Karen held her staff in one hand and grasped the edge of the black elevator platform with the other.
After ending the conversation with Eliane, she walked out of the small dark room, content with the good news that Aunt Eliane was still alive.
There had always been a vague sense of foreboding in Karen's heart, especially since her father habitually stayed in his study, frowning in thought. She had feared that some misfortune had befallen their family.
A cloud of darkness loomed over the innocence in Karen's heart.
"It seems Father has reached his midlife crisis. Men of a certain age do like to wallow in despair," Karen said with a smile, skipping through the Golden City.
The City of Gold had been battered and wounded by some disaster; shattered mirrors in the sky sprinkled silver fragments down, and the golden pathways, having undergone melting and solidifying, had become odd-shaped, making the whole city look as if it had been kissed by a twelfth-grade typhoon.
