The Enchanted Maze
Your eyes flutter open, immediately settling on... brown. The brown of dirt, actually, which you appear to be buried into up to your waist. All around you you spot other people, some buried up to their waist, some to their chests, some up to the top of their heads, while others are only ankle-deep in dirt. They all look open-eyed and alive, but have a curious, blank look on their faces, all staring out at nothing.
You try to move your arms, only to find that you cant. There's something anchoring them down into the earth. You can wiggle your legs a little in the ground, but it feels incredibly uncomfortable, like a mix of pain and tiredness. Looking down, you see what look to be your fingers buried into the earth, grasping it like a clasping hand... except it's halfway up your arm.
You're rooted.
You try screaming, but no one seems to hear you, or at least no one reacts. You jerk yourself around a bit, trying to free yourself, but are stopped almost immediately by a blinding, wrenching pain. You ARE rooted, immobile, anchored down. You remain so for a very long time, strangely not getting hungry, or thirsty, or tired, until...
A shadow falls over you. You look up to see what looks like a giant tulip bending over you. You can see each individual hair on its leaves as they move in about you and your unmoving comrades. It seems to be humming some tuneless nothing as it works. Before you can react, it pulls someone up out of the ground, then another, then another. Suddenly they animate, jerking about, gasping for air, flailing as if dying. They do so for a very long time before falling stiff and limp in the tulip's petal.
Then it reaches for you.
You try to move your arms, only to find that you cant. There's something anchoring them down into the earth. You can wiggle your legs a little in the ground, but it feels incredibly uncomfortable, like a mix of pain and tiredness. Looking down, you see what look to be your fingers buried into the earth, grasping it like a clasping hand... except it's halfway up your arm.
You're rooted.
You try screaming, but no one seems to hear you, or at least no one reacts. You jerk yourself around a bit, trying to free yourself, but are stopped almost immediately by a blinding, wrenching pain. You ARE rooted, immobile, anchored down. You remain so for a very long time, strangely not getting hungry, or thirsty, or tired, until...
A shadow falls over you. You look up to see what looks like a giant tulip bending over you. You can see each individual hair on its leaves as they move in about you and your unmoving comrades. It seems to be humming some tuneless nothing as it works. Before you can react, it pulls someone up out of the ground, then another, then another. Suddenly they animate, jerking about, gasping for air, flailing as if dying. They do so for a very long time before falling stiff and limp in the tulip's petal.
Then it reaches for you.
