One long, dusty dirt road, dividing into two. One goes left, the other right.

This road I'm on seems well-used, worn deep with ruts that cut down into
the dirt like scars from harder times. But the split, up ahead, shows two
roads branching off from the one I'm on now, but neither looks like it has
been traveled in many years, or decades. Both are overgrown with grass
and weeds, tree limbs hanging out over the faint . . . path . . if you will.
Surely the road stops here, but . . no, two trails do indeed lead off in
different directions, beckoning me.

Legend has it that something mystical waits at the end of those two . .
roads . . paths. Many men have made it this far, as I see their signs with
their names posted to trees and stumps. The nearer I get to the fork in the
road, the fewer the signs. Looking up past the fork, I see no signs at all.
Evidently this is the last stop before . . . darkness. I too will rest here
tonight, and begin my search in the morning light. What will I find
tomorrow ? Which path will I take ? We shall see. And why hasn't a soul
ever returned from this place ?

And so the next morning I arose and prepared to depart. I walked
around with my hot cup of tea and honey, reading the various
signs and names earlier visitors had left behind. There was an
"Ivan", an "Edgar", a "Tom", and a "Juan, a "William", a "Clyde",
and a couple of "Johns". (Just kidding here, but there really was
a lot of names, some readable and some so faint that time and the
weather had all but erased the scrawled letters.) The newest name
plate appeared to be from an individual named "Magantice", some
"two" years ago. Written under the name was a brief explanation
of why that quest had failed . . ."To the right lies disfavor- so sayeth
my dogs."
I finished my tea, packed my cup, and made my way up to the fork
in the road. So, the dim path to the right has already brought grief
to Magantice, right? I guess I'll try left first then, . . and maybe come
back and try the right later. Maybe, if everything goes okay !

The path to the left made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up
when I first set my foot down in that direction, but the eerieness
was gone in five seconds, replaced with a feeling of relief and
anticipation of discovery. I walked along the moss-covered path for
perhaps two miles, noticing that the further into the woods I went,
the quieter everything became. At one point I stopped to listen,
only to realize that I no longer could hear any birds or any other
sounds at all. Not even the wind ! Time to take a break !
Finding an almost perfect seat on a nearby log I took off my back-
pack, pulled out an apple and a block of cheese, and proceeded to
cut myself some slices of each, while taking in the utter peaceful-
ness of everything around me. What a place to be ! My only worry
right now was . . would it continue to be like this the rest of the
way ? If so, I swear I'll probably become the Rip Van Winkle of this
fine forest !
Twenty minutes later I was on the road again. The path wound up-
wards through a barrier of rocks and boulders some of which were
as large as barns. Just as I reached what I thought might have
been the end of the line I noticed the path turning downhill through
a grove of pear trees, and followed it accordingly. The pear trees
gave way to apple trees and the apples to maples. Suddenly I was
out of the grove and found myself staring down onto the roof of a
large house, sitting silently about a half mile down the moutain-
side ahead of me. Cautiously I made my way down towards it.

As I neared the house I saw the women ! Two of them, sitting on
the porch, watching my unsteady descent with keen interest. They
did not seem surprised, but they did not show apprehension
either. I stopped about two hundred feet from a fence that
encircled the property and covered my eyes with my hand to block
out the bright sunlight that prevented me from seeing as clearly as
I now wanted to. I could make out their long blonde hair . . . and
. . . and the fact that they were both . . .naked ! My, my, looked
like I'd finally found the goldmine !
And with that last thought in my head, I promptly tripped and fell
headfirst down into the rocks, knocking myself out cold !

The things we dream about in heaven ! Waking up to two good-
looking women staring at me and rubbing my head with a cool, wet
towel. Ah, now this was the life ! Surely I will never wake up !

But I did. And abruptly at that when the palm of a hand slapped my
face so hard that tears rolled down my cheeks involuntarily. And
another slap ! And another !
I was awake now and getting ready to battle for my life when the
slapping stopped just as fast as it had started. Sitting up, I found
myself on the same front porch where I had first spotted the
women, and yes, they were sitting right there beside me, staring.
I say staring in the typical sense, but they were also smelling me !
It was as if they had never been in the presence of a man before.
They sniffed and stared at me for a considerable time.

And to be honest, I was staring right back at them. They were
beautiful beyond belief, with extremely long blond hair that fell
down to the back of their knees, the longest hair I have ever seen
in my life. They were solidly tanned and appeared to be very
physically fit for women. Their bodies were delightful to behold and
they acted as if they were unaware of their nakedness. But what
really stood out were their eyes ! Both of them had white eyes, yes
I said white ! It kind of throws you off guard when first you look
into them.
Took me a day and a half to realize they were both blind !

Now to tell you the truth, I was pretty much convinced that if I
never made it back I'd die here a happy man. I mean come on, two
beautiful women who seemed to love the ground I walked on ! !
Hell, they even loved the way I smelled ! Like I said, though, it did
take me awhile to realize that they couldn't see a lick. I first got
suspicious when I saw them walk outside. In the house they
zipped around like ordinary people, (probably because they had
everything memorized), but outside they moved slowly and
cautiously, and stayed close together. However, their hospitality
was above reproach. They took me in, cleaned me up, and fed me.
I could not ask for better treatment !

Sipping on a cool drink of what tasted like lemonade, I left the
women and went outside to survey the surrounding area. When I
stepped away from the house, and then the fence, I suddenly
noticed how strange the actual building appeared ! From this
distance I could see . . ."two" front doors . . and "two" windows,
and "two" chimneys. The house was actually two identical units,
joined together as one ! Strange !

When I was inside I noticed only one table . . right in the middle.

My first night spent with them was a little awkward, but we all made
it through the ordeal. Three chairs at the one table, mine being on
the end, so that each could sit by me . . and sniff. They brought
a vegetable soup to the table that smelled delicious and a loaf of
hard bread that we dipped into the soup. Supper consisted of sip,
sniff, sip, snif, sip, sniff. No words were spoken, and I found that to
be quite enjoyable. I believe I sipped twice as fast as they sniffed.

Bedtime, now that was another matter. The two women discussed
something in earnest for about five minutes, and then one of them
came over and grabbed my hand and took me to her bed. The other
retired to her side of the house and became silent. Under the warm
covers that night I experienced the sensual longings of a
beautiful blind woman. It was a most enjoyable time.

And that's how things went for the next two weeks. The women
would alternate nights and I would . . get less and less sleep. They
seemed terribly happy and I was quite satisfied . . except for the
lack of sleep. They fed me quite well and insisted I eat as much as
I wanted. Little did I know that they were planning something
sinister !

I first started feeling sick to my stomach the beginning of the third
week with them. It went away in a day, but I developed very sore
legs right after that. Soon I found it difficult to walk because the
pain was so intense. After a while I had to stay in bed most of the
time, only getting up to answer nature's calls, and that took all of
the energy I had. Another week went by and the pain changed to
numbness. I couldn't feel my legs at all now, even if I pinched them
real hard. I guess you could say I was paralyzed from the waist
down. The girls would lift me out of bed and carry me to the table
for every meal, and I was grateful and embarrassed at the same
time.
One particular supper though, I noticed that the girls were giving
me all of their extra bread. I noticed it again the next day. Now
they were giving me all of the bread and taking none themselves.
When I tried to give some back to them, they refused, pointing to
my legs. I got the impression they wanted me to eat as much
bread as I could, so that my legs would get better. And so I tried !