Wild Fiction

His predicament, locked inside the passage, focussed his mind. He searched the inside walls for a latch. Something that would release the door’s catch from the inside. An hour of searching and scratching at every crack left the author exhausted and no closer to escape. There was only one thing for it. He was going to have to wake up the fictionals to get him out. He had seen a pipe at the far end of the corridor. The pipe ran vertically down the wall and through a hole in the floor. It must connect to one of the exposed pipes in the basement, he thought. He banged on it with the torch. Three quick taps, three taps with longer pauses and then three quick taps again. An SOS message that the fictionals would be sure to understand. The tapping made a hollow clanking sound that echoed hauntingly in the secret passage. After a couple of minutes of banging he managed to break the torch and the light went out leaving him in darkness. Fed up he sat down on the floor and buried his head in his grimy hands. He resolved to spend the night there and had made himself comfortable. Then he heard a noise at the door and a voice whispered.
‘Who’s in there?’ it was Conrad. The author recognised his voice.
‘It’s me,’ the author said. ‘I’m locked in. Can you let me out? Pull the lever…no press it...but hold the books so they don’t fall out.’
The door swung open.
‘What are you doing in there by yourself?’ a weary looking Conrad asked.
‘I’ve found a map,’ the author said, unable to contain the excitement in his voice. ‘I don’t know what it means but I’m sure it’s important.’
‘Tomorrow,’ Conrad said turning around and heading for the door.
‘But don’t you see?’ the author said. ‘This is what we need to take the story forward. It’s a map, it could take us anywhere.’
Conrad wasn’t listening and was already out of the door when the author finished speaking. Damn these fictionals, he thought. When they make a discovery it’s all action and go. When I make one there’s just a total lack of interest. That’s going to change. The author returned to bed feeling despondent.