The Secret of Twah, part VIII

The story so far...after passing the first two tasks in the Rite of Monkhood, the farmer failed the written exam when he missed a question about how to kill the giant bee. Having just learned it, however, the farmer was able to give the correct answer, then waited a year to find out his fate. He now has one final task to complete.

The corridor was completely dark, save for a blue glowing light far in front of him. The voice spoke into his ear. "Give me your hand."

The farmer held out his left hand, and an object was placed into it by the still unseen monk. By feel, the monk determined that it was a key.

"Go towards that blue light," said the voice. "It is a door. Use this key to open the door. Behind that door is another key and another door. Keep going through the doors, and at the end, you will learn the Secret of Twah. Good luck."

The voice was gone. The farmer was alone. He walked to the blue light and opened the door with his key. Sure enough, there was another key in the next room, which he used to open another door. And so on.

By the tenth room, the farmer had noticed that the task was getting more difficult. Whereas the first key was tiny and light, the tenth key was about the size of a normal house key. The doors seemed to be getting heavier as well. But the farmer kept going. By the twenty-fifth room, the key had gotten as large as a loaf of bread. By the fortieth room, they had gotten as large as a medium sized dog. By the fiftieth, the key was as large as a pony. By the seventy-fifth room, the keys had gotten so large and heavy that the farmer had to rest before entering the next room and going again. By the nintieth room, the key was as large as his house in the village.

When the farmer entered the ninety-ninth room, he saw a glowing light under the next door, and he knew that this was it. The one hundredth door led to the Secret of Twah. But the key was massive. He had to spend an entire day pushing it to the door, another full day lifting it, another full day pushing it into the lock, another full day turning it, and a full week trying to open the door just enough that he could squeeze through. But squeeze through he did, and learned the Secret of Twah.

NEXT: The Secret of Twah