Super Mario Christmas

6. Tunnels in the Sky

Mario flourished his cape around him. He was so glad he had left it in his items kit. With every spin, the air cleared just enough to determine his next step. Luigi's vacuum cleaner would have been better, but beggars couldn't be choosers. 

Luigi shone a fireball at Mario to help him find the road. Mario spun, watched the cloud clear, inspected the ground in front of him, then took a step, over and over, as they worked their way through the maze. Every once in a while Mario found a hole in the ground as they travelled and the group would change their direction, burrowing downwards towards the lower clouds that held the base of Cloudland together. 

Every time their route deviated, Mario's stomach knotted. He did not want to be the one who led his friends into an oubliette they couldn't escape. 

Whenever they came across a hole in the ground Luigi and his pals would link arms providing an anchor for Mario as he checked the sides of the hole for other possible concealed pathways, and down the hole to ensure there was enough of a decline that they could gain their footing rather than plummet to their deaths, unable to climb back up. Then he would slowly lead them on their way.

Four times already, Mario had made the wrong choice and the whole group had needed to backtrack to find the fork.

When the group eventually thought they couldn't possibly get any deeper, or closer to the other side (really they had lost all concept of depth so for all Mario knew they were only five or ten metres in either way), they came to a place where the vapour was thinner. The friends could all stand in a group rather than crouch in a straight line, and as Mario spun multiple tunnels came into view.

Luigi counted them out loud, as the water vapour swirled, "One, two, three... and one heading downwards is four.... plus one heading upwards is five... and the one on the angle over near Toad makes six."

Toad waved from the tunnel they had entered through. Eliminating that tunnel (since Luigi hadn't thought of that as he counted), they had five options.

Based on their previous experiences, Mario moved to inspect the downwards tunnel first. Luigi and their companions followed, creating their chain to anchor Mario as he dangled over the precipice.

Slowly Mario leant forward. The air grew cooler as he reached the hole. Hand first, he reached through the opening. The air felt like a windstorm on Snowland. Mario braced himself. They had already found one similar tunnel full of ice cold water inexplicably suspended in a cloud pit. He did not want to relive that experience again. 

Taking a deep breath he pushed his head through the reforming vapour. A patchwork of greens and blues met Mario's eyes as he stared down, and a quick look from side to side confirmed Mario's suspicions. He was surrounded by sky. They must have reached the bottom of the cloud. One wrong step or unfortunate raindrop and they would all fall to their death.

"Pull me up, carefully!" Mario exclaimed.

The rest swiftly followed his instruction.

They needed to move fast. Mario didn't bother looking down the other descending tunnel. He picked one of two that seemed to rise slightly upwards and hurried the whole group towards it, eager to put as much depth between the group and the base of the Cloud Gate as possible.

Gently they rose upwards, and Mario began feeling confident in his decision. He knew the group were growing claustrophobic, but he was sure it was going to be worth it soon. 

After what felt like a couple of hours (meaning it was probably fifteen minutes) of gentle progress, Mario sensed a change in landscape.

"Watch it. I'm sleepin' here!" came the grumpy sound of a shy guy as Mario flicked him with his cape.