She was calling out to us before. Now all I heard was "sniff, sniff ...", but it DID sound like lynn's nose. I followed my ears to her nose -- it wasn't far. I found the door and started working on the lock.

Her sniffing stopped.

The lock was too much for me, but I wasn't about to give up. I struggled with it, I coaxed it, I threatened it. I turned red in the face and beat on it with my fists until my knuckles were bloody -- something happened: I began to imagine how the lock mechnism looked from inside the lock.

"Aha!" I declared and started to work again with my lockpicks, twist this way, push a little that way then pull -- gently, gently -- click. "Almost there ..." Twist a little more, push-pull, lift ... wait, not that much ... back a little ... click. "Now, just a little more ..." CLICK!!

"Done!" I lifted the latch handle and it was free. I struggled with the iron bar bracing the door, and pushed the door inward with all my strength.

The seat of a wooden stool is about the same size as my face. I know this because Lynn introduced us. My nose will never be the same. Thankfully, I passed out from the impact, and slept through the initial shock and pain.

I dreamed of hiking across Europe in shorts, boots, and a pith helmet.
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-- BG