Siobhan and Michael first met while waiting in the tour group in front of the Temple Of Silver. He was a lean and graceful man standing with his hands in his slacks, listening to the guide tell them that the intricately carved gate to the labyrinth was silver-plated and had to be cleaned frequently, symbolizing the need to clean the body and the mind. She asked him to take a picture of her in front of it. He noticed her wavy chesnut hair and hazel eyes as they introduced themselves. Then his attention was pulled back to the guide.

“We don’t have enough time to do the temple and the labyrinth,” the guide said, his sallow face a mask of geniality. “Those of you who want to go to the labyrinth will have to go it alone. I will lead the group inside, where there is a gift shop. Please line up in front of the temple door or the labyrinth gate now.”

Siobhan stayed where she was by the gate. She was intrigued by the idea of the labyrinth. After a slight hesitation, Michael joined her. The other five people all lined up at the temple door.

“The two of you for the labyrinth. Brilliant! Just remember, the path was made to get you into a meditative state of mind. It will lead you to the center. Let it. Let go and relax. There’s no going beyond the center! That’s it. That’s your enlightenment.” He said the word “enlightenment” as if it were a fancy light fixture he was pointing out in a department store. “Follow me,” he said cheerfully to those who were going on the temple tour.

“Wait!” Siobhan said. She got out her notebook and pen. “How old is this?” She gestured behind her to the tall hedge of the labyrinth, which was spindly, gnarled and weathered. The green foliage was silvered as if it had gathered moon dust.

“Seven hundred years old,” the tour guide answered. “It was common long ago to leave a piece of polished silver in the center,” he added before he slipped inside the temple. One by one, he checked off the five people who filed past him, and he promptly forgot that Siobhan or Michael ever existed.

Michael entered the labyrinth right after Siobhan, then kept back to give her space. He assumed by her serious demeanor that she wanted to meditate as she walked. They both walked in silence among the hedges that were taller than their heads for about ten minutes. The path zigzagged many times. They had to watch where they were going, but they could let nature guide them. It was refreshing, until Michael looked back and didn’t see anything but darkness. About twenty steps and he’d be in it.

He was incredulous as he went back toward the darkness. Why couldn’t he see anything from where he had just been? There was no such thing as time-sensitive darkness disorder of the eyes. As he got close, he could feel what seemed like energized blackness. He stuck a toe into it and got zapped by an electric feeling of wrongness. He jumped back. No way would he stick his whole body in that. Could this be really happening? He snapped his head around and searched urgently for Siobhan, greatly relieved to spot her ahead.

Siobhan was taking slow, deep breaths and walking ahead in a bit of a daze, when Michael suddenly grabbed her arm. “Look back! What do you see?” He looked seriously alarmed. Her eyes followed the direction his finger was pointing. She saw the same thing he did: inky blackness as far as the eyes could see.

“What’s going on,” she asked him reflexively. Even though he told her it had shocked him, she walked back to it and pushed her finger into the darkness. “Ow!”

“Let’s get to the center.” Michael sounded like he had a plan of action, but it wasn’t much of one. Siobhan tried to make an emergency call, but there was no signal. Michael couldn’t get one, either.

They both agreed to stick together and jog to the center. When they got there, they found a large clearing with fruit trees, benches, and a fountain in the middle. The darkness followed them but stayed out of the center. Siobhan, her heart pounding, yanked off her white-gold chain and threw it in the fountain. “I don’t have a silver coin. Do you?” He had been watching her intently. He shook his head.

It turned out that gold worked, too. The darkness receded. They whooped in joy and ran back toward the exit. When they got to the spot where the gate had been, they noticed it was on the wrong side. The path circled back around to the center.

“If you weren’t here, I’d think I was going crazy.” She looked at him sharply. “You’re real, right?”

“As real as you.” His eyes softened. “I wondered if you were real _before _we entered the labyrinth.” He was trying to distract her, but it was true, he’d been really attracted to her.

She gave him a quick hug. “Thank you,” she whispered as she squeezed him tight. He squeezed back. When he let go, he went and climbed to the top of a twisted old fruit tree. “See anything,” she asked, feeling so disorientated that she didn’t know what to expect.”

“The black,” he answered, climbing down. “I’m going back out to the edge and punch through.”

“I’m going with you.”

Michael couldn’t rip through the think hedge, but he could climb it. “Ahhh!” He got shocked again and barely kept from falling.

They walked back to the center of the labyrinth in stunned silence. “We’re here at the symbolic pinnacle of self realization.” Her gentle tone had a bitter edge. “We got stuck, with nothing beyond it but something dark and painful.”

“It’s not over, yet,” Michael said, digesting her words. “The darkness responded to you when you threw the gold in the fountain. There’s got to be something else we can do!”

“The ancients sought enlightenment. We don’t know their rituals, but you’re right, the response indicates we have some agency.”

“I’m going to pray,” Michael said decisively.

“I’m going to go eat some fruit. Maybe tomorrow I’ll fast.” Tears started rolling down her eyes. How long were they going to be stuck there, the darkness between them and the rest of the world, all paths in life leading to where they already were?

END