Andy had slowly wound his way to the back half of the compound, but any other ribbons hidden here seemed to elude him. He hadn’t found any special areas of the maze yet; the repitition of the partitioned paths was bordering on monotony.
Turning a corner, Andy thought he spotted something. It was a ball; it only came up to his knees, but it was heavy when he lifted it. It was a bouncy ball! What good was a bouncy ball going to do Andy? He decided to take it with him. Obviosuly, there must be some reason for the bouncy ball in the game, otherwise it wouldn’t be there. He bounced it as he made his way along the path. It was funny how he couldn’t get it bouncing very high at all—if he was normal sized he could have this thing shooting all the way up to the celing, which here seemed like miles above.
Andy turned another corner and was met with a new surprise. There before him was the largest box of cerial he had ever seen. It was a kind of a brand cerial; the box was three stories high. There must be a ribbon inside there. Andy walked up to it, pushing it. While heavy, he discovered that the box was nearly empty. He put his arms up as high as he can and gave it a shove. It rocked. He pushed it again as it continued to rock. Finally, the cerial box toppled over.
The bag was already opened and a few pieces of cerial slid out as the box hit the ground. Andy got down on his hands and knees and piered inside. There was only a little bit of cerial in the box but the light was bad; he could not see if there was a flag or not. He crawled inside the box, half expecting one of the ladies to pick it up and take him away with it. The fantasy excited him, but he realised that he must keep his mind on the game. Trying not to let his shadow block his view, Andy rummaged through the crumbs that always collected at the bottom of cerial boxes.
Finally, he found it! The ribbon was completely buried in crumbs and was filthy, but at least Andy found it! Putting this ribbon next to his other one Andy made his way back out of the box and onto find a third flag.
Hailey was having much less luck. Though the tube seemed to drop her in a central location, she couldn’t seem to find any more ribbons. She had been through many passegeways, even over a rickety bridge made out of glued popsicle sticks, but she still came up dry. Dammit, there were twenty-four of them, how come I can’t find any? Hailey thought furiously to herself.
Turning a corner, Hailey came to an apparent dead end. But attached to the far wall was a large red button, the kind you would see on arcade games. There was an inscription on it, but Hailey could not read it from where she was. She rushed over to it, and was elated as she read the message: “This button gives you a temporary size boost. Use it wisely.”
Eager for any kind of advantage, Hailey pressed the button. There was a flash of light, and Hailey found herself looking over the walls of the partition. They now only came up to her waste. She hadn’t just doubled in size, she had tripled in size!
No longer barriers, the partitions were mere annoyances as Hailey stepped over them. For the first time since she had been disposed as Queen, she was in a very good mood. She was powerful at this height. She could see over many partitions into many areas of the game, and if she ran into another contestant they would not be able to do anything as she relieved them of their flags.
Hailey’s heart jumped when she saw the one person she wanted to meet. Little Dale, barely above knee-height to her, was running down a partition, two little flags tucked into his pants. Dale saw motion out of the corner of his eye and was horrified to see a gigantic Hailey bearing down on him.
Dale broke into a flat out run, hoping to find somewhere small he could hide and Hailey couldn’t get him. How did she get so big, that isn’t fair! Dale felt like screaming. But it was no use. The partitions did not lead Dale in a straight line away from Hailey, in fact they curved and started to head back to where she currently was. In a few swift movements Hailey crossed the last of the partitions and towered directly over Dale.
“I bet you weren’t expecting to see me!” Hailey said, beaming down at her horrified ex-partner.
“Oh my god,” Said Dale, and tried to make a dash for freedom. Hailey easily stopped him, knocking him over with a good kick.
“I’ll take those,” Said Hailey, her large fingers removing the ribbons from the back of Dale’s pants. “By the way, I never adequately thanked you for leaving me.” Hailey brought her hand down in a hard smack across Dale’s buttocks. Dale groaned in pain. Hailey smacked him two, three, four times.
“There’d be more but I’m in a bit of a hurry.” Hailey said. “Take care!” And Hailey left a winded and flagless Dale to pick himself up and start over.
Hailey was on top of the world. She had three flags—all she needed to do was to make her way to the other side of the game and put these flags up on her board, whatever that was. She would be half-sized in no time!
There was a flash of light and Hailey once again found herself at four inches tall. The temporary size boost turned out to be quite temporary after all. Now she had to make her way back to the end in the normal way. Still, looking on the bright side, she had made significant progress while she was larger. The end couldn’t be very far away.
