An Unexpected Puzzle

She was not sure how this had begun.
Nor, was she sure how long it would go on. She had at first thought they would abandon it, the puzzle, forced by the august sun to retreat to a shadier location. But the first drink had come, then the second, and to the quiet percussion of the filling and draining of their glasses the sun had stumbled its way through the sky.
The table they sat across grew and shrank, ignoring laws of reason and physics, it’s size never changing but the space between her and him always was. He was far away now, farther than her arm could reach despite the caress of his calloused palms.  Frustrated she abandoned his hand and began to fish through the pieces, a task that was pointless.
He wasn’t disengaged. The slightest sound from her commanded his full attention. And she liked that, the way he would turn and focus on her, bringing to bear all of himself to consider whatever casual remark she made. She would ask him a question  and she could almost feel him stop to consider it, he would remain quiet, turn himself to the pile of pieces, select one out, fit it or toss it aside before trying another until without much warning at all his voice would break through the sound of the intercoastal waterline, with an answer.
But in between picking and placing of pieces and those comfortable exchange of words and his gaze would wander and she could feel him sliding away from her. Drifting off to the horizon where begrudgingly the sun retired. It didn’t feel disingenuous his tidal disposition at the table and at their puzzle.
Shake of the wrist, the jingle of stubborn ice cubes, a sigh, and he was up, long strides to the porch where the liquor was. She watched him, his confident walk and  his seemingly casual indifference to the gust of wind or troupe of ducks that had taken afternoon refuge near the path to and from the house.  He wasn’t long gone and upon his return he fixed her with a smile and it made her nervous for how easily contented that simple gesture made her.
He leaned into the pile, fingering through the pieces, seeming to evaluate them by some method that evaded her. He picked one, didn’t even try to place it before tossing it back into the pile. Shifted through them again, picked another, eyed a position in the upper right corner and placed it as if it was meant for that place.
But it wasn’t. She didn’t know how long they had sat there, talking and drinking, enjoying the brief whispers of cool airs that would pop up and over the sea wall, placing pieces- or trying to place- into a puzzle. But it wasn’t a puzzle, when she had opened the box she had found that there were at least four different puzzles within, none of them, she suspected, complete. At the realization, assuming he had notice for it was so obvious, she had thought first to put the puzzle back, yet without saying a word he had carried the cardboard out to the patio.
That had been hours ago, she was sure, and while they made no quick progress into solving it, he kept at it at his lazy pace. There was no hint of frustration in him, no suggestion in his consideration of the impossible puzzle that led her to believe any of it bothered him.
She found herself compelled then to ask him about it. ‘You do realize that this puzzle… it’s not one puzzle, it’s a bunch and these pieces don’t match each other right?’
He turned to look at her, again that smile. There was a slight blur to his eyes but he responded very simply, ‘of course.’
She laughed, though she didn’t know why. She shook her head, her straight blond hair brushing her shoulders as she did. ‘Why doesn’t that bother you?’ He looked at her, right at her, as if he couldn’t make her out, or perhaps like he didn’t know her. ‘It drives me crazy! Why doesn’t it bother you?’
‘It never occurred to me that it was necessary that they matched’

The Labyrinth

She wasn’t sure when she woke up in the labyrinth. Nor was she particularly sure how long she had wandered down its various hallways. At first she walked without real purpose, she was not alone in the labyrinth- she passed people all the time, most of which seemed to be no more sure than she was of where they were going. She made decisions based off her gut, being completely incapable of deciding why one path might be preferable to another. A right at one fork, a left at another, the third path from the left at a crowded intersection. For some immeasurable amount of time she carried on like that.

Sometimes she felt like she made progress, the labyrinth was not always the same. Some time in the past she had left the portion made of even measured red bricks aligned in some pattern she could not recognize but was sure was there for a section made of high thick green hedges. There had been other sections too. The area of the patterned mosaics, the cut tiles in a seemingly endless collection of shades of blue. The portion made of alabaster white walls with the dirt path. The one she distantly remembered with walls like red clay and flooring of mismatching yellow pebbles. Their relation to each other seem completely arbitrary, and while at first she was sure she was making progress over time she lost her sense of faith that she was going the right way.

A crisis of faith inspired her to change her approach, and she resolved to ask for assistance from the first person that she came across that seemed to know where they were going. This was no easy task, for while the labyrinth was far from empty, the majority of the residents shuffled down the hallways glossy eyed saying little to each other. There seemed to be no wisdom in acquiring the input of someone who seemed to know no more than she did.

Finally she came across someone different. She was not sure if it was because of his age, visible in the stooped nature of his shoulders, his subtle constant hand wringing, and the slow blinking consideration of his clear eyes or if it was the way he sat rather comfortably on a bench between two portions of the labyrinth- the high green hedges meeting new walls, shiny black glass like rock, but for some reason he seemed different than the others.

-Do you know the way?- she asked him.

He looked up to her, he had been staring down the path from which she had just come, considered her with his nearly white blue eyes.

- I do not know ‘the’ way, but I know ‘a’ way.- he responded. She cocked her head and squinted at him. She considered for a second leaving the old man and continuing on until she found someone who had a more emphatic answer but she was impatient, it had taken her quite some time to find this man. She concluded if she came across someone who seemed more knowledgeable that she would simply change guides, and that even if not conclusive, some guide was better than none.

-Will you show me your way?- she asked.

He shrugged, stood up slowly. He loomed over her, turned to face the obsidian hallway and waved her to follow him. She trudged after him.

He took a left at the first fork, as well as the fifth, and the seventh. At an intersection without hesitation he walked to the third path, at the following one he took the second. He walked slowly, and he seemed to drag his feet as he did, a little thing that over time began to annoy her. But at no point in time did he seem to not know exactly where he was going and she swallowed her frustration because of that.

The glassy walls of the hallway had no character, no recognizable features, there were no signs or hints. And she wondered how long it had taken him to learn this path, a small vein of fear rose up in her heart, and for a moment she was very happy to have met this old man.

Suddenly she saw the end of the obsidian hallway, it opened to a wide area. In the wide area to the left was a bench and spread out like directions on a compass were various hallways, each of different colours and themes.

The old man sat down on the bench. She was not pleased.

-Which way do I go?- she asked.

He considered each other paths. Then shrugged and responded -It doesn’t matter-

- How can it not matter?-

- Each path is as good as the next.- he said.

- So they all lead out of here?-

- Out?- there was confusion in his voice, and he squinted at her as he looked at her.

- Yes out! Out! Which path leads out of the labyrinth?-

- None of them of course. - he said. She could hear the confusion in his voice.

- But how do I get out then? Which way do I go? I want to get out of this labyrinth- she stated angrily.

She saw the confusion on his face give way to the softest look of sadness, and with a slight shaking of his head he said - Child, there is no out. The labyrinth is all there is.-