Craznar's Room
BY
Christopher Lawrence Burke
It wasn't just any old knapsack.
Craznar's knapsack was his home, it was black ... deep pure black with a red wizard's symbol embossed on it. The red circle with the intersecting red lines told me that to open the bag was death, but I ignored that.
I opened the knapsack, slowly lifting the flap which would reveal the contents. I peered inside and to my horror an open chasm appeared filled with stars.
As I fought to gain control of my mind, a large fiery light started flying toward me. I could feel my body rent from my soul as it hit me.
Able to continue my search now without the limitations of a physical body, I looked past the stars into a cube shaped room somehow contained within the knapsack. It measured about 10 foot across ... no it was only 1 foot across. The whole room seemed to have been shrunk into the knapsack.
The room was sparse with no furniture save a bookcase lining the entire room and a table in the centre. I carefully reached in and grasped a book between my fingernails, pulling it out of the bag I dropped it as the book suddenly enlarged to normal size. Picking it up again I looked at the title "An Introduction to Mind Control" selecting several more books revealed more collections on wizardry and the magical arts.
Turning my attention to the table I found neatly arranged flasks of liquid and several scrolls. Carefully picking up one of the scrolls, I opened it and read it. My horror was complete when I finished reading and as I started to fade the title appeared "To dispel spirits of the dead".
THE END
March 1992