Suddenly, the ground that Hailey was walking over opened itself up, and with a scream Hailey fell several inches into a small dark room. Somehow, a trapdoor had opened and there was no way for her to get out.
Up above, Paul was continuing to stare out the window, watching Vera’s progress as she moved across the board. He wasn’t too sure of his girl’s chances—she only had one flag and had entered a particularly confusing part of the game. All the paths doubled back in on themselves, but there was a slight chance that Vera would stumble on the path that would take her to the large structure a few feet away from them.
“Hey, I got one.” Tom said, sounding triumphant. Paul tore his eyes away from Vera and turned towards Tom.
“What are you talking about?” Paul asked.
“A person.” Tom said. “I found something out. We can do more than just view cameras up here, we can actually control a few things down there. There are three trap doors on the board I can open and close, and this girl just happened to walk across one a second ago!”
“Which girl?” Paul demanded, nervous even though he had just been watching Vera mere moments before.
“Hailey, I think.” Tom said. Paul looked at Tom’s viewscreen. Sure enough Hailey was there, trapped in a little pit under a trap door. From the looks of it, she was throwing an absolute fit.
“I can let her out by opening the side door,” Tom said, “But I’m not going to.” He grinned sinisterly.
“Can you trap Carla?” Paul asked, caring less about Hailey.
“I could if she walked over one of the doors, but she’s nowhere near them.” Tom said. “Want to keep an eye out for it? It’ll give you something to so.”
“No, that’s alright,” Paul said, his eyes drifting to another monitor that was showing Vera’s movement. “Just tell me if she gets close to one, and don’t you dare trap Vera.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Said Tom.
Down below, Jerry was wandering down an enclosed passageway near the underground segment of the model railroad. He had not moved very far since his encounter with Carla. His left arm and hip were hurting him; he had landed on them in a pretty ugly angle. He was angry with Carla; she would probably be the first one to finish the maze, and he would most likely be eliminated.
Jerry struggled to walk up an incline. He was not having much luck finding new flags. He wasn’t trying very hard anyway: he might as well just let himself be eliminated. At least it would give him a chance to relax, take the pressure off.
But then Jerry turned the corner and found something that would change his mind. He reached a small room built into the scenic mountian, and in this room was a large bowl filled with nothing but…jello!
Jerry could not believe it. The jello was green, and it was chopped up into little bits and piled all over each other. Even at full-size it would have been a feast of jello. At his size, it was like a swimming pool. It was every boy’s dream to jump into a giant bowl of jello. To the best of Jerry’s knowledge, he was the first one to actually do it.
Jerry climbed on the edge and allowed himself to fall backwards into the jello. It supported his weight, jiggling as it sunk slightly to support him. He leaned back on it, letting it support him and thinking he might stay here a while But something made him stop to look…there, on the bottom of the bowl, was another flag! Frantically digging through the jello, he picked the ribbon of the bottom of the bowl and tucked it into his belt. He was not out of the game yet!
Covered in jello and filled with a new energy, Jerry rushed out of the room. There were other tunnels in this faux mountian, and there must be other flags here. If he found them, he could still rush to the finish and beat the others!
Carla was angry. She had three flags—she had won the game, all she had to do was find the exit! But with every turn she seemed to be getting more and more frusturated. She was going in circles, she knew it, and her increasing frustration made it harder for her to concentrate. Unbelivably, she had even found a fourth flag sitting conspicuously on a large wooden peg.
Now with four flags and a flaring temper, Carla made her way down a path she swore was new, but she started cursing out loud when she found that the path lead her back to a four-way junction she had seen three other times. She felt that if she had to wander around here any longer she’d have to start trying to kick down walls.
As she walked down another passageway she saw someone approaching. It was Dale; he looked gloomy and defeated. He was not carrying any flags.
“Dale, what happened?” Carla asked.
“I had a run-in with Hailey.” Dale said. “She took all my flags.”
“She took—how did she manage that?” Carla asked.
“She was three times our size.” Dale said.
“What?” Carla exclaimed. “How?”
“No idea,” Dale said. “She must have found something, I don’t know.”
“Is she still around?” Carla said, scanning the area she could see.
“I don’t know.” Dale said.
“You’re pretty behind.” Carla said, doing a calculation in her mind.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” Dale said, gloomily.
