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Two strange things happened that day when Alice and Mark went to have lunch. It was a goodbye lunch. They both felt empty inside and the burden was heavy on their shoulders. It was not lack of commitment, they never cheated on each other, no one got sick. They lacked playfulness in their relationship. They needed to see life as a fun riddle, a challenge, or a journey, one with different twists and turns of events.
Alice and Mark had been married for eleven years. They had two young children named Moira and Ben. That night at the famous diner, they sat across from each other and the look in their eyes said their marriage was over. The happiness and good spirit they used to feel has disappeared, and this lunch wasn't going to make things any better. At least that's what they were thinking and knew.
They couldn't say anything to each other because they have been fighting for months and there was a latent hostility between them that kept growing like a shadowy creature that keeps getting bigger and bigger.
The diner was busy that day and everyone were busy eating and talking. It was a family diner, but Mark and Alice came without the children that day. They finished their meal in silence.
Mark asked for the bill and as he raised his hand to ask the bill, a man wearing a black coat and a hat approached their table. He was hiding his left hand in his coat, as if hiding something precious. “I have to keep safe an old precious relic, a necklace that belongs to a clown who died centuries years ago,” the man whispered in Mark's ear.
“What??” Mark was surprised.
“I chose you two to keep it safe because I am shot by evil people who are after this necklace,” the man continued “please, take this,” and then he basically threw the necklace on Mark's lap, and he grabbed it.
Mark nervously gave the necklace to Alice. He thought it is something a woman can handle better. She was tempted to put it on because it was so beautiful.
Mark quickly regretted his decision. “Don't put it on! Hold your horses! We don't know what the hell it is!” Mark snapped worried.
Something is written on it:
A change that's fast, A change that lasts, a change that always remains a blast.
“Sounds interesting,” Alice said and ignored Mark. She did it, she put it on.
In the meantime, the strange man got out of the diner from a back door. Mark and Alice were arguing about the necklace and two minutes already passed. Then, two muscular men entered the diner. They were looking around searching for something, surely the necklace.
Alice noticed them, “Hey, Mark look over there, they look like gangsters to me, maybe they are coming for the necklace!”
“Don't say the word, just take it off and hide it!” Mark said in a hurry. “We have to get the hell out of here!” Mark continued and took Alice's hands. She felt a warmth in her heart as if they were not getting a divorce tomorrow. This gesture reminded her of how he used to be protective of her.
She attempted to hide the necklace and put it in her pocket, but it was stuck on her neck.
“I can't get it off!!!” Alice said to Mark, and they both panicked. Because they were stressed out and were clumsily trying to manage the situation, the two men paid attention to them. Suddenly, a light began to emanate from the necklace.
Alice held Mark's hand tightly. In a flash, they were transported into another time and place: a circus tent in the 19th century. They looked around and saw that they were surrounded by clowns. Alice and Mark saw a riddle written in large letters on the stage.
It read:
The force that can make or break a bond
The choice that every individual must ponder on
The line between commitment and dishonesty in any love affair
The answer dwells in whether you're faithful or unfair
What Am I?
“Solve the riddle, and we will tell you how to get back to the diner,” the clowns said in unison and then let out an evil laugh.
Alice and Mark thought very carefully and hard about the riddle, and they came up with “fidelity” as the answer.
The clowns laughed harder. “Nope, it's the opposite, you fools! The answer is “cheating”.”
Mark and Alice were sure their answer was correct, but what they didn't consider was those clowns were messing with their heads. The clowns would have won no matter what answer Mark and Alice would have given them.
Two of the clowns went towards Mark with a big sinister smile on their face and eyes full of mischief.
“One Touch from us, and you wish you were dead,” one of the clown said to Mark.
“No, don't hurt him! The answer is...... The answer is correct both ways, because we live in a world that both exists,” Alice suddenly nervously said.
“I don't know what the hell you are talking about, but you seem to be right. You learned that from all those poetry classes you took?!” Mark said, a bit terrified of those clowns. He looked at them and saw they were frozen in their steps.
“Yes, the one you were most delightfully supported and cared about!” Alice replied sarcastically.
