chapter 3

“Huh?” Greg said in confusion after reading the riddle.

He reached for the handle to open the door again, but it would not budge in the slightest. He pushed on the wood, but it was solid and impenetrable and the space around the doorframe seemed impossibly tight.

Hans was equally confused by the verses on the door, and despite their best efforts they were unable to open the front door again.

Hans suggested comfortingly, “Well, I’m sure we’ll figure a way out, maybe we just need to get a good lunch in us.”

As if on cue, a mild, pleasant sounding bell rang from somewhere from inside the house, and suddenly the smell of fried chicken, cornbread, and countless more delectables filled the little house.

Entering the dining room, the boys saw that the long mahogany table had, as if by magic, filled itself to overflowing with food. Gaping slightly at the enormous feast before him, Hans gestured at the table and said, “After you?”

After hesitating for only a moment, the boys tucked in with gusto; they had been quite hungry after all, and it was just after 2:00 in the afternoon; well after their intended lunchtime. The food was absolutely delicious; they had tasted nothing like it in the world. The meal itself was like a scaled-up version of a picnic in the woods, complete with a fancy checkered tablecloth and wicker baskets filled with food. To drink, they had pitchers of sweet lemonade and a creamy cold milk that seemed richer and thicker than any milk they had had before.

After stuffing themselves for around an hour, both boys were intractably full and collapsed back in the front room on adjacent chairs (which despite their ancient origins turned out to be delightfully comfortable on a full stomach).

Hans was looking thoughtfully at the riddle on the door from his chair while rubbing his slightly distended stomach; Greg reclined back in his chair with his eyes shut.

“I mean, clearly, this house is under some sort of enchantment,” said Hans at length gesturing at the text on the door then back at the table (which had magically cleared itself a few minutes prior)

“Mmm,” Greg agreed somewhat sleepily.

“I wonder…,” Hans started, then after a moment said carefully, “Well, it’s just that this riddle seems to imply we’re on some sort of quest, and that the door will be sealed until we fulfill that quest…”

“Okay, fine, a quest, wake me up when it’s over will you?” Greg mumbled.

But then as pieces of the riddle came back to him, he was suddenly wide awake. “Hold on, you don’t mean to tell me…,” he said, trailing off as he sat up suddenly, looking over at the door to read the riddle again.

Nervously, both boys read the riddle again, a of few verses of which suddenly seemed to glimmer brighter than ever (though perhaps this really was just their imagination):

For this door shall be sealed until all inside,
Have grown in girth and are plenty wide.

And in this house thou shalt remain,
Until a well fed body thou hast gained.

Thou wilt carry upon you an ample supply,
A fleshy proof of feasts gone by,

And when this test, most peculiar, thou pass,
This door shall open, free passage at last,

“Grown in girth?” whispered Greg.
“Plenty wide?” breathed Hans.

The boys slowly looked at each other as their mouths fell open as they suddenly understood the riddle.