The Lady sometimes visits Willow in the nursery. The little girl likes her presence, because she sings songs to her both beautiful and sad. No one else but Willow has ever seen The Lady in The Wall.
One rainy afternoon the Lady decides to come out of the wall and talk to Willow...
The Lady tells Willow to go "UP". You may wonder what "UP" means, but somehow Willow understands perfectly what The Lady means...
Now..before I continue I need to share with you that The Hall is a three story mansion of which only two are in use. The third floor is where the servants used to live about two centuries ago. Today this floor is out of bounds to everyone in the house except the housekeeper. She doesn't go there too often either mind you. Apparently the rooms are in such fragile and derelict state that the floors are about to collapse. One long corridor runs like a spine through the upper floor with doors on either side. All of these doors are locked and as Tippi the Housekeeper often likes to remind people: "Stay locked!"
The Girl In The Dress just stands there in that strange room with the painting. She doesn't look at Willow or talk to Willow. She doesn't move at all... This makes Willow feel tremendously sad and uncomfortable...
Of course it's Dad! We can be grateful that most parents are usually right behind their little ones. You just can't take your eyes off these wee rascals for one second. Willow is extremely happy to find her dad there.
https://i.ibb.co/dQ64qHg/15-Daddy-Daddy.jpg
She's quite distressed and in her limited toddler speech she tries to tell him all about The Strange Girl in The Dress in The Corner.
https://i.ibb.co/3ygxhWY/16-Willow-Scared.jpg
Dave reassures Willow that there is no girl in a dress in the corner. In fact...the corner of the room is completely empty...
He comforts his daughter by saying that "all is well, don't you worry your pretty little face, we will go downstairs immediately where the warm milk and cookies are waiting for us."
https://i.ibb.co/L5hQHWW/18-Daddy-Hallway.jpg
Still....Dave can't shake off that strange feeling: How was that door even open? And to whom did those footsteps in the thick dust belong? They were rather small, but most certainly a little bigger than Willow's...
Dave was hoping to gain some insight into the unlocked door situation upstairs, but he hasn’t seen Tippi The Housekeeper around for hours. With Willow asleep and Eabha doing her usually Week-End Spa ritual - which must never, ever be interrupted!! - he decides to take matters into his own hands and begins to investigate.
What he finds upstairs is indeed peculiar. Contrary to Tippi's statement most of the doors aren’t locked at all. The third floor is a complete and utter disaster...
https://i.ibb.co/bbhSwtJ/02-Third-Floor.jpg
As a writer, Dave owns some camera equipment (a fairly nifty DSLR and tripod his father gifted to him two birthdays ago) which he often carries around on his research trips to capture reference images for his projects. He’s not entirely sure why, but he believes that tonight would be a good time to bring that gear upstairs and take as many shots as possible.
He captures gloomy, dusty and rather unsettling rooms. Some are bare, some are used for junk and storage. It feels as if these rooms are strangely aware of Dave’s presence; their dark corners and the cracks and shadows on their walls seem to judge his very existence...
https://i.ibb.co/F5T2HYN/04-Pictures.jpg
When he visits the north facing room he found his daughter in earlier that day, he realizes that the canvas with the strange painting is now empty...
https://i.ibb.co/GMkG6rL/05-Painting.jpg
In the adjoining room he discovers a large, wooden crate which - much to his relief - also turns out to be empty... Surely this thing could fit a man his own size...
https://i.ibb.co/pjKPFYx/06-Casket.jpg
At that moment Dave's camera stops working. It’s a given, in a house like this, with rooms like these... There are a couple more areas to explore so he pursues the investigation without the gear for now.
And the door next door, too... https://i.ibb.co/L8R5RBt/08-The-Door02.jpg
And The Hall watches...
https://i.ibb.co/pdyBFL6/09-The-Door03.jpg
Meanwhile...
Week-End Spa rituals tend to make Eabha feel flirty and so she spends the rest of the evening behind that lovely vanity table in the vacant Master Bedroom adjacent to theirs. She has plenty of things in store for her man later on...
Of course Willow isn't gone, but... if you were to stand in that dark and dusty room and look inside the Gingerbread House you won't find any Willow. It is as though the little house swallowed her whole! So where did she go?
Why of course, Willow went "There".
https://i.ibb.co/zPCnM79/01-Arrival.jpg
Where is "There" exactly? Well... the "where" part is not relevant right now. The "What" part is more important.
What is "There?"
"There" is a sweet smelling place where vibrant colors tickle Willow's skin and floating flowers sing to her.
https://i.ibb.co/rxTMYQz/02-Floating-Flowers.jpg
"There" is the place where Willow finds the Girl in The Dress.
https://i.ibb.co/bvMnDfV/03-Pink-Girl.jpg
"There" is the place where she makes friends with her...
The Girl in The Dress reassures Willow that this place is safe...
https://i.ibb.co/6YFSLrH/07-Explore.jpg
"There" will be There for Willow. Always.
https://i.ibb.co/fnMbxPk/08-Fun.jpg
An although The Dark Ones will be watching her for as long as she lives, they cannot touch her as long as she is here... or shall we say "There"...
https://i.ibb.co/kxqx3Y7/09-01-Dark-Ones.jpg
Her new friend will look after her...
https://i.ibb.co/5GYSNvp/09-02-Friend.jpg
...the Lights will Guide her...
https://i.ibb.co/c3vNfwD/10-Home.jpg
And... whenever she misses her loved ones and longs to be in her mother's arms and listen to her father's stories, she can always return to her Gingerbread House.
https://i.ibb.co/D5V2Dmp/11-Onward.jpg
Once inside she will feel a sudden urge to sleep...
