Underground palace

The clock of WHY, Watercolour on paper, Artwork size: 27 x 37 cm, 30 May 2014

List of chapters in 2014 “A walk on the dark side”:
Jan – Dark Night, Feb 2014 – The Tunnel, Mar 2014 – The Invitation, Apr 2014 – Underground Palace, May 2014 – Foxy Gentleman, Jun 2014 – Crystal Lizard, Jul 2014 – Three Little Mice, Aug 2014 – Mr. Mad, Sep 2014 – Chess Game, Oct 2014 – Lost Children, Nov 2014 – The Garden

Underground palace

The creature suddenly appeared at the door, just as it did in the forest. The man saw me noticing the creature’s presence and he said, “Priya is very good at helping the lost ones at night, especially when I’m tired after a day of work. My apologies for not showing up until now. It’s just i didn’t want to scare you in the dark.”

“Do you know a way to get back to the road?” I asked, “I was on my way home, but the road disappeared, and that’s how I ended up here. I don’t know my way around.”

“I might be able to help, though I’ll make no guarantees. I haven’t been out of this place myself for quite a while now. I’m Christoph by the way …” He walked back to the door, and I followed him out of instinct, then Priya moved near me, and rubbed her head on my leg.

“Welcome to the underground palace, Yeok.” He said. Before I even had time to ask how he knew my name, I felt like I was about to be swallowed into something powerful, the moment I stepped in. It felt dangerously exciting, but it also felt just like home.

The corridor was long and dark, it smelled wet and tired. The wallpaper was glamorous, with dark red patterns on black. It had seen better days, and I could feel the wall struggling for its last breath as we walked passed. There were some paintings of people suffering in pain, but their poses were rather glamorous. Tied up and beaten, as if they were offering themselves to something greater than themselves.

Somehow these paintings didn’t frighten me at all, they looked rather romantic in some bizarre way. Christoph kept on walking without looking back, and I just followed him. We walked past a door with a triangle shape, with an eye in the middle. It looked like the Eye of Providence symbol. I stopped and started to admire the icon on the door. Christoph noticed it, so he turned around and said: “You wouldn’t want to know what’s behind that.”

That didn’t make me want to walk away from it, so he added, “We are almost there, I want to show you something.”

He kept on walking. Christoph’s voice and footsteps made the space sound even more empty. Lights were switched on as we pass the corridor. The walk seemed to be endless as we navigated through this endless space. My curious mind was filled with more and more questions as we walked further.

After a little while, I could start to hear music playing. It was getting louder and louder as we approached. “Can you hear it?” Suddenly he said. I didn’t respond, and he didn’t seem to be waiting for an answer either. He kept on walking and began singing to the music “You can be happy …”

There were we, stepping into a room. The room was a mess. There were some mannequins in the room, with dark paint sprayed and dripping all over them. There were artworks, leather chairs, wine, glitters everywhere. Christoph sat down on the leather chair, and suggested me to sit down in front of a tiny table opposite to him. I did. “So here is the deal”, he looked into my eyes with indifference. “We are all here for a reason. What’s yours?”

I didn’t know what to say at first, so I glanced over behind him. There was a simple dartboard, with words like “why, how, what” labeled in each ring, from the inner ring to the outer ring. The “Why” ring had this painfully bright red background. I then realised it was a clock of some sort, with a very tiny hand only visible on the “What” ring.

Something struck me, and I said, “I need to go home, but I’m not sure where home is anymore.”