Escapism Part 2

Read time: 3 mins.

Nasrin snapped her fingers. “Come on, there’s no one else here so we can go straight in. Our scenario is that we’re locked in a mansion’s secret cellar and have to open the hidden door.”

She led them into a room with hardwood floors and wood-paneled walls. There was a wine cabinet, a large bookcase, a globe, and four tables with seemingly random knick-knacks. When the door was closed behind them it looked like a regular full-length mirror with a fancy gold frame.

Nasrin found a chair and sat down. “Well, Jason, where do you suggest we start?”

Jason bit his tongue and looked around the room. “The first clue’ll be something written down so we have an easy starting point. Probably in the bookcase.”

Isabelle held up a piece of paper. “Alternatively, it could be a sticky note on the wine cabinet.”

Jason looked weakly back at Nasrin, who smiled and golf-clapped. “Or that.”

Isabelle looked at the clue. “Find wine country.”

Jason threw out his hands. “Do you know how many places call themselves wine country?”

Isabelle ignored him and tried the door on the wine cabinet. It opened. “I think some wine bottles say where they come from.” She pulled out a couple bottles. “Help me figure out what country these were made in.”

Jason quickly found the place name on the bottom of a label. “It says ‘Denmark.’ Wine country must be Denmark.”

Isabelle made a ‘no’ noise. “This one says ‘Adelaide Hills’ and that’s in Australia.”

Jason read another bottle. “This one says ‘Alpine Valleys.’ Doesn’t that mean the Alps?”

Isabelle had out her phone. “Yep. Australia has places called Adelaide Hills, Alpine Valleys, and Denmark.. It’s Australia.”

By now Nasrin was standing and looking at the mirror. “You should listen to her. I’m barely paying attention and I know she’s right.”

Jason mouthed the words back at her and stuck his tongue out. “Alright, so since we’ve got a globe in the middle of the room, I guess we have to find Australia on the globe?”

“Look at that,” Nasrin said. “He got one.”

Jason didn’t respond. He just walked over to the globe.

Isabelle walked over with him. “Come on, Nasrin. I know he can be annoying but he is trying.”

Nasrin crinkled her nose. “You’re right. Sorry, Jason.”

“It’s fine, I guess. I said things I shouldn’t have, too.” He kept turning the globe until he saw Australia. “Okay, now what do we do with it?” He ran his fingers over the country.

He heard a click and felt the wood beneath his fingers push in. The top half of the globe opened. At the same time a light flashed across the room. Jason and Isabelle looked back in time to see the hidden door slam shut.

Concluded in my next post.