Secret Novel Chapter 15: Getting Comfortable (Patreon)

Slowly the days went by as Madeline spent her time inside the Garden. She found herself a routine that helped the days pass with ease and gave her enough to do that she wasn’t bored constantly. In the mornings she would get up and grab an apple or two from one of the trees in the Garden and eat those for her breakfast. She was a little afraid to try some of the other fruit on the other trees just because she was sure fruits shouldn’t be that bright orange, or yellow, or even purple, without being poisonous. After eating she would go and check on the few animal traps she had made and set up around the trails in the Garden. She had to admit that the traps were pretty bad, being simple snares made from torn cloth. She wasn’t even sure she had made them right, but she did her best, though she had yet to ever catch anything. Some of them even broke, which, while it failed, did mean something broke it, so she was placing them in the correct spots at least. After checking on the traps, and refusing to try any fish in the pond again after falling in four too many times, she would pull weeds from the plots and generally tidy them up as best she could. She even planted seeds from the plants she pulled up for food and found that the plants appeared to grow incredibly fast. Not enough so that you could pick it the day after you plant it, but after a few days it would be fully grown, which was good for sustaining food here.

Once done with the plots Madeline would have some vegetables for lunch, either raw or roasted over the fire in her hovel. She did her best to try a new vegetable everyday till she had tasted them all and found which ones she liked, and how she liked them. She really enjoyed the red soft bulbs, and those grew in numbers on a single plant so she always had enough of them to have her fill, which was so nice after eating food so sparsely. Once done with lunch, Madeline would get her journal and charcoal and go back out into the Maze to map it out. She mostly stuck as close to the garden as she could get, wanting to thoroughly explore that first before venturing out more. The Maze thankfully never seemed to have a problem with her, though it would occasionally throw her for a loop by closing the paths she took in ways she hadn’t seen before. She still always found her way back whether it be by the Maze’s helping hand or her own growing knowledge of the area. It turned out that the Maze had specific ways of changing, so it wasn’t entirely random. Well it was but there was some understanding to it. If there was an opening, it could either be open or closed, kind of like a door but magic. The ‘doors’ also couldn’t change location, they were always located in the same position, but there were so many of these places that could change that it seemed like everything could change, even when it wasn’t.

Only once in her continued exploration of the Maze did she ever encounter another creature that wasn’t some small forest life. It was another Giant, or maybe the same one as before, but this time Madeline made sure not to be caught by it and quickly turned back. She didn’t venture back out for another few days after that, hoping to let the giant get far from the Garden.

Once dinner time came, Madeline would make herself a small stew that she could easily finish off herself. She always tried to experiment with the stew she made, whether it be with vegetables or herbs. It was always a new recipe just to add even more variety into her daily life. She even found it rather fun, trying new things like that. Here in the Garden she technically had far more variety of foods to eat than she did back in Lexford, or at least on the vegetable and herb front. She quickly ran out of the meats and cheese she had in her packs, and that was rather sad since she wasn’t sure she would ever have those things again. She knew of people in the village and beyond who only ate plants in their diet, so it could be done, and she was going to do it. She was just going to miss cheese the most of the things she wouldn’t have again.

Some days she would forgo her normal routine in favor of a more lazy day, sitting out by the pond to read her book, or write in her journal. Sometimes though it was hard to do anything at all. Sometimes she would just lay there on the cold stone and stare at the clouds, feeling nothing and everything all at once. Losing herself for hours at a time. On those days it was rare for her to even get up and eat. Rare for her to move from that one spot all day long. Still, when bedtime came, she could make her way into the hovel and sleep, hoping that the next day would be better.

That was how Madeline spent the next two weeks alone in the Maze, and it wasn’t until nearly the end of those two weeks that Madeline realized something. Within maybe just a couple of days after finding the Garden, she had almost stopped worrying about finding her way back home. Of course she still wanted to get back home and see her friends again, but she found she was comfortable here and getting home wasn’t the priority. The Garden and the hovel had become a literal sanctuary for her here in the middle of the deadliest place in the world, and she found herself almost not wanting to leave. The beauty of the garden was only growing with the more time she put into clearing out the weeds and paths, and as the weather got colder and the season changed the garden appeared to be stuck in perpetual spring. Compared to her home back in Lexford and even the town itself, this place was so bright and colorful that even on her depressed days she could still feel the love and joy of the Garden. All that was left for her at home was an empty house. A life of working to make ends meet. Here she didn’t have to worry about money, or how she’ll have time to make herself a real dinner. If she’ll have enough food for dinner. Not to mention that she couldn’t imagine what the mayor would do if she suddenly showed up back home one day.

Was she okay just living here now? It was nice and easy. Not much in the way of entertainment or people to talk to. That would probably drive her mad eventually, but until then could she just happily stay here? It surprised her how quickly she came to a conclusion.

Yes. Yes, she could happily live here spending her time in the garden and learning how the maze worked.