This night is for writing and Dave O’ Shea has really been churning out the chapters for his latest mystery novel "Carrie & Christine". Other than the sounds of soft crackling fire and the tapping and rolling of the typewriter, the office he has claimed as his work space is as quiet as ever…until he hears a sudden creaking noise...
Dave pauses and looks over at the rocking chair. The noise appears to be coming from that direction...
https://i.ibb.co/VCnS50N/01-02-Look-Over.jpg
Wait...What?
Is that Willow asleep on the chair or are his eyes deceiving him? After all he’s the one who put her to bed that same evening...
How did she get here? Did she manage to sneak in without him noticing? She tends to wander around the place a lot lately. He really has to prioritize installing a couple of barriers to stop her from exploring rooms she shouldn't be in. Has he really been so focused on his work that he didn't even catch one single glimpse of her entering the room and climb into that chair? Did he fall asleep for a moment? It happens to him sometimes...
https://i.ibb.co/Cn4ScWD/02-03-Dave-sees.jpg
Willow stirs...
https://i.ibb.co/rQ3PKt5/03-01-Wake.jpg
Her father picks her up. "Tell me little one. How did you get here?"
https://i.ibb.co/ZLtQMwt/03-02-Pickup.jpg
His baby seems as confused as he his... All she can mumble is "There". But O' Shea doesn't really expect an answer from his sleepy daughter. Learning to talk has been quite tough for Willow, so he thinks she's just making her usual toddler sounds.
https://i.ibb.co/MPNTsGS/04-Confused.jpg
Willow doesn't understand...she remembers running around the sweet smelling colorful place where The Girl in The Dress lives. She felt so happy and safe There. But in her father's arms she also feels happy and safe...
https://i.ibb.co/5Y93NR3/06-Safe.jpg
MEANWHILE...
In one of the gloomy rooms on the third floor Tippi The Housekeeper seems to be engaged in a heated discussion with a strange doll...
https://i.ibb.co/SNf36XK/07-Angry.jpg "All you need to do is get her into that room and make her fall through The Hole! It shall be known as The Accident, do you hear me? The Accident! Her father will feel too guilty and heartbroken to care about what happens to his half-witted girlfriend. A simple accident, Dahlia. Make her disappear, for all that little brat does is interfere. If you can't perform a simple task like that I will make sure you'll be trapped in this ghoulish, stuffed piece of rotten fabric for ever and all you'll be able to do is view the world through those plastic button eyes and feel the suffering of all those who set eyes on your miserable, ugly little face."
https://i.ibb.co/JkppTTp/08-Giving-Out.jpg
Poor Dahlia can hear her. Poor Dahlia can see her. Poor Dahlia already knows what suffering is. How can there be anything beyond the pain she's already experiencing? Long after Tippi The Housekeeper has left the room, she tries to come up with a solution. She remembers being made into that doll. It was fabricated from the very threads of her own soul...
All poor Dahlia wants is to be free. Free the way she felt when she and her new little friend ran through the Meadows of "There". She doesn't want her friend to have an accident. She doesn't want Willow to get hurt. But she also doesn't want to be stuck inside this doll forever or needing to return to it whenever The House Keeper demands her to communicate.
All she can do is consider every option. Unfortunately there are very few…
Sometimes Eabha will wear The Black Gown. She remembers wearing it a long time ago. She remembers mourning for him. Eabha remembers not being Eabha. She's been waiting for him for so, so long.
The little girl wanders back to the room with the Gingerbread House. She wants to return to "There" and play with her new friend, The Girl in The Dress.
https://i.ibb.co/kchqQmV/W01.jpg
Willow doesn't know that someone is already waiting for her... https://i.ibb.co/3Mx8g3m/W01-02.jpg
When she encounters the cute little dolly Willow feels very excited indeed!
https://i.ibb.co/QbLvZnY/W03.jpg
She introduces herself and lets the dolly know that she shall bring her along with her.
https://i.ibb.co/yg1C3BG/W04.jpg
She will show Dolly to her new friend The Girl in the Dress so that they can all play together!
https://i.ibb.co/YkRyBBV/W05.jpg
NO WILLOW. Says the dolly.
https://i.ibb.co/gyW7mNf/W06-No-Willow.jpg
The Girl in The Dress is not "There." You cannot use the Gingerbread House today.
Hearing this upsets Willow greatly. She was told "There" would always be there for her. Why not today?
https://i.ibb.co/R9jhGH0/W07-Why.jpg
I want to go "There". Willow communicates.
https://i.ibb.co/w0J2QXC/W08-Sad.jpg
NO WILLOW. Says the dolly again.
NOT through here. But there is another way to get "There".
You need to listen closely. It is important that you do as I say.
https://i.ibb.co/rMqMHMv/W08-Go-To-Door.jpg
I will. Says Willow. I will.
https://i.ibb.co/ZgKqL8h/W09-OK.jpg
And so the nice little dolly explains:
Willow. Downstairs is a door.
https://i.ibb.co/mSJZyyS/D-01.jpg
This door is locked.
https://i.ibb.co/ZHpXMGT/D-02.jpg
But not for you...
https://i.ibb.co/RzdMkb8/D-03.jpg
Only you will be able to enter.
https://i.ibb.co/vYN6HkK/D-04.jpg
And when you do...
You will find a playroom.
https://i.ibb.co/WcmSc0C/D-05.jpg
With a beautiful dollhouse...
https://i.ibb.co/bdKsnQS/D-06.jpg
And in the corner of that room...
https://i.ibb.co/zGvYF3p/D-07.jpg
You will find a gap. Only you will fit through that gap...
https://i.ibb.co/jy0TpMy/D-08.jpg
When you look through the gap, you will see another playroom. This one is for grown ups. This is where they play a game called cards. To get "There", you will need to go through that gap, but you won't fall into that room...
