Hidden World

The strange feeling you had all day followed you to bed that night. A sudden crash from the next room wakes you from dreams of magical lands, and sets your heart racing in your chest. Sitting bolt upright in bed, the strange feeling returns as your eyes adjust to the darkness, focusing on the odd wooden symbols across the mantel of the fireplace. Almost as if something were calling you... Turning on the lamp, you cautiously get up, moving towards the sound that woke you. This is your uncle's house and though you've been here many times, it suddenly feels very different. The room is littered with wonderfully strange and interesting artifacts, souvenirs from your uncle's travels, from where he would not say. On the floor lays a small tiled box, broken open. Unfolding the paper nestled within it, you instantly recognize the symbols. The fireplace! Running back into the bedroom, you examine again the symbols on the paper. They match perfectly those in the woodwork of the mantel, but are arranged differently... Though your hands are shaking with excitement, you work quickly, rearranging the wooden symbols to match the ones on the paper, hearing them click into place easily one after the other, until the pattern is complete. Suddenly, beams of golden sunlight burst through the opening in the fireplace, cutting through the darkness in the room. Standing back with a gasp, you look through the opening, eyes wide in awe at the beautiful, magical land from your dream on the other side. With a deep breath, you step through the opening and take your first steps into another world...