chapter 2

Mandy was within reach of the end of the tiny tunnel she had crawled into when all of a sudden she was overwhelmed with exhaustion. The effort had been too much for her. A sweet scented aroma filled the air and a blanket of sleep overcame her. Mandy curled up into a ball and fell fast asleep.

She didn't know exactly how long she had been out, but in the midst of her reverie she heard a voice call out, "Get up girl, Auntie Melba ain't got time to waste on the likes of you!". Mandy opened her eyes. She felt refreshed, renewed and wide awake. She reached out her two arms with some difficulty and pulled herself out into what looked like an old fashioned living room. It had a big sofa, an overstuffed chair, and an upright piano.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, an elderly black woman emerged. She was no taller than Mandy but she must have outweighed her by at least four hundred pounds. She introduced herself as Auntie Melba. "Been a long time since I could talk with a girl as nice as you. Please, sit down, relax and talk with your Auntie Melba."

It must have been the after-effects of her recent nap, but Mandy curled herself up in the big overstuffed chair without a complaint or a word of protest. She did, however, have the presence of mind to ask, "Tell me Auntie Melba, how long have you been living here?", to which the old lady replied, "Oh, a LONG time!"

And that's how it went for what seemed like hours, two women exchanging pleasantries. Mandy so enjoyed herself and her conversation with Auntie Melba that she completely lost track of time. All she knew was that she was ravenously hungry.

"Excuse me, Auntie Melba, but would you happen to have something to eat?", asked Mandy. To which the old lady replied, "Of course child, Auntie Melba always has something to eat for one of her guests!". Melba disappeared in a flash and re-appeared as quickly as she had vanished. She brought with her an enormous iron kettle filled with something that smelled absolutely delicious. Mandy inquired as to what was in the pot to which Melba answered, "Oh, just a little something Auntie Melba whipped up. Go on, take a little taste.". Melba spooned up a huge plateful of what looked like beans with some kind of meat. Mandy didn't care WHAT it was, she was so hungry she felt she could eat a cow. Well, she didn't have a cow, but she certainly DID have a huge pot of beans and meat, all of which she downed in the twinkling of an eye.

"OK little one, now you take a nap and Auntie Melba will wake you up when it's time to go." Once again Mandy became enveloped in a deep, dreamless sleep. She felt as if she had slept for hours when she was nudged by Auntie Melba. "Time for you to go child!" Mandy stretched and yawned, got up out of the chair and was about to crawl back into the tiny tunnel when Auntie Melba told her, "Not that way, honey, there's a nice door for you to walk through that will take you right back to where you came from. But first I want to show you something."

Melba lead Mandy to a full length mirror which suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She moved Mandy right in front of the mirror and told her to look hard, REAL hard. Mandy shook her head to knock some of the grogginess out of her mind and then stared into the mirror. She was both fascinated and appalled at the same time. The reflection in the mirror was a woman, a young woman from the looks of it. She might have been Mandy's age, although to her way of thinking the woman in the mirror was MUCH older. What appalled Mandy about the reflection was that the woman she saw there much have weighed nearly five hundred pounds..

"Who is that Auntie Melba?", asked Mandy. "Why child, that's just an obstacle delusion. It's what you MIGHT look like, unless you come to see your old Auntie Melba exactly one year from today."

It didn't take any time at all for Mandy to promise that she would make her way through that tunnel and come and see her Auntie Melba. It should be easy, she thought to herself. If she could crawl through that tunnel once, she could do it again, how hard could THAT be?

The next year Mandy found out JUST how hard!!