“Well, here,” Carla said, taking out one of the flags from her pants and holding it out to Dale. Dale looked at it unbelivingly.
“Are you serious?” Dale asked.
“Dale, we’re allies and I need you in it.” Carla said. “Take it before I change my mind.”
Dale took the flag and fastened it to his own belt. He knew why Carla did it—she only needed three flags to finish, and if she ran into Hailey or anyone else Carla would be wiped out, no matter if she had three or four.
“Thanks.” Dale said.
“Look, don’t go that way.” Carla said, pointing to the direction in which she had come. “It doesn’t lead anywhere. Do you know where the exit is?”
“I think it’s that way.” Dale said, pointing down another path.
“Thanks,” Carla said, dashing off in that direction. “Good luck!”
Vera had still not found any flags, but at least she felt she was moving somewhere. She was nearing the base of a very large contraption that she could only discribe as a verticle crooked house. It was the second largest thing there, next to the lamp post, and she figured that there must be flags inside.
The path she had been taking took a sharp turn and came right up to the front enterance. Vera went inside, and instantly she was met by a sight that would drive a young child crazy; the inside of the structure was filled with nothing but stairs, ladders, and hiding spaces of all size and variety.
Vera climbed up the first staircase and started her search. There was nothing here on this floor. She climbed a rope ladder to an overhang, then a staircase made out of toothpicks to another level. Here was a large collection of wintergreen mints the size of tires, but as she searched through them there was no sign of ribbons. Frusturated, Vera tossed a mint out an opening in the structure, watching it hit the ground below and crack in two. There must be a ribbon up here somewhere!
After finding the ribbon in the cereal, Andy too felt as though he had just been walking around in circles. Though he was in almost the complete opposite corner of the maze as Carla, he was also in a very difficult spot. He continued to carry the bouncy ball with him as he went, however. He didn’t think he would use it, but he liked to think of it as lucky.
As he turned a new corner, he saw something that could make his ball very lucky indeed. Suspended over a large area surrounded by partitions was a verticle array of four buttons. One green button was in the center, the other three red buttons made a triangle around it. Below the buttons there was a small inscription: “Hit the green button and you will receive a ribbon. Hit a red button and there will be trouble!”
The panel was too high to hit by hand; he would have to toss the ball at it. He stood, trying to position himself. It wasn’t that hard of a shot, it should be relatively easy to hit the green button. As long as he made the shot he would have three ribbons and he would be able to finish the game, provided he could find his way to the exit.
Andy took aim with the ball and through it. It hit a space between the buttons and bounced back to him, doing nothing. He caught it on the rebound, and prepared to throw it again. Concentrating, he threw it a second time. Unfortunaitely his toss did not have the power needed and the ball hit the red button on the lower left side of the panel.
Instantly the ground parted from under Andy and he found himself falling. He fell a few inches and landed in some kind of underground room. Was he stuck? No, he wasn’t—he noticed an enclosed passageway that lead out to his right. He followed the passageway as it curved around to the left. The passageway came to an abrupt end, but right above it’s end he could see another passageway and there was something hanging down: a tube sock.
The sock seemed to be attached to the upper platform by staples. Andy wondered if it would support his weight but then remembered: what weight? At sixteenth-size he weighed just under a single ounce. His weight couldn’t move much of anything. He grabbed part of the sock, bunching it up so he could climb. He grunted and groaned, but he managed to get all the way up to the passegway above.
As Andy started walking down the passageway he knew he should consider himself lucky; there could have been no side door and he would have been trapped in the underground room until the end of the game. He decided not to try any games that had that level of risk to them.
Turning another corner Andy found himself in a longer, straighter passageway that seemed to hold promise. Sitting in it was a big-wheeled remote-control car. Andy walked up to it, looking at it. It was about six inches long, and the wheels came up to his waste. It was one of those battery operated units, and Andy couldn’t see any controls. Of course I can’t see any controls Andy thought They never expected anyone to actually ride it!
The car revved, causing Andy to jump back. It was live! Did it have some kind of artificial intellegence, or was someone driving? There was too much in the way where he was to see the giantesses watching on the side of the conference center. The car revved again. It seemed to be indicating for Andy to get on. Cautiously, he walked up to the car, mounting it and lying facedown on it, grabbing a firm handhold.
