As he opened the door of the darkened building and stepped into the glitzy vestibule, a loud sound echoed off the walls. He then saw before him a long, dark corridor illuminated on each side only by a series of book lights, one every few feet.

     John’s girlfriend Jane had texted him a half hour before and told him to join her at the abandoned building, to which she had provided Google Maps directions attached to her text.  Although the place looked familiar to him, its age and years of the area’s constantly-changing climate had made it almost unrecognizable.

      Yet, the woman’s message sounded so strange and urgent that he felt he had to follow her instructions immediately. After all, he had no idea what danger confronted her.

      When the boyfriend surveyed the area further, he found that the building, the parking lot and all the surrounding streets seemed deserted, and strangely eerie. But he could find no sign of his lady love, her car or how she had arrived at the strange place.

        Could she have had just enough time to text him before someone attacked her or spirited her away?  Another thought entered his mind–Jane had again played one of the practical jokes that had punctuated their six-month relationship. Maybe she had once again pranked him.

       He continued to follow along in the dimly-lit space and found that, rather than continuing in a straight line, every 10 feet or so the path twisted and turned. The structure reminded him of the funhouses in the many old-timey amusement parks that once populated the resort area where the couple had met.

      On and on the boyfriend walked, pushed forward as a combination of fear and anger multiplied with each step.  Then, out of the darkness, a heavy wooden door opened on the right side of the passageway, almost knocking him off his feet.

     Guess I better enter, he thought, I have to solve this mystery.  I hope my girlfriend had a very good reason for telling me to come here and nothing has happened to her.  If this is another one of her gags though, there will be hell to pay.

     He cautiously stepped through the entrance and walked gingerly along what proved to be another winding trail illuminated again by book lights. At the end loomed a room stacked high with books–all kinds of reading materials–from mystery novels to science fiction to reference works.

      A crash startled John as an old version of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary fell from its top-shelf position on the side of the room, covering him with dust and almost knocking him out.

      The dictionary fell open to the word faithfulness, and as the young man stared at the definition, something swept him into the book and through another strange passage leading to a dimly-lit room.

       A theater stood at the front of the room and, in the center, Jane looked down on her beau from a podium on a bilevel stage, behind which she read from what appeared to be a legal book.

       John Smith, the Court of Modern Day Romance has summoned you here because you stand accused of cheating on your girlfriend with the blond-haired secretary in your firm.  If you admit to the charges and pledge repentance without a repeat of the offenses the court will allow you to go and live the rest of your life in peace.  Should you not repent and continue with your evil ways, you will be forced to live out your life only as a footnote in history in the Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.  How say you?

      Totally perplexed and in disbelief about the entire scenario the boyfriend closed his eyes hoping the nightmare that apparently had taken him over soon would end. When he opened his eyes, nothing had changed.

      He tried to turn around and escape, but some strange force prevented him from leaving the room, as he remained trapped inside the pages of the book.

       “Jane,” he shouted, “you have no idea what you are talking about.  Somehow you have gotten into my head with this strange little drama.  I never cheated on you. It looks like you have some mysterious power over me. Please stop trying to force me to participate in your little game; in no way can I be guilty of your imaginary charge. Make this whole fantasy go away now.  

      But if you have somehow cooked up this whole deal to punk me I don’t see how our relationship can continue.”

        Then Judge Jane presented witness after witness, including Marie, the blond secretary, who swore that her alleged affair with John had taken place.

        Noone came forward in John’s defense to refute any of her claims.

        Just as the magistrate slammed down her gavel and prepared to have the eternal sentence carried out, the podium disappeared, the book closed and the boyfriend found himself whisked away to his car outside the strange building.

       He awoke from what he figured out must have been a bizarre nightmare. Then his cellphone rang and the screen lit up as Jane appeared.

       “Gottcha,” she said, “Happy Birthday. Since you have served as the local librarian here for five years, I thought you would appreciate the literary humor. A few of your co-workers helped me decorate the building which served as the town library long before you joined the staff.  We also enlisted the help of the local theater company to carry out this little drama. Sorry if my present scared the hell out of you.”

       After John got over his temper tantrum about his girlfriend’s latest stunt, they both roared with laughter about the joke.  As a partial payback, he insisted that she treat him to the most elaborate and expensive birthday dinner their town’s most exclusive eatery could provide.

       He wasn’t sure if he would devise a response to her gift more in line with her little drama–or even if he had the imagination--or the patience--needed to dream one up.