Junior School Magazine - Edition 6 (NOV 2018)

T he N ight at the C ave - continued “HOORAY!” We all cheered. But then, I could not believe what I was seeing. There was a massive hole and darkness all the way down to the very bottom (if there was a bottom!). “Umm, Dad?” I said slowly and quietly as if I had just broken a $100 vase. “Yeah?” Dad said still cheerfully but not very happy with my expression on my face, “What’s the matter?” Dad said, slowly getting more and more suspicious. But when he turned around, he couldn’t see me! “DDAAAAAAAADDD!!” I yelled so loud that my voice hurt. My shrinking voice echoed down the gloomy, pitch black cave. Dad slowly stared down the hole, with a confused expression. “How did ya fall down there, you silly duffer!” Dad giggled. Dad always called me ‘duffer’ when I did something silly, but he was greeted with no answer, just silence. It was so dark down the hole, so dark that I didn’t know if I was in a tiny space, or a space as big as a cave. I was confused and scared. I didn’t know what to do! I felt completely vulnerable, no one here to help me and I couldn’t see anything. Wherever I walked, I couldn’t know if there was going to be a wall or just plain open space to walk straight through and I didn’t know whether or not I was going to step on something sharp. I tried yelling again and again but no help came to me. I was as worried as a chicken about to be eaten! All I could see out the corner of my eye, was I tiny glimpse of fading light. I slowly made my way through the dry, gloomy cave of dust and saw five passageways of the darkness. Then I noticed a group of symbols on the rough wall. I couldn’t quite get the meaning out of the symbols, but there was a dusty symbol pointing to the right, close to the second passageway and a ‘thumbs-up’ symbol next to it. Then on the other side, were arrows pointing to the left, but this time, with a thumb down. It seemed logical to follow the thumbs-up, but I was completely confused. I thought my brain was going to burst! “Dad, can you hear me?” “AAARRRGGHH!” I yelled. Just behind me, I heard a massive CRASH. A gigantic boulder crashed to the hard ground. Dust went flying everywhere. I fell to the ground and all of the sudden I felt my body moving really fast, but I was losing consciousness… I fell with a loud SPLASH! I was being taken by flooding water down a volcanic tube! “What’s happening?” I moaned sleepily after smashing into the ground. I saw two men towering over me and muttering under their breath to each other. “Hmm, I wonder if he can help us get out?” muttered the first man. “He must have come from an exit!” “Yeah, good point”, said the second man slowly still with his eyes staring fixed at me. Then they both walked away and came moments later with a compass. “Hey, little guy.” Said the first man encouragingly, “Wanna get up now? Its time to get out o’ here!” “Oh” I moaned in a much less excited voice. I slowly picked myself up and stared dully at the two men in front of me. They looked like old miners who had been here for years! Then I slowly took a few steps backwards lazily and reached for an old first aid kit sitting on a rock . “So you wan’ed me to show ya the way out o’ here? Just follow me and you will be out in no time.” I said tiredly. Continued over page.. .

JSM Edition 6

Page 57