Falling. Falling down a space that my brain can’t decipher between a small tunnel or a deep chasm. I try to scream but my body restricts me in preparation for the catastrophic landing that will happen soon. There was nothing but darkness after my torch had fizzled out from me carelessly waving it around in awe of the cave I was so innocently exploring. My hand had lost its grip on the torch as I tripped into the hole I’m falling endlessly through.
It’s now getting increasingly humid as I plummet to who knows where. Maybe I’m finally nearing my death I had predicted at the start of this fall? It continues to grow harder to breathe, feeling more like a hot steamer blowing up my nostrils. I splash, head first, into warm water. My brain struggles to try and find a possible solution to why I am not dead and why there was no signage of a dangerous entrance to a hot spring in this cave.
Most of the area surrounding me is still quite dark and seemingly endless. My eyes are trying their best to adjust to the extremely dim environment around me. Scanning the shore I noticed an oil lamp not far off the shore of where I plunged into the spring. I quickly swam over to it. Like a moth to a flame I clung to the only light source in the room, having the light in my possession gave me a sense of safety. I picked the lamp up off its post and stood there for a second in my dripping and shivering wet clothes. It’s freezing once you’re out of the water and since it’s so humid in this part of the cave there’s no way I’m going to get dry soon. As I looked down at my feet to examine my soaked sneakers I noticed footprints just a bit larger than mine. I put my foot next to them cautiously to make sure neither my eyes or my mind were playing tricks on me. “Nope, those are definitely not mine.” My eyes follow them and their trail leads far past the reach of the lamp. I look to my left, to my right, and turn around, the tracks aren’t anywhere but ahead of me. I shrug, “Makes sense,” there is nothing but a jagged rock wall behind me so there’s no reason to check for a way out.
Following the new tracks I’ve just found my anxiety heightens to a 10. I’m not sure if these footprints are new or old, and even worse I have no idea if the person is here in the cave with me or not. If they are, how would I get away? Would I actually die down here? There’s no way I could die down here if I didn’t already die from the fall. Suddenly the prints have led me to a fork in the road, but they only go left. “Oh jeez,” I don’t know why I am trusting these footprints but I make the turn and can immediately see a person already headed my way. They’re a lot taller than me with curly hair, they also have a dog beside them, it seems like they’re talking to the dog. The dog barks and I freeze. It saw me, and it barked. The person’s head shoots up to look in the direction of the bark and I sprint back the way I came.
The footsteps of this person sounded as if they were sprinting away from a disaster. As I rounded the corner I fell to the ground, how could I slip at a time like this? My lamp had gone out as soon as it hit the floor. I slammed my eyes shut and covered my ears in fear preparing for the worst when I felt a gust of air pass around my body. My eyes burst open to a person around my age, 16 or 17, holding what seems to be the same kind of oil lamp that I had in their right hand. They were waving wildly at me with their left and had a huge smile on their face. I look at them in shock with underlying horror. They softened their smile and lent me a hand so I could get up. My heart rate is steadily increasing but my body refuses to move. They seem confused as to why I didn’t take their hand. As if they aren’t a random stranger who ran up on me in a cave!
We stare at each other, seemingly trying to figure one another out in the small amount of light we have to see. After about 15 seconds I got uncomfortable and decided to stand up and dust the dirt off my clothes. The person had no longer offered me their hand, at least they got the message. As I dust myself off I noticed they had started walking around me. “Hey! Where are you going? What are you doing?” I jumped back startled. “Don’t worry I’m just picking up the lamp you killed.” The person chuckled at their own joke as they picked up the few broken pieces of the lamp and shoved them into their leather satchel bag resting on their hip. Their voice was like soft, smooth, buttery caramel.
The stranger passes by me as they whistle to their dog who is so loyally heeling by their side. Before I could even utter another word they were ushering me back in the direction they came from. Now I am scared all over again because we are walking into the darkness with just one small lamp that produces enough light to see the floor only right beneath us. The ground is mostly dirt with some pebbles here and there. The stranger reached their hand behind them, open wide asking for me to take it. “Why do I need to hold your hand exactly?” “Because there are little potholes here and there that you might miss and you don’t need a sprained ankle down here I assure you.” They are so matter-of-fact in their wording while also sounding playful which I wasn’t even sure was possible. Groaning, I take their hand and walk closely behind, nearly stepping on their heels every other step. There’s no way of knowing if this is a path other than the fact the person holding my hand is very confident in the direction they are leading me. In the small amount of light we have I can examine what this person dragging me along looks like more thoroughly, at least from the back. Their hair is curly and extremely bouncy as we walk along, very obviously well taken care of. They’re also wearing a white pirate looking blouse covered in dirt marks with a vest over it and some pants that have been tied up to be shorts. This person seems like they might have been down here a long time given the disheveledness of their clothes, I can only imagine what I look like right now.
