The Cave – Part Two

To quickly recap: Two friends, Eve and Sara, were rock climbing and stumbled across a fissure in the rocks. Upon further exploration, they discover a cave with primitive drawings in it. As they venture further into the cave to see if there’s anything else of interest, there’s an earth tremor – they race back the way they came and reach the fissure just in time to see it fill with rocks.

Having no idea how long the batteries would last in their torches (or how long they’d need them), they agreed that Sara should switch hers off.

“These things are supposed to last for days, but why take the chance?” Eve said.

As they continued on further into the cave, the passage continued to close in. Just as Eve was afraid they were going to come to a dead end, it opened up again, this time offering three different choices of tunnels.

“Which one do we take?” Sara asked.

Eve shone her light into each one in turn, and took a few steps into the one of the far left. She came out again, shaking her head. “I don’t think I’m flexible enough to follow those bends,” she said.

“Maybe we should try the one on the right,” Sara said. “That should take us alongside, or maybe even towards the outside.”

“You think?” Eve asked dubiously. “How can you tell what direction we’re going?”

Sara shrugged. “You’re the one who jokes all the time about how I can never get lost. I’ve always had a feel for directions”

“What have we got to lose?” Eve said. “Right it is.” And since she was holding the torch, she once again led the way.

“Wait, stop!” Sara said after they’d only gone a few feet.

“What is it?”

“There’s some kind of writing on the wall. But I can’t translate it.”

“I think it says “Dead End” or something along those lines,” Eve said, her light playing on the smooth wall in front of her.

Sara sighed. “I hope we have better luck with the middle tunnel.”

“Me too,” Eve said, leading the way back to the crossroads.

“Wait,” Sara said again.

“What is it this time?” Eve asked, a little irritably.

“Do you mind if I borrow your lipstick? And don’t try to tell me you don’t have any with you, you don’t go anywhere without a lipstick.”

“What do you need my lipstick for?” Eve asked, handing it over.

“On the off chance someone comes looking for us,” Sara said. “We want them to know which way we went.”

Eve watched in silence as Sara wrote their names, the date, and the direction they were taking on the wall outside the tunnel. Personally, she thought Sara was being overly optimistic, but whatever made her happy.

They didn’t speak as they continued on, but after a while, Sara broke the silence.

“This tunnel is starting to give me the creeps.”

“I don’t know, I think it’s kind of peaceful.”

“It’s like we’re headed for the bowels of the earth.”

To be sure, they did seem to be headed deeper into the hillside, and the path was sloping gently downwards. Eve was starting to have misgivings about the direction they were headed in, and had to clench her teeth to keep from sharing her misgivings with Sara. It would only upset her.

“What was on the other side of the rocks we were climbing on?” Sara asked suddenly.

“I don’t know,” Eve said. “More rocks? Maybe some forest?”

“I’m wondering if this tunnel might lead through the entire mini-mountain we were on, and we might end up down slope on the other side.”

Privately, Eve doubted it, but all she said was, “Maybe.”

They had no way of knowing how long they continued down the tunnel. They’d agreed at the beginning of their trip to leave all electronics, including their cell phones, behind. It felt like they’d been walking for hours though.

There was little variation in the tunnel itself. The ground underfoot was hard packed earth and the walls around them were rough hewn rock, sometimes grey, sometimes streaked with black or brown.

Eventually, the tunnel widened into another chamber, this one a more modest size. The walls however, sparkled.

Sara went over to examine the walls more closely and gave a laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“What’s so funny?” Eve asked.

“You know, a couple of days ago I would have given anything to be in a place like this. But now I’d give anything to be out of it.”

Eve sighed. “Look, it was late afternoon when we found this place, and we’ve been following this tunnel for hours. What do you say we take a break, get some rest, maybe even try to sleep?”

“I guess,” Sara said dubiously.

They moved over closer to one of the cavern’s walls and sat side by side on the ground, backs against the wall. Eve’s stomach chose that moment to give a loud rumble.

“I’ve been trying really hard not to think about food,” Sara said with a sigh.

“Me too. Why don’t we see what we’ve got?”

Between them they had a half a dozen protein bars, three apples, a bag of jerky, and a large sized chocolate bar. They also had two bottles of water each.

“Not a lot, is it?” Sara said. “We picked the wrong day to try and eat healthier.”

“Oh, wait!” Eve opened a side pocket in her pack and pulled out a bag of granola. “I almost forgot about this – it’s my famous sunshine mix, with sunflower seeds and dried apricots. Dinner is served!”