The hole in the tree led inward, and downward, into the earth. Soon they found themselves in a cavern partially formed by unknown artisans. How could such a place exist? In their neighborhood?
They talked it over, and came to the conclusion that, really, there were absolutely places where people just never went. It was weird, and often illegal, to go traipsing about open patches of forest. There was park land, of course; but if it was private land, there were laws allowing people to be shot for trespassing. So of course, really, it was a simple matter for a few powerful individuals to keep such things secret. They felt foolish for not realizing sooner.
Deeper and deeper they wound, till they came to a scene of breathtaking, indescribable beauty. Neither artists nor connoisseurs, but rather children with a moderate level of schooling, they paused a moment to take in the dizzy sight and then found that, really, it was the perfect spot to stop for a bit of a snack; dredged up from each other’s pockets, they shared granola bars, trail mix, and sour candies. A single half full water bottle made its way once around the circle. Then they moved on again.
After what seemed like hours, they came to a sight almost worse than being suddenly struck in the face. It was the sight of their own candy wrappers. They had gone in a circle. They had lost their friend. They had lost their way.
Their cellphone batteries were holding up, but there was no way to recharge. The oldest boy had a battery cell for this kind of thing, but no one had a cord.
“Okay. Look. This is…ok, we are going to be ok. Ok this is a little weird, and maybe we made some wrong choices…look, we are getting out of here. We are go-“
Suddenly everything went dark. The phone had gone out, but suddenly- it had been at 23%. They had the eerie feeling it was still on, and the darkness was somehow active, like light, covering the luminous device.
A light clittering noise began to be heard, a faint whisper at first, then louder, then there was a sort of sliding grating noise, then some kind of wet clicking, louder and closer, then-
One of them screamed, maybe all of them- and they bolted.
One of them ran straight ahead, full tilt into the darkness. One of them got to their hands and knees, and started feeling their way. The third tried to hear where the other two went.
