Divergence

This is a very dangerous place.

That’s what the guide warned before allowing the tour group to explore the castle on their own. Everyone was instructed to stick to the paths that wound through what was left of the decaying castle, fluorescent tape outlining their way as tourists shuffled through the imposing construct.

Luke and Diane weren’t nearly as captivated by the castle. The only reason they even went on this stupid tour was because it was the lesser of two evils... the greater being a picnic with their parents and three younger siblings.

At the divergence of two corridors, Luke and Diane smiled mischievously, ducking under the rope and hurrying down the corridor less traveled. The end of their path led to a large room that appeared to be a dungeon. Menacing implements lined the walls and the teenagers marveled at the instruments of medieval torture.

Luke placed his head in the guillotine, laughing as he looked to Diane.

“Look,” he joked, mocking their guide. “Remember, this is a very dangerous place!”

Suddenly, the whole room shook and rumbled. Luke pulled his head out of the guillotine just moments before the tremors loosened the blade and dropped it down to where Luke’s neck was just resting. Luke’s eyes went wide at the sight of the heavy blade wedged into the wood stocks.

When the quaking subsided, Luke and Diane decided to return to the group. They returned to where the corridors diverged, shocked to find that the space where the other corridor once stood was now filled with rubble. They watched their tour guides frantically trying to dislodge the rubble and get to the tourists crushed underneath.

Luke and Diane looked at each other, scared.

This was a very dangerous place.



(292 words)