Mei plunged into the bushes. A path through the hotel side garden was not immediately apparent, but when she moved forward, hemmed in on either side by lush overgrown flowering bushes, as sometimes happened when lost in the woods, a path materialized.
On the ground, water was silently bubbling beneath her feet, seemingly from an underground spring. Potential impact on the building's foundation was of immediate concern.
But, it was more likely the water was from an underground sprinkler system. If so, how long ago had it been installed?
"I am walking in a place where I don't belong."
When she spoke these words aloud, there was audible movement, somewhere on the path ahead.