Suddenly the car came to life. It shot forward down the track at breakneck speeds. It reached the end of the long corridor in no time, and took an abrupt left. Andy would have been thrown off if he wasn’t holding on with all his might. The car jolted down another passageway, taking up most of the clearance as it did so. It made a right, then a left, this time bumping the wall and jolting Andy.
Andy tried to keep track of where they were going but it was no use. The car moved and turned so quickly that everything became a blurr. The car came out onto a large open space at the base of what appeared to be a slide. The car shot diagonally across the space, passing what appeared to be a large bar of soap randomly discarded near the end of the clearing.
The car flew into another passageway, now heading in the general direction of the back of the conference center. The car narrowly made a few other turns, knocking Andy around as it bounced off walls. Now the car and Andy were surrounded on both sides by structures. If someone was driving the car, they could not see where it was going! The passageway made a sudden turn to the left, but the car was racing full-speed ahead straight into the far wall!
The car rammed headfist into the partition causing it to be pulled out from the ground. The action caused the car to flip forward as it smashed through the partitions. Andy was detatched from the car and found himself being flung through the air. His back hit a partition and he fell to the ground.
Unhurt, Andy stood up. The car lay upside-down a few inches from him admist a haphazard pile of broken partitions. But he noticed something else. There, on the bottom of the car, was his third ribbon. Gleefully, Andy took the ribbon and started running down the path that seemed to lead in the right direction. He was going towards the exit and towards victory.
Dale was moving towards the end of the maze, but he knew it would be useless to go to the end now because he only had one flag. He could post the flag he had and come back to look for more, but that would be a waste of time. He might as well look for two more ribbons now.
As he rounded the corner, Dale saw something sticking up over the partitions not far away. It looked like…a pink plastic roof? That was certianly odd. What could that be? The path he was on wound closer to that area, and a moment later it broke into a clearing and Dale saw what it was: a barbie house.
It was a very simple two-storied barbie house, and it was giant even to Dale’s scale. The barbies were eight or nine inches tall, twice Dale’s height. He chuckled to himself, thinking how odd it was to be a dwarf to a doll. The first room was a kitchen, and only had three walls, the fourth opening up presumably so little gigantic children could play with the dolls.
Dale walked up to the barbie, slender and plastic, sitting on the chair. It was smiling off into the distance, paying him no attention. She was wearing a little pink dress that left her legs bare, but something yellow was sticking out of her chest—a ribbon! Dale could not reach it from the ground, he had to think of another way to get up to it. He decided to climb up on the barbie’s lap, though he felt very silly to do it.
“Sorry ma’am,” Dale said as he reached into barbie’s chest and retrieved the ribbon. He now had two; he tucked the first one next to the other one in his pants and hopped down off barbie’s lap.
Dale decided to look around the barbie house a little more. It was colored in such bright colors that he was surprised kids didn’t have an epiliptic fit playing with it. He walked into the next room where he saw a baby barbie doll—his own size—in a crib. At the back of the room was a plastic staircase leading to the second story. The staircase was awkward but Dale managed to climb it.
At the top of the stairs Dale found a bedroom with a sloped celing. There was a barbie and ken doll lying in bed, a thin piece of fabric acting like a quilt lying over them. All the other funiture was plastic and solid—nothing could be hidden within it.
Dale took the fabric and pulled it off barbie and ken. Barbie was lying naked in the bed, her featureless body lying in the closest she could be to a sexual pose: her legs were bent forward and backwards instead of side to side. Ken, however, was clothed in pants and a shirt. Dale was starting to understand how Betty’s mind worked and he knew where the next flag would be. He reached into ken’s pants and sure enough there was a ribbon there where ken’s crotch should have been.
Smiling, Dale knew he now had three flags and could finish the game. Feeling like he should complete the scene, Dale bent barbie’s legs back into a regular sleeping position and slid the blanket back over the plastic couple. He then walked down the stairs and out of the house, picking the path he thought would lead fastest to the exit and took of running down it.
Vera had been looking around the crooked house for what seemed like ages. She climbed more stairs, ladders, and ropes than she had in sports training. She had searched through many piles of useless stuff: giant lipstic bottles, empty candy wrappers, even a pile of nuts and bolts. But still no flag.
Now Vera was reaching the very top of the crooked house and was starting to loose hope. After all this time she only had one flag. She wondered how the others were doing—she hadn’t seen any since the start of the race. Maybe they were all finished—maybe she was doomed to be eliminated.
