It was a muggy and gloomy evening - outside, the sky was clear of clouds and stars were shining as they do best. But inside, the wet moss left a disgusting smell in the air that was slightly disguised by the few florals spotted around the place. It wasn’t an unfamiliar environment for Leaf and Mac.

These two were a fairly new friendship as they got on quite well and had recently ventured out together rather often. They had been together today for a good few hours already but unbeknownst to them, they weren’t going to return back for a long while yet. This was one thing that Mac didn’t want to happen.

“Hey Mac, how about we go this way? It looks a bit odd and absolutely stinks more than where we were, but I think we could find some good stuff!” Leaf shouted back to Mac who was a little farther behind him.

“Sure thing, bud! We’ll go wherever you think.” Mac replied, picking up the pace to catch up to his friend. He slightly winced at the change in smell, but it wasn’t stinging the nose hairs just yet, so he thought he could cope okay. They pushed on for a few minutes until they reached a dead end. Or so they thought…..

“Ohhh sure Leaf, such a great idea!” Mac sarcastically commented, rolling his eyes playfully.

“It’s all about the adventure, but lets turn back.” Leaf responded.

They both spun around, until Mac almost tripped on something beneath him. He thought it was a rock but after looking down, he realised it was a flat slab of rock with a fern pattern on it. A few short seconds after, a rumbling happened which was followed by a mechanical whirring sound.

“Uhhh what’s that?” Leaf piped up, looking over at Mac.

“Look at these!” Mac motioned towards familiar slabs that were dotted around the area. Some were on walls, more on the floor and some even on the ceiling. They all had a variety of flowers and plant types on them and to the boys, clearly meant something - not just some random designs someone had chosen to paint while out exploring.

It didn’t take them both long before realising that it was some type of pattern or mechanism to open up the dead end. They joked between themselves that it was like something out of a story! They spent a good hour trying to figure out different combinations. Some had locked up if they didn’t get the right one, so they persevered until they finally got to the last one, a peony flower blooming open. Smart.

“God we have such big brains Mac, I really don’t know how we fit through these tunnels sometimes.” Leaf bragged, smiling as the thick piece of rock in front of them began slowly opening to reveal the path ahead.

“Leaf, I’m actually so over this. It was fun but I never want to do this again! Next time im navigating.” Mac retorted, immediately continuing on.