The Pool: A MYST series short story

Hello there prospective reader. 'The Pool' is a short story designed to introduce you to the Myst dark fantasy series. To allay any fears as to the quality of this work I would direct you to the following completely true and not written by me quotes:-

"Mesmerising" - anon;
"Fascinating" - random guy;
"Eh?" - some dude;
"I was paid to read it and still didn't like it" - paid reader;
"Drivel of the highest calibre" - vocal hater.

The above 'quotes' should help to outline the fact that reading is subjective. There will be some who will love my style, others for whom it is ordinary and some will hate it. It is my hope however that most would fall in the 'like it' category. For those who persevere and enjoy, an entire series could follow wherein we will be able to experience Alice's struggles in a world wracked by madness, greed and violence. There is much, much more in store...