After about 4 minutes of walking we took a left turn and we could no longer see the fork in the road that led to my original entrance point. We slowed to a more gentle pace as a new landmark came into view. The mysterious person tightens their grip on my hand just enough to convey their obvious excitement. Although I may not know this person who seemingly rescued me, I could most definitely feel the change in their emotion and body language as we approached what looks to be a little makeshift clubhouse. As they continued to lead me towards the underground encampment, I realized their dog had run ahead of us and was wagging its tail awaiting our arrival at the fort’s door.
A smile arose on the strangers face as they ran towards their dog. Looking back at me over their shoulder as they ran they yelled, “This is my dog Sweet Pea!” they turned to the dog “You helped me rescue a new friend, can you believe it Sweets!” The baby talk was outrageously cute. As I caught up to the stranger I decided to only be close to Sweet Pea and started to pet her. I pat the dogs’ head as my self appointed new friend introduces me. “My name is Sunny,” the stranger says, “Who are you?” “I’m Q. I should probably thank you for saving me, I kinda just fell down a hole as I was exploring a cave and now I have no clue what’s even happening.” I try to convey the fact that this situation is extremely odd. “How did you even know I was there?” Questions and anxiety flush through my body and I realize that I had completely tuned Sunny out. “… I can see you had a little panic time so I can start again,” they say with a small chuckle “I was already walking towards the pool to take a dip since I had been working on this shelter here for a few hours!” Sunny smacks the door frame of the fort, “I thought it would be a refreshing reward for all my hard work but then I heard footsteps, got excited, and now you’re here at my fort! How exciting!” This kid seems a little on the childish side. Just the way they speak gives off the fearlessness of a 4 year old playing pirates.
“I’ve been coming down here for a few weeks now since I found the place! I was able to get my art supplies and other stuff down here and have been using it mainly as a quiet space. I’ve been trying to make it as home-y as possible but you can only do so much in a fort underground.” Sunny turned from a smile to a blank stare seeming to process what they had just told a complete stranger, “Sorry that probably sounds weird coming from someone you just met, but oh well I’ve already over-shared” “A little weird, but not as weird as finding someone deep in a cave that I’ve never been in before!” I try to lighten up the mood a little because Sunny’s mood definitely took a turn. “I’m still a little lost on why you’re so chipper here, doesn’t this whole situation seem a little kid-nappy to you? Or like 2 teenagers in a cave vandalizing the place?” Sunny nodded without a word and picked up Sweet Pea. They ushered me to take a look around inside the fort they made.
As I walk through the curtain door made of old quilts Sunny’s parents had probably thrown away, I see where the creativeness explodes. Although just outside of this fort is dirt and cold cave walls, this little room absolutely serves as a paradise. There are pillows to sit on, small tables low to the ground, fake flowers in a vase, various drawings Sunny drew (some even with a dog print signature from Sweet Pea), as well as photos Sunny had taken with a disposable camera. There were party ribbons decorating the ceiling around the center lamp hanging from the middle. The energy encased in this one room felt like a real life oasis. But why would they build this deep in a cave? I sat on one of the many pillows strewn throughout the room to really start to take in the space. Sunny looks to be around the same age as me, so why did they say they’ve been coming here the past couple weeks? School had only started 3 weeks ago and I’ve already done loads of homework. I don’t see any photos of anyone other than Sunny and Sweet Pea. There has to be some in here somewhere right? I get up once more and start looking for any sign of a family or some friends that Sunny may have. Maybe I’ve met them before and just didn’t get the chance to meet Sunny before.
“Like I said, I’ve been using this as a quiet art sanctuary. Why would I be using this beautiful cave for stupid sterotypical teenager activities anyway? I have more fun and peace of mind listening to the trickling water drops as I paint and draw with Sweet pea by my side.” I’m taken aback by Sunny’s sudden poeticness. Sanctuary? What a wonderful word for the space they have created here. I could feel myself getting quite jealous of how wonderful this place looks and sounds as Sunny describes their reasoning for the deep love they hold in this cave. I have longed for a place to feel genuinely free like Sunny describes. After Sunny’s description I could hear the trickling water, the shifting gravel as Sweet Pea pranced across the ground, the subtlety of mine and Sunny’s breathing. How quiet the voices in my brain have become in the short amount of time I’ve been here. The anxiety and fear had washed out of my brain so quickly and calmly that I hadn’t even noticed that I was breathing deeply and thoughtfully. The sweet smell of damp rock permeated through the shelter and into my lungs as I just sat in the first true silence of my brain.
“Hey,” Sunny poked my shoulder and I jumped to my feet. “Good Lord Sunny, why did you poke me!” I clutched my chest trying to catch my breath after being scared out of my serenity. “You stopped answering me so I came inside and it looked like you were asleep, is everything alright?” “Yes I’m ok, that was honestly the calmest I had ever felt in a while actually. No wonder why you do your art here.”
