Labyrinth to the Tree of Life
By: Riley Wilson
Tags: Maze, Greece, Short Story, Labyrinth

Riley Wilson

Life is full of trials and tribulations, it may even be confusing with twists and turns. — But I never expected it to be this, sentenced to a life in the maze is considered as good as death. I awoke to lush green leaves strapped to branches, cold dirt underfoot, and a path coated in fog. It had been years since the last man entered the maze. Originally made for competition, the maze was filled with purposely misleading paths and unthinkable monsters; entering would be the strongest heroes in the land, all fighting to beat the maze. The true attraction of the maze laid at the center, the tree of life. The tree of life is no ordinary tree, one bite of the enticing fruit would grant the hero immortality. The maze was soon declared inhumane after the heroes never returned, leading some to insanity, power hungry murderous tendencies, and ultimately death whether by creature or man.

. Although the competition of the maze ceased forevermore, the king still occasionally sent men of allegiance to — well die a most painful and confusing death. So what did I do to end with such a treacherous fate? I worked on the farmers plot along with my fatherens, it was dirty teeth gritting work, and sometimes we did not always make as much as the king pleased. Upon our day of payment, we had not so much as a bag of wheat to our name. Either the king took my family’s land or I was to enter the maze.

. I had only heard of the maze through other commonfolk when entering the market, or from my fathers old tales when I was just a boy. Hearing so much about a place should be helpful and guiding but, I found that it only planted the soles of my feet and halted my mind. The brisk icy breeze pushed violently against me, dragging my excessive clothing with it; a shiver bolted down my spine. I tried to step forward, and still felt my body resisting movement until I glanced down at the ground around me.

. Slithering vines came to life with human-like hands grabbing around the heels of my feet. My breath stopped momentarily, “GET OFF OF ME”, I screamed relentlessly kicking my legs and feet. The vines only gripped harder until one foot shuffled out enough to step on the frankenstein vines. I pushed the heel of my foot down into it, feeling crutching as though it was made of flesh and bone. With the shatter of itself, it began to recluse back to bush. Note to self: don’t stand still.

. The daunting possibilities of skin tearing beasts awaited me, I did not plan to wait for another to find me. I began slowly walking as straight as possible and just panning out how the maze looks. Since I was forcefully placed here, I was knocked out when the maze took me into itself leaving me with no sense of direction, as if I would’ve even had on one. Although the maze had no distinct shape or length, I began to strategize different areas the center could be. The walls of bush stood taller than most small buildings, and they were impossible to climb without being eaten by the teeth disclosed by leaves; so that was not an option either.

. I found myself walking until a dead end with a choice of left or right; neither seemed to be the best choice but I turned right. The maze was so symmetrical that even taking a new path looked, smelled, and felt the same as any other path.

. I had been walking for a good while, memories of the identical paths already began to intertwine and I lost any hope of direction; instead I found mindless walking easier. I started walking up on a split in the bush- it wasn’t jagged but instead, It was perfectly straight almost like a shortcut or gap. Rather than over-thinking it I just walked through it, this was the first time in walking this maze I’ve found anything non-identical; so why not?

. The path widened out to form a square around a stone statue of Hephaestus, the god of the Fire. *RuuuuuuuuUUUUMMmmmbleeeeee* Frantically I turned around expecting a skin tearing, giant beast to consume me with one gulp as I looked, but god I wish that would’ve happened instead. The path behind was gone, the living walls closed in on me and the Hephaestus statue glowed.

. “What the f*ck” poured out of my mouth like song when I felt my feet begin to burn- and oh the terrible smell of burning flesh. My peasant feet gratefully covered by leather shoes, lasted only enough time to prepare myself. The Orchid I had now become imprisoned in, was the only room I had seen, with it was a wall of concrete coated in vines. Before I made the decision to grab on, my memory screamed not to touch the vines. I paced and ran back and forth around the room, attempting not to burn my feet. The god of fire- burning- stone, how do I escape with just this? It had to be something, there had to be a way to stop the room from cooking me alive, right?

. Hephaestus was known not only for his ability but, for the humiliation of being thrown into the ocean as a child due to his ugly features to the perfect gods, and the adultery that Aphrodite (the Goddess of beauty) committed. My eyes caught sight of carved letters below his statue, descriptions of the god include all achievements but, still included “ugly god”. I tried to recall stories of the God to put together a puzzle, I searched for a lever, a button, anything, until the floor was too hot to bare. Mericilly I crawled afoot the gigantic statue, scrambling up as I went.

. Was I to die here? Alongside where the most beloved heros went to parish.

“Don’t quit. Don’t quit. Don’t quit. Don’t quit.”, repeating loudly in my head as though I felt it in my soul.

No- I was not. I could not, this was not a trial I could let burn me alive until nothing more than a fresh steak for a beast. A beast, that’s it.

. “HEYYYY BIG MINOTAUR! I AM FRESH MEAT-!” I screamed and screamed, creating a commotion so loud any monster could hear. I felt the ground rumble once more, not as loud but heavy. The bush wall of hell trembled to the beat of the stomp, until halt. I had no idea what laid beyond the now closed wall, but I could guarantee that it was better than cooking. Hands coated in thick monstrous hair stuck through the wall, ripping off vines that resisted its movement; and then the body of a beast appeared with portions of a giant. One, two, three eyes caught hold of the statue, and went to bow. Completely unaware of the molten hot ground, I just escaped, he folded his legs under against the ground.

. “AGhhhhhhhhhhA! “, the giant screamed in agony, as his melted leather skin boiled with the worst imaginable pain. Jolting upward, the ground rumbled nearly having the inertia to knock me off the statue to join his horrendous suffering. With all hope I had felt perhaps the beast would be shocked to only forget the call I made out.

. The beast resembled Argus Panoptes, a giant who was once slain by Hermes in order of Zues; I had felt best to hide every inch of myself from view. The beast lingered, limping in walk, but I had found my exit. Leaping from the statue towards the torn vine. With no grace, I reached the opening without receiving the horrendous burns the beast suffered. Finding myself in between the walls of the vine, the hands no longer grabbed out in desperation leaving me to walk free.

. My bare feet ached out in warning of exhaustion. How many hours has it been? Days? The time in the maze was completely distorted, there seemed to be no sunlight, and yet no darkness; only a grey in between existed. I spent endless time searching for an entrance to the center, but the maze became a blur once again. The tricking turns, with a dauntless ending left with me but no options.

. Winds of Hermes felt so common yet so cold; pushing against the walls of despair, shaking the surrounding. And then a sound of hope, a ringing of a bell.

. I was not sure what hid with this sound but, it was something. Tracking the sounds of the bell, I found a path this time lightened by lanterns strapped to poles beaming from the ground. My exhausted body felt the momentum, bringing a shuffle to a sprint. One foot after another, I ran faster than I ever had before; and to the good Gods I found an opening. Feet sliding to halt, I paused taking in the warmth of revelry. Lush greens sprouting upward surrounded a groove of olive trees and in the center a bell at the foot of the tree. The tree of immortal life, with the enticing fruit who acted as motivation for the lost lives of Gods, beasts, and heros. I was no hero, only a man whose life had been through into an inhumane maze brought along but a king of corruption. The tree standing taller than the beast, hung it’s prizes at top of the tree. Scrambling to the top, finding footing along the climb; I reached the fruit of life.