The Secret Passage

The stone stairs leading to the basement seemed to be endless. And it got darker and darker the deeper Tony went. Luckily, he had his flashlight with him. But even with the beam of the flashlight, it was plenty dark enough. Tony felt as though he were deep underground, cut off from the rest of the world. The farther he walked down into the clammy, cold darkness, the harder it was to imagine that it was a warm, sunny spring day outside.

Finally, the staircase ended, and he stood in a low passage where there was a hideous smell of rot and mold. The walls were damp and covered with cobwebs. The ground was also damp and slippery. For a moment, Tony was tempted to turn back. But he walked on cautiously, the beam of his flashlight pointed at the ground in front of him. It reminded him of a story he had once read about a man who was imprisoned in an underground dungeon. It was completely dark, and in the middle of the space there was a deep pit filled with water just waiting for him to fall in….

No, there doesn’t seem to be a pit like that here! Tony said to himself with relief.

Suddenly a small animal with a long, scaly tail came scurrying out from behind a gap in the wall. It looked at him, and its eyes glowed ghostly in the beam of light. Then it turned away and disappeared into the darkness of the corridor. Tony was sure that it had been a rat. At first, he felt a bit panicky. But then he told himself that there was no need to worry, because after all, the rat had run away from him! But where could the rat have come from? There must be a recess behind the gap in the wall….

When Tony reached the gap, he saw it was actually a decent-sized opening that was blocked with stones. A rat could easily slip between the stones, and, if you moved the stones out of the way, even a vampire could!

Tony had a eureka moment. It was as though the rat had revealed a secret to him.

He put the flashlight down on the ground and removed the stones from the top down. They were much heavier than he expected, but he eventually cleared the opening. He then picked up the flashlight, shined it into the opening, and saw another passage. It was even lower and narrower than the cellar passage. Swallowing his fear, Tony stepped into it. After just a few steps, he was certain he was on the right track. A heavy, sweet rose scent was now mixed with the musty ambient smell—the scent of Mufti of Eternal Love! He couldn’t help but think of what Anna had told him about the effect of Mufti of Eternal Love: neither of them would ever feel lonely again.

And strangely enough, he suddenly felt as though Anna was at his side!

The corridor ended and he found himself in front of a rotted, worm-eaten door. Tony held the flashlight in his left hand, took another deep breath, then pushed down on the handle with his right hand.