He kept digging the dog out, murmuring to it the whole time. "It's okay, we're going to get you out of here." The more debris he got off the dog, the farther he leaned forward. He tried to put the dog's front paws and head over his shoulder.

The dog jumped and landed on Roxy's door. It skittered down it like a slide and settled itself beside her leg, leaning towards her. She continued to hold door for Myles to climb down.

Myles quickly took the hint and climbed down the door. "Thanks, he breathed." He was glad that the dog could move.

"No problem." She said, dusting her hands on her jeans.
She crouched and spoke gently to the dog again. She held it's jaw firmly in place to avoid being bitten, then stroked her hand over it's body and legs to see if it reacted in pain.



"I think it's okay." She said, as she picked up the puppy-ish golden retriever. "How about we bring you back to your family, eh-" She checked it's tag, "Fluff...ball...?" She gave Myles a look that conveyed "are those owners for real?"


"I really hope a child named this poor dog." She said. "The address on the tag is only a couple of blocks away once we get back to the road, so I'll bring him there."

She carried the dog as she circled the remaining rubble and checked for an other trapped pets or people. It seemd clear.

"I don't know about you but I'm ready to call it a day."

Myles stood to the side, watching Roxy attend to the dog. He folded his arms over his chest, watching the dog for reactions as well. "I'm glad. That's one lucky pup right there if it really has no wounds." He chuckled at the name. "Fluffball, huh? What's wrong with the name?" He asked. Myles wasn't about to let her return the dog to its owner alone. "Yeah, I'm so ready to just get out of this freaky place."

She rolled her eyes when he asked what was wrong with the name then laughed when he said he was glad to be going.

"I think that door way at the end of the courtyard might bring us straight back to the kitchen or whatever we entered through. " Roxy suggested.

"You know this isn't exactly the best place to be when you're in a hurry, but it would be cool to come back and explore....maybe after I have someone verify that more of it isn't about to collapse....
I think this was the mieval equivalent of Disneyland for the rich." She pushed open the door at the end of the courtyard, then the door they had originally the castle entered through, bypassing the stairmaze, glass room, and other oddities. "Sort of an architrctiral art museum."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "I don't trust this place as far as I could throw it. Which I can't. So I don't." He shook his head as if clearing it. "Aaaaanyways, I guess I could come back. Maybe in the day, though. Anywhere at night creeps me out. But only a little bit. Also, who will you get to come out here to verify?" He got quiet as she started to kind of explain the place. He followed her back through the place.

"A building inspector, I guess. It would probably cost a little bit, but it would be worth it to not die.

It would also make a great place for a halloween party.

In the end, we did answer my question, though: it is still furnished. As long as furniture on the ceiling counts." She smirked.

"What? I don't see why that would count. If anything, it was probably just...a collective hallucination. Or something." He tried to explain away what he couldn't understand. "There's no way that was real." Although, that might explain the cave-in...maybe the wood rotted on the ceiling and couldn't bear the weight of the possible furniture on it.



THE END