Alice shouted again, “both answers are correct,” suddenly the necklace began to glow with a strange energy.
They transported into a different dimension. This was the second strange thing that happened to them since they got their hands on the necklace.
They were landed on a two-way road. One road led to a dark and treacherous cave named Gloomy Gloom, and the other led to a Garden of Elysium.
They had to chose one path. The obvious path was Garden of Elysium. They both agreed on it. They stepped on the path, but they couldn't move. The path was protected by a wall and a message appeared on the air that said:
“You shall not pass directly, when you don't understand Elysium, the dead will rise and chaos will be upon you. However, you have another choice, face the challenge, and you will get to the Elysium.”
Alice and Mark were left with one option: the Gloomy Gloom. The cave invited them to enter, and they did. As they were walking inside, they had a little talk:
“I hear something, it's like someone is laughing, like the laughter of those clowns we met at that tent,” Alice said, looking around the damp walls of the cave.
“Maybe they are hunting this place, those were ghosts we saw in that tent, you know,” Mark said, thinking he said something thoughtful and amusing.
“They surely didn't look like ghosts to me, but they looked odd. They didn't look like humans either,” Alice said with a bit of fear in her voice.
They were deep into that cave. It was dark, but they kept going.
“I'm not sure if I can come any further,” Alice said, frightened.
“We have to keep going,” Mark said to Alice.
“Thanks,” Alice said.
“For what?” Mark replied.
“It means a lot to me,” Alice said.
“What means a lot to you? What are you talking about?” Mark said suspicious.
“But why it feels cold? It must be the cave?” Alice said.
“What feels cold?” Mark said stopping.
The sound of the clown's laughter made Alice jump and scream. The clown tickled Alice and then ran away laughing in the dark.
Alice kept screaming and Mark went after the clown with a stone in his hands.
“Where is it? Where is it?” Mark shouted.
“He ran that way, that way.....” Alice shouted.
“Did he hurt you?” Mark asked.
“No, I'm fine, I'm fine. I thought it was your hand. He held my hand so tightly,” Alice said while she was panting from stress.
“This damn cave is full of those clowns, I hate clowns!” Mark said, trying to comfort Alice.
“Let's keep going,” Alice said, but after a few moments she stopped. She realized something strange is happening in her body. She looked at her hands, they were turning white slowly.
“Oh, No! I am turning into one of them!” Alice said, checking her body.
“What?!!! You're turning into a clown?!” Mark shouted.
“Do something!” Alice screamed from agony.
“I think we reached the end of the cave! Look! There is a hole there, it must be the way to Elysium,” Mark said.
“I can't get into a hole in a cave! You know I have claustrophobia!” Alice said feeling sick.
“Just breathe and think about Ben and Moira!” Mark said.
“I can't...... I can't!” Alice said.
“Yes, you can!” Mark said.
“Think about that time when we were camping in the jungle, and we were afraid of wild dogs attacking us. You told me, “No matter what happens, I will never leave you”,” Mark said in a low and calming voice.
This gave Alice a new energy. Her both hands had turned into clown's hands.
Alice was now on the other side of the hole. “We reached Elysium,” Alice said to Mark happily. Mark was still struggling to get out of the hole.
“I'm coming, I'm coming….” Mark said.
They sensed a calmness and peace. The garden was filled with colorful flowers, tall trees and a small pond full of fishes of all different colors.
Suddenly, they saw a clown sitting on a bench, and then Alice fainted in Mark's arms.
“Help me!” Mark shouted. The clown hurriedly reached them and put out a potion from her pocket and put a few drops of it to her mouth!
Alice immediately got better, and her hands turned normal slowly.
“You made it this far, I am proud of you both, I knew you could do it,” the clown said.
The clown led them to a small pavilion in the center of Elysium, and took the necklace from Alice's neck and put it on.
“You guarded the necklace and brought it back to me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” the clown said, smiling happily.
Alice and Mark satisfied with themselves looked at each other's eyes, and suddenly they were back at the diner and everything was normal.
“How do you feel about camping tomorrow with the kids!” Mark asked Alice with a smile.
“Sounds fun!” Alice said happy.