The midnight, summer breeze felt fresh over her face. The whole world dancing beautiful once more. She was on an adventure -- a quest! To reclaim her lost property. What a sensible thing to do. And she even knew the way... to the lake, at least. She smiled sincerely as a giggle of exotically-dressed women frolicked past. The lake was sublime, dark waters wisped in low mist and dotted with islands of magical lights. The colourful displays blooming and fading with melodious harmony. Japanese paper-lanterns lined the long, wooden bridge -- warm, blossom-pink glow. Nearing the other side, Sophie could see the Penis Totem Pole at the top of the hill. And from the top of the hill: the arched entrance to the Fairy Woods.
Not so many people in this part of the festival. She past a couple of stony-faced teenaged girls walking in the other direction. They wore matching angel outfits, and matching expressions, stomping along locked in an evenly-balanced sulking match. An unconscious man lay with a cowboy hat over his face. Sophie was the only person heading towards the woods. Giant Venus Fly Traps guarded the arched entrance -- bulbous, plaster-cast heads lolling around on invisible puppet strings.
It grew darker as she made her way into the forest -- the lanterns few and far between. Rows of stalls lined the wide, muddy path, but they'd all closed for the night -- shuttered up with metal fencing. The forest was deserted, atmosphere quiet and still. The lush fragrance of wood and soil. Shadowy trees meshed into a thick foliage above, with silvery ropes hanging from the trunks and branches in vast networks of cobweb.
A giant spider fighting a couple of velociraptors -- this must be it. Although this sculpture depicted the dinosaurs devouring the arachnid. Didn't Darren say it was the other way around? The woods were strewn with human-sized, plaster-cast models of spiders and velociraptors, locked in combat. Sophie's bones shuddered. She didn't much like spiders, especially giant ones... or velociraptors for that matter. And now she came across the macabre spectre of an enormous arachnid wrapping a dinosaur in a strangling cocoon of silk. It was horrible, but it seemed to be the landmark she was looking for.
The entrance to one of the nearby stalls was partially covered by a half-size fence. With the tall wall guarding the festival towering behind. The stall was carpeted in colourful rugs and set up as a meditation area, with cushions and mats piled towards the edges. Could see the hole from here, a shallow ditch worming under the great wall. Sophie wriggled past the little fence and moved to inspect the escape-route. Good, old Darren had actually given surprisingly accurate directions. Was it a good idea to sneak out of the festival... and head into the forest, alone... to search for a domineering madman with knives and a whip? No, obviously not! But she was here now.
She removed her feather jacket and pushed it through first. Not overly graceful as she squirmed onto her belly and slithered under the wall. It was tight, wriggling her hips to squeeze her buttocks through the narrow gap. How on earth did gangly Darren manage to manoeuvre himself through here? On the other side, she dusted herself down and peered into the forest. There were no lights... and she didn't have a torch. Shit! She started walking directly away from the wall. At first, the glow of the festival silvered the trees with faint illumination, but the light faded as she traipsed deeper.
She stumbled onto a little track that seemed to be heading in the right direction. The path kept her clear from most of the surrounding bushes and brambles, but branches kept reaching down to clip her in the face. It was almost pitch black on the forest floor. Could still just-about hear the distant hum emanating from the festival, but the stealthy silence was taking over. The resound of her own heavy breathing and throbbing heartbeat. Every time she stepped on a stick, loud snaps echoed through the woods. Clumsy thuds as she tripped on rudely-protruding roots.
