“What the heck?!” I yelled.
“Gotta eat a peck’a dirt before you die and get covered in more. Might as well get it in now,” Julie said simply. “It won’t kill you, I swear it won’t.”
Timidly I picked my way down the hill, but caught my foot in a small hole, causing me to slide and roll down half the hill. My slacks had turned from white to brown, my shirt streaked with dirt.
Julie clapped me on the back. “Atta boy! Knew you could do it!” I grinned sheepishly. Without warning, she slapped mud on my mousy hair. I felt the cold muck slide down my neck, streaking my hair in the process. I shuddered, but smiled in spite of myself.
She unlocked a complicated lock on the door, and motioned me down a concrete staircase. “This is the back door, less formal,” she explained, flipping on a dim lightswitch.

After the staircase and a long cavernous hallway, the room opened up into a great room. I was caught off guard, left completely speechless.