"Okay, we're in."
A beam of light pierced the darkness, revealing Scott's face and those of the little ones.
"Wow, this place is a maze."
Scott moved his flashlight around to inspect their surroundings. They were in a seemingly bottomless "tunnel," and the light revealed two branching paths ahead.
"Okay, time to make a choice. Hand me the map."
"Here, Daddy."
The little girl handed Scott a sheet of drawing paper. She was his daughter, Cassie.
"Mmm... why go to all this trouble? I'm fast enough to run through the whole maze in five minutes." A soft, sleepy voice sounded behind them. The girl said to her companion on her right, "This is such a nice place to sleep. It's quiet and dark. Ah, I'm sleepy again... let's hurry up and finish."
"That wouldn't be much fun. We'd lose all the surprises and the joy of exploring."
The other voice was gentle and clear, like a warm breeze brushing softly past.
"Think of it this way: suppose you bought a big, beautiful piece of cotton candy that looked really sweet, but then you kindly gave it a bath. You'd remember how delicious it was, but your mouth would never get to taste it. That hollow feeling in your heart would be disappointment, wouldn't it?"
The sleepy girl rubbed her eyes and sighed helplessly. "But we just had breakfast. I'm not hungry at all right now."
"Ah, was my example too complicated? You seem to have missed the point a little."
Slurp... slurp...
(The liquid made faint sucking sounds as it traveled through the straw and past lips and tongues.)
The girls' conversation and the sounds of them drinking were especially noticeable in the dark, quiet space. Scott and Cassie exchanged a look, then both turned to look behind them, raising