Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 2: The Cave

Phil (1st person)

The next day, at school, Joy was back. She was hanging around Phred for some reason, and Phred didn't seem to want her there. She kept staring at him during homeroom. "Joy, what do you want?" he asked, turning around to face her. She blushed and turned away. Phred looked a bit confused. "Phred, please, please don't fall for it," I said. "Hm?" he said. "For Joy. There's no way she likes you," I said. "Rude!" he said jokingly. "No, I don't mean it like that, I..." I started. "I know what you mean," he said. I took that as an 'Okay, I won't fall for it', so I stopped talking to him. During our break, I went up to Joy while she was trying to get to Phred. "Joy, what's going on?" I asked. She shrugged. "It's obviously something to do with Phred," I said. "I..." She said. "You're trying to separate us, aren't you?" I asked. "Wh-What?" she asked, backing away from me. "Just leave Phred alone, okay?" I said. "I... I don't..." she stammered. I figured I wouldn't be able to get anything else out of her, so I just shrugged it off and left her alone.

Phred (1st person)

We're doing one last field trip before the school year ends, even though we just got back from one. We're going to a cave. A large one. We're not gonna be able to see the whole thing, we'll just a get a short tour. It wasn't overnight or anything, and we didn't need partners this time. We took a bus, and nothing really happened on the short ride there. There was a little gift shop, and we'd take an elevator down. Our tour guide lady told us the rules, which were all pretty basic. Don't touch any animals, don't attempt to go behind any handrails, don't pocket anything, stuff like that.

Zack (1st person)

Inside, the cave was extremely dark. There were a few lights here and there, but my fire was definitely the brightest one. I guess it was cold, but I didn't notice. The floor was slippery, but there were handrails, so that was good. The tour guide was talking about different types of rocks, which I found extremely boring. I saw something shiny out of the corner of my eye. I turned and looked for it. There was a cool looking rock embedded in the boring stone wall. There was a big enough gap for my fingers to fit in. I bent down and wedged my fingers into the gap, and I pried out the rock. It looked like someone had gotten a small river and put it into the rock. It was a greenish color with a bright blue wavy streak down the middle of it. I knew I wasn't supposed to, but I couldn't resist shoving it into my pocket. "I saw that," Lauren said, playfully nudging me.

We were next to a large abyss, and I couldn't see the bottom of it, even when the tour guide shined her flashlight down it. "Well, you wouldn't-" I started. "Hey, miss tour guide lady! Zack-" Lauren started. "Hey!" I said. The tour guide looked at us, then she rolled her eyes and moved on. I playfully nudged Lauren. That was a terrible mistake. At first, she laughed, but I'd pushed her into a puddle. When she tried to walk, she slipped. There was a large gap under the handrail, and she went right through it. People always talk about how when stuff like that happens, it's almost like it's in slow motion. For me, it was the opposite. I had no idea what happened, but I realized pretty soon. She let out a cry, then I didn't hear anything else. The cry echoed through the cave.

The tour guide had turned the corner, along with everyone else. I bolted around the corner, and they were turning another one. "Hey, Zack, are you coming? Where's Lauren?" Phil asked. He was hanging back a bit, waiting for me. "L-Lauren just fell! She went into the... Uh... She fell into the abyss thing, and I don't know what to do!" I said. Phil's eyes widened, and he ran to the tour guide. She came back to me. "Did-" the tour guide was cut off by a splash sound. From the abyss. I made myself believe that there was water down there; that Lauren was completely fine, assuming she can swim. "...Th-That was probably her..." I stammered. The tour guide, who looked about late high school age, panicked and ran to the handrail. The flashlight, like before, didn't illuminate Lauren.

I saw an old-looking ladder. "Okay, okay..." the tour guide said. "We have a service for... That... I'll call them," she said. That made me think that this has happened more than once. I knew the abyss had to be more than fifty feet deep. I hesitated for a second, then I ran to the ladder. "Zack, no!" Phil yelled. I climbed as fast as I could down it. It was so cold that, despite my fire, I was slightly cold. There was a loud cracking noise. There was a rock above the ladder, which was seemingly about to fall. I yelped and tried to climb back up, but I didn't make it. "Zack!-" Phil had called for me one more time. The rock crushed to the top of the ladder. Part of the rope snapped. I could barely see, and I remember screaming loudly as I fell. I landed in a deepish pool of water. I was able to get my head out fast enough so that my fire remained intact.