Taking a break, Vera sat down on a die that was randomly left on the side of one staircase. What was she doing, anyway? Maybe this building was just a distraction and there was never anything in here at all. She was starting to feel a bit upset: things really weren’t working out for her. First their alliance was betrayed, then she lost Paul. Now she was loosing a competition. Vera’s hopes for winning were looking bleak.
Knowing she couldn’t stay here, Vera climbed the stairs to the top of the structure, knowing that it was her final hope to find a ribbon. The top room was more than four feet above the ground, or in Vera’s perspective, more than ten stories high. It was a large room with a steeply sloped celing. There was no far wall; it opened into the rest of the game. She could see over everything else straight to the exit. She squinted, trying to see if any of her teemmates had made it, but she couldn’t see anyone! Could it be that no one else finished the game yet?
With a new sense of optomism, Vera started serching for the room, knowing there must be a ribbon here. What she found, however, disapointed her. She found a ribbon alright, but it was not the correct ribbon. It was a long, thick, white ribbon. Vera was sure it wouldn’t count. But on the ribbon was written a little inscription: “To find your yellow ribbon, take the string.”
Vera looked up. Sure enough, there was a large string attached to the room. The one end was high up on the wall that she came in on. The other end was miles away, far below and far far ahead deep into the game near the exit. Vera couldn’t exactly tell where it ended, but she seemed to spot a pool of water somewhere near the termanus.
Vera knew what she needed to do, but she felt crazy doing it. To slide down the string like some kind of Indiana Jones, flying over the game so dangerously far below? But Vera was ready to do it: she had gone bungee jumping before, back in her vacation ot the mountians. This should be a piece of cake next to that!
Pulling on it, Vera tested the stength of the string. It was a very thick string, more like a rope to Vera than a string. It was fastened very tightly at this end. Vera could not see the other end, but she assumed that it was tightly secured there as well. She took the white ribbon and threw one end of it over the string. She grabbed that end with her other hand. The ribbon seemed strong and she didn’t dowbt it would hold her weight.
Well, it was now or never. Vera took it at run, leaping off the edge of the structure. The ribbon caught right away and she found herself swiftly sliding down the string. The world went by in a blurr. She was flying far over partitions, tubes, and smaller structures, far into the rear of the game. She wondered fleetingly if any of the other contestants could see her.
Vera was gaining a lot of speed and wondered if she would be able to stop safely when she reached the end. The wind tore through her hair and she could not help but shout out in excitement. Forget the ride on the bar of soap, this was the most daring thing she had done so far!
Looking ahead the pool was fast approaching. Vera closed her eyes. The ribbon met the end of the string and stopped abruptly. Vera, still moving quickly, was torn away from the ribbon and hit the water hard, sending her several inches under the surface. Vera kicked hard, propelling herself to the top of the water.
Breaking the surface, Vera took a deep breath and looked around her as she treaded water. The pool was a fishbowl that had been filled to the surface. There was a path surrounding the base of the fishbowl, and another one at the level of the fishbowl’s lip. Vera climbed out onto the level surface, the water cascading off her. She was completely soaked—fortunaitely, there was a towl on a peg close by. Vera rushed forward and picked up the towl, and as she did, a ribbon fell out of it.
“Haha!” Vera cried in triumph, still on a rush from the ride over here. She now had two ribbons; she only needed one more to finish the game. She quickly toweled herself off—her clothes were soaked through, she wouldn’t be able to dry them fully right now—and made her way forward. She threw the towel aside and took the right branch, knowing that victory could be close at hand.
Up in the tower, Paul had been watching Vera’s progress on the video. He had known there were no flags in the tower; he could see the whole thing on the screens. He was nervous for her when she slid down the string, but happy when she found the ribbon wrapped in the towl.
“That’s my girl,” Paul whispered at the screen as she ran off down the passageway. There were other ribbons in the area; she wouldn’t have that much trouble finishing.
“That Carla sure is lost,” Tom said with amusement. Paul took himself away from his view of Vera to see what Tom was talking about. Sure enough, Carla was lost in another segment of the maze and she looked quite irate.
“Serves her right,” Paul said. “Hey, do you know if there are any trap doors nearby?”
“For her, no,” Tom said. “Though there is something that will really put her in a twist if she keeps going this direction.”
“Good, what is it?” Paul asked. Before Tom could answer, the concil beeped.
“We have a message.” Tom said, pressing the button. Betty’s voice filled the room.
