blushing as the crowd laughs on.

    As you raise the Mallet into the air, the clown starts to pretend he is scared, but as you imitate his gaze of bloodlust, you clearly see his little face covered in white makeup become a little whiter. As you hear the loud “Squeeek!” and see the clowns face, you start to laugh. The crowds around you point at the clown. It feels good to laugh, it relaxes you and it makes everything, the people, and the scenery, around you look better. You give the clown back his giant Mallet and smile as he and the crowds keep walking on, hitting other unsuspecting victims. You slowly start to walk away in the opposite direction. You take a few steps before your stomach starts to growl. You almost forgot about that.


    You keep walking around the paths of the carnival, desperately trying to find something to eat. You see people all around, animated by the music and the clowns, but nobody around here seems to have anything to eat. You start looking in the trees next to the paths, hoping you will find fruit or something similar. You keep looking but with no success. You sit down underneath a tree and close your eyes. Your tired mind starts to imagine food. All sorts of exotic foods parade through your mind, some tempting you, others taunting you. You feel your stomach go insane and you open your eyes. ‘I never thought day dreaming could be so dangerous to one’s sanity…’

    After a while, you fall asleep under the big shady tree. You do not dream much, but you see the Wood Box. It is a long sleep and even though the Carnival music keeps singing, you manage to sleep undisturbed. When you finally open your eyes, the first thing you notice is that although it is still up, the Sun is no longer in the same place. Your vision is blurred, due to the long sleep. When things finally manage to take shape around you, you realize that the little girl from the Wood Room, Marind, is sitting down right in front of you. You feel that now familiar chill on your back. Suddenly, you are no longer hungry. Maybe Marind… ‘For how long have you been there, little ghost?’ you ask her and yawn lazily. ‘Follow me… Please!’ she whispers and then she gets up and starts walking.

    You quickly catch up with Marind. She looks at you and smiles. It is one of her cute smiles, and she does not look hateful at all. ‘Do you know where we are going, Marind?’ ‘Away!’ she answers. ‘Away? Away from what?’ you ask her, amazed of her answer. She stops and looks at you. She looks very upset and she does not answer. When she starts walking again, her pace is faster and at first you can barely keep up. ‘What could be scary enough to frighten this little ghost in such a manner?’ you wonder. However you decide to, at least for a while, put your curiosity for the matter aside. Once again, she looks at you and smiles.

    Even though the alley ways are crowded, you still manage to move quickly. You have no idea where you are, but the music here seems to be a little different. It sounds like whispers, inviting you. You break out of the trance when Marind takes your hand. ‘If you become a slave to the melody, I can no longer help you. My advice mortal, if you wish to live, never listen to the whispers.’ Marind tells you. You continue walking and she is quiet once more. The melody is indeed putting you in a trance, but as long as you have something to think about, you can snap out of it. Not much time passes before you realize that since Marind is holding your hand, although you feel awkward, you are no longer hungry or tired.

    It feels like you have been walking for days, but without the presence of night, it is very hard to tell. There never seems to be a Sun dawn or a Sun dusk. It just sits there above you, moving in a strange trajectory. The hypnotic melody faded away some time ago and no clowns or crowds crossed you path for a very long while. ‘What is the Carnival?’ you ask Marind out of the blue. ‘A dream.’ Marind answers and her hand twitches. ‘A dream? You mean to say I am asleep?’ you ask her in amazement. ‘No, you are awake. It is not your dream. The Carnival is a dream. If it awakes, you will be trapped inside it for Centuries. You are safe now, but you must get away.’

    Marind does not answer. Instead, she holds your hand tighter and starts to walk faster. Her fear is obvious. Finally, after what seems to be an eternity, you ask her to rest even though, surprisingly, after whole days of walking, you are not at all tired. ‘The Carnival is a sentient being… It has a soul of its own and it feeds with the souls of those trapped inside it. That is why you were in the Wood Room.’ She tells you after you sit down. After a long moment of silence, you get up again and start walking faster. Although it sounds unbelievable, your entire being tells you it is true, even though you have no memory of being trapped inside the Carnival. A sudden light blinds you for a second and you hear Marind scream. ‘It has awakened!’ you hear her tell you after your vision clears.

    Everywhere you look, you see only the grassy alleyway and the trees. The Carnival has entirely disappeared and no mark of its presence remains. Your entire body is overwhelmed with a sensation of calmness. You see a pair of beautiful Iron Gates in front of you. ‘You are safe now. The Carnival is gone, at least for now. This place, this park, is my home. Although, it looks peaceful, it has its secrets. You have the heart of an adventurer and you shall find true adventure after you cross those Gates.’ she speaks. ‘Marind, you asked for my help, after you helped me. I shall not leave until my debt is fulfilled!’ you tell her and smile. ‘Thank you so much!’ a moment later she hugs you and starts to cry.