[Estelyn Telcontar]

In a hole in the ground there was a Forum. Not a nasty, forbidding forum, filled with snooty insiders and flaming trolls, nor yet a dry, dusty academic forum with highbrow essays and no place to have fun: it was a Downs Forum, and that means comfort! It had a perfectly accessible door painted black with glowing green letters on it. The door opened into a many-tunnelled maze of sub-forums provided with inviting threads and lots and lots of space for visitors, for its members were fond of newcomers. There were rooms devoted to book discussions, others for those interested in movies, and still others for the learned, who knew where the answers to questions of import were to be found. From one room peals of laughter came; it was obviously filled with mirth. Other rooms were devoted to the telling of stories.

Estelyn stepped up to the Door briskly and expectantly. Today was a very special day, and she anticipated a party of special magnificence in celebration of the event. It was a birthday – no, not yet an eleventy-first; still, eight was a reputable number of years to have spent among such excellent and admirable members. She silently rehearsed the spontaneous speech she intended to hold: “I shall not keep you long. I have called you all together for a Purpose. First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all...” (Well, almost all, she thought with a rueful smile.)

She could not hear voices inside as she laid her hand on the knob, but that did not worry her. It was early, and she liked it that way. It would give her time to check whether everything she had prepared for the party was in place. Her fingers turned the knob, but nothing happened – the Door was shut. A sign proclaimed, “Only the dead can pass.”

“But I am one of the dead here,” she thought. “I even have a small key, the very least of keys, yet I must enter to use it. The One Key to open all is held by the ghastly hand of The Barrow-Wight alone, and he sleeps under his mound. What can I do?”


She awoke with a start. The sun was shining into her window reassuringly, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that the horror of which she had dreamt was only a nightmare. Hurriedly she prepared herself for the big day and ran to the Door. But what was this? The barrel that she had filled with greeting mathoms for the guests was now empty, save for the notes and cards that were strewn around it. Apparently others had attempted to come, but she now stood alone. Her nightmare had come true. No food, no drinks, no music, no presents – would there be no party today?