There was no way out. The walls of her cell were built of thick marble blocks. The vast gate was made of the strongest steel. The floor and ceiling were also made of the similar marble that formed the walls; and there were no windows. The only source of light was from a light bulb that's concealed within a glass rose which covered the light bulb as if it were a precious seed of light that's not meant to be released until the time is right. There was no way out, or so it seemed to her...
She had volunteered to be part of a scientific experiment and had been put in the cell to test the cleverness of the human mind. The cell itself is empty; and she was not permitted to take anything into it. But she has been told that there was ONE way to escape from the cell, and she had less than 4 hours to find it. She began with the gate. It stood before her, huge and black. The three large hinges on the gate were riveted into the marble wall and could not be removed. The gate itself seemed too great for the petite cell, and for a minute she contemplated if it had been put up first and the rest of the cell was then built around it. Finally, she gave up on the gate and turned away from it and looked at the rest of her surroundings. She tried pushing against the marble blocks to see if any of them were loose. She felt the floor for a trap door of some kind; but after what seemed like a millennia, she failed to locate one. Then she glanced up at the ceiling. Then suddenly, it dawned on her: the glass rose! The glass rose that shields the light bulb! Her mind raced. The glass rose shield could be used as a tool...the tool she needed! She had found the way to escape! She edged closer towards the shield and observed closely at it. One good strong pull might be able to free it from the ceiling, she decided. She then reached up, grabbed a hold of the shield, and pulled with all her strength. But the glass rose shield stayed exactly where it was and it's not willing to pull free. She took hold of the shield once more, twisting it as she pulled. She felt it rip free, and she fell to the floor clutching her treasure.
The glass rose shield had been fastened to the ceiling by three silver leaf prongs. These prongs were extremely sharp; but they were not strong enough to cut through steel or marble. She felt a wave of hopelessness wash over her. She could find no use for the shield, even as a simple tool to get her out of this dreadful prison. The shield was not what she needed to get out. Then she got a brilliant idea. It was true that the silver leaf prongs could not cut through the steel gate or the marble floor and the marble blocks that constructed the cell walls. But the prongs might be strong enough to dig out the mortar that held the thick marble blocks in place. She pulled off one of the prongs and scraped frantically at the mortar. The mortar crumbled into a fine powder-like substance. Her idea had worked!
If she removed enough mortar; she could loosen a couple of the marble blocks, push them out; and escape from the cell! She selected two blocks near the gate and set to work. The silver leaf prong dug into the mortar, sending it pouring out like liquid lava. The prong was just what she needed. Now she was SURE that she could escape. Then suddenly, her hand made a careless twist, and the silver leaf prong broke into two useless pieces.
At first, a wave of anger came over her as she stared with all her hatred-filled soul at the broken silver leaf prong. Then she remembered that the glass rose shield had two more prongs. She pulled off another silver leaf prong and went back to work. She decided that she must be more careful, nothing must go wrong. There was still plenty of time left. Soon she had dug out four inches of mortar; but the jagged edges of the marble blocks had torn the skin from her knuckles. Her hands were bleeding from thousands of burning cuts that caused her to wince in pain. Her back and shoulders cried out for mercy due to the stress of working in one position. The mortar spewed dust into her eyes and down her throat. The work dragged on, slower and slower.
Suddenly, the second prong broke; and for a minute, she welcomed the excuse to stop working; but the mere thought of failure sent her strength back into her already aching muscles. She pulled off the third and final silver leaf prong and went to work once more. She was a woman who did not like to lose, she HAD to win. The work trudged on like a snail climbing its' way up a single blade of grass. She became numb to the searing pain in her hand, to the ache in her shoulders. Her fingers moved blindly and wildly; her determination to battle the mortar grew weaker by the second as her new-found strength drains her remaining energy.
At last she broke through; she had dug out enough mortar so that now she could see a sliver of light between the marble blocks. With yet another burst if new energy, she chipped away at the rest of the remaining mortar. Of course there was a way out. She had found it, didn't she? She had proved that a clever mind could solve any problem. That's how she had done it, with her own cleverness.
With those thoughts in her mind, the third prong snapped in her hand. She stared at the useless pieces; then in a blind rage, she slammed her fist against the wall. Behind her the gate of the cell opened slowly to reveal the blinding light of the outside world into the cell. Her time had run out, her part in the experiment was complete. She was forbidden to speak about the experiment or her plan of escape. However, she was SURE that she could have escaped. She was CONVINCED that she almost HAD. But in reality, she had not even come close.
The glass rose shield had been put around the light bulb only as a shade for the light. The silver leaf prongs were never meant to be used as a tool. Nikita had been clever; but she had allowed her own cleverness to engulf her and cloud her judgement. If she had not been quick to use the glass rose shield as a tool, if she had not stopped searching the cell, she might have found the REAL way out. She might have discovered that she could have left the cell as easily as she had entered, for the huge gate had never been locked...