Extract 3 of 4 - Chapter Thirteen

Farrago is his creation and the House of Escher its centrepiece, his masterpiece. The tower used to be connected to the rest of the house, but when he arrived back, he changed the plans of this building and separated it off from main building. He locked himself away and has not shown his face since. His students now hold vigil. They walk the ascending, descending staircase day and night, in the hope that their Chancellor will come back to them”.

Felix stepped up to the tower and placed his hands on the smooth stonework of the building. She had to be wrong. All the other buildings were dripping with secret doors and hidden entrances. Surely there must be an entrance somewhere! From a distance it had looked as if the tower was completely smooth all the way up, but up close, Felix could see that it had been constructed using layers of different materials, some of which stood proud. They might provide reasonable hand holds, thought Felix.

He jumped up and grasped the nearest line of bricks. He was but a few centimetres from the ground, but a hideous fear gripped him. His whole world had somehow turned a half circle and the bottom of the tower became the top. He let go immediately and fell to the ground, holding first his head and then his stomach. He tried to say something to Cassandra, but the words wouldn’t come. His body was trembling.

“Yes, yes” she blundered. “I’ve heard that it feels extremely strange. It’s an antipodean tower. It makes sense, really and only what you would expect from such a genius in preposterous design. So the bottom of the tower feels like the top and visa versa”.

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