Cold stone walls towered over Elora and Henry. The path they were walking upon appeared to go on for many miles more than the two had already trekked.

“Elora I’m hungry…” the young Henry spoke in a daze, running low on energy.

Elora said nothing in response, but instead grabbed Henry’s hand and continued their journey. She was hungry too, but she couldn’t let them stop for a second. They needed to escape.

If only she could remember how they ended up in this hollow labyrinth to begin with. The minutes had quickly turned into hours, and she was starting to fear that those hours would quickly turn into days if they didn’t find their way out soon.

_ Just keep moving, _she reminded herself. She had to stay strong for Henry. She was his older sister after all, it was her job to keep him safe.

Henry trudged slowly behind her as she continued dragging him along the cobblestone road. It was rather impressive he was still moving at all, considering he had only just turned six-years-old. Elora meant the world to him, and she wanted him to keep going, so he forced himself to follow her lead.

Elora noticed an opening on the right wall coming up soon, and a jolt of hope rushed through her.

“Henry, look! C’mon let’s check it out!”

The two ran to the small opening and as they grew closer it became apparent how small the opening actually was. Elora’s heart sunk as she realized she wouldn’t be able to fit. Maybe Henry could squeeze through, but that meant he would have to leave her side. If they wanted any chance at escaping, they would have to split up. Henry hadn’t yet shared Elora’s revelation, and quickly climbed through the narrow crevice.

“Come on Elora! What are you waiting for!”

Henry peered at Elora through the crack, and his excitement was instantly diminished as he noticed the Elora’s forlorn expression. He reached through to grab Elora’s hand, but as he attempted pulling her through to his side, it became clear there was no chance she would make it through.

The two stared at each other solemnly for a moment. Henry began making his way back to Elora’s side, but she pushed him back.

“Elora what are you doing?!”

“Henry…if you ever want to escape this maze, you have to go on without me.”

“Elora…no! I’m not leaving you!”

“Henry listen to me! You have to! Please…just go.”

“But…Elora….”

“Just go!” Elora shouted as she pushed Henry away one last time.

Tears began to flow down Henry’s rosy cheeks and he finally gave up fighting. Elora turned away, for she couldn’t bear to see the pain she had caused him. _It’s for his own good _she remained herself. Elora began to quietly sob as she heard Henry’s footsteps grow faint. She prayed that he would find a way out.

After a few minutes Elora pulled herself together and continued along the path. She hoped that she would get to see Henry again, but deep down she knew that might not be the case.

Suddenly, she found herself face to face with another tall stone wall. _What… _she thought to herself _It can’t be…_

__

The previously endless path ahead of her was now a blockade. She turned back to the hold Henry had crawled through but it was no where to be found. She was now completely boxed in.

“Henry!!” She screamed desperately as the walls began to feel as though they were growing closer and closer. _No wait…They are getting closer! _As she had this realization she struggled to breathe and it felt as though the everything was spinning. Soon the stone was pressing up against Elora’s skin, and there was no where to run. The only thing left to do was to scream as the walls pressed harder and harder against her.

“I’m sorry Henry!!” She shouted these last words as the walls completely closed in, crushing her into something no longer human. Her flattened, disfigured corpse was released from the clutches of the walls and it lie there until the end of time, slowly rotting away.

Nearby Henry continued cluelessly wandering the labyrinth, completely unaware of the dire fate his sister just met.