“Hailey’s been locked up long enough.” Betty said. “Release her or there will be hell to pay.”
“Well, I better do it.” Tom said, switching over the view to that of Hailey sitting in her cell. She had given up flipping out and was now sitting, defeated looking, waiting for the competition to end.
“‘Hell to Pay’, humph,” Paul said. “She’s already using us as dildos.”
“Paul, that’s what Betty does when she’s happy with you,” Tom said, looking at Paul with a dry smile on his face.
“Remind me not to get on her bad side, then.” Paul said.
“You won’t need reminding.” Tom said. “Okay, I’m letting Hailey out now.”
Hailey was sitting with her knees up to her chest, her three flags laying a few inches from her. When she first fell into this hole she kicked, screamed, and clawed, trying to find a way out. But it was no use. There was no way out of here unless someone of larger size came and picked her out, and that would only happen when the competition was all over and she was eliminated.
Tears were coming out of Hailey’s eyes. Everything was falling apart for her in this game. She felt like everyone had abandoned her. What had she ever done to them? Now she was going to loose the competition, and have nothing but the humiliation to remind her.
There was a shifting sound as if something had just moved behind her. Hailey looked around. One of the walls of her prison had opened, leading into an underground passageway. Hailey could not believe it: she still had a chance! She grabbed the three flags, tucked them back into her pants, and ran down the subterranian passageway towards freedom.
Jerry would like to think he had been making progress in the last few minutes, but he still only had his one flag. He had though he was in luck when he saw a left-handed female glove lying discarded on the path, but he found no ribbon inside. By this point in the game, it was entirely possible that there had been a ribbon there before but someone else found it already.
He was in the back right corner of the maze now, and he was definitely somewhere he had not been before. The path he was on left ground level, going in a tight circle as it moved upwards like a ramp built over a spiral staircase. He continued to follow the path until it took a sharp left and he saw, leaning against a wall, a pair of popsicle sticks.
Jerry looked at them for a moment. Why were they here? Nearly everything else was here for a reason, so there must be a point to them. They were just longer than he was tall, and a litle wider than his feet. Since they were very light Jerry decided to take them along with him. It was a good thing too, because when he turned the next corner he saw the reason for their placement.
He was standing at the end of the passageway overlooking a wide area under him. Straight across from him, on a platform of equal height, was a ribbon sitting there in plain view. Between him and the flag were four thick pillars each about four inches across. The pillars were flat on the top and there was just enough room for Jerry to stand on one.
So I have to make myself a bridge, thought Jerry. It was a fun idea. He had a strong feeling that this particular idea was Sherri’s, not Betty’s, since it didn’t involve nudity or any kind of serious physical risk.
Jerry layed out the two popsical sticks side by side between the platform and the first pillar. They spanned the distance well with an inch to spare. He put his weight cautiously on one of the sticks. It held him easily. Careful not to loose his balance and fall two stories tot he ground, he walked to the pillar. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the toothpicks and moved them to span the first and second pillars. There was no turning back now. If he dropped a toothpick he would be in sreious trouble.
Carefully keeping his balance, Jerry walked across from the first to the second pillar. He did the same walking from the second to the third, then the third to the fourth. Finally, he laid down the toothpicks to span the final gap between the fourth pillar and the far platform. He walked across it and happily grabbed the flag in his hand.
He hung himself from the side of the platform, and let himself drop the few inches to the wide passageway below. Getting himself up, he knew he must move quickly. He was near the end of the maze but he still needed one ribbon to be able to finish. He took off to his left in search of his final ribbon.
Dale was covering new ground. He felt in a very good mood; it seemed like every turn he took was taking him closer to the end of the maze. He clutched the three ribbons in his belt covenantly. As long as three or less people had made it to the exit, there was no way he couldn’t survive this round!
He was very close to the edge of the maze now. He took a left and round himself on a path sloped upwards. The path curved to the left, then to the right, then opened up into a great clearing: it was the end of the maze. A board was hung across the wall there and the six of their names were on it in a row with a pin under each of their names. There were no flags on the board yet. Could it be? Dale wondered, Could I really be the first one to finish the maze?
Not wasting any time, Dale took off running towards the board. He got there in two seconds. He took the pin off the board and drove it through his three ribbons, securing his win. A great clapping soud filled his ears. He looked to his left. Giantesses Betty, Sherri, and Marie were beaming down at him, clapping.