A Duck's Luck

The Whispering Walls

The cave was dark . Very dark . As Delilah continued down the long , winding cave , she occasionally would look back . She didn't know why - maybe she was hoping that Webby and Dewey would've gone along with her anyway . There was whispering in the distance but no matter how much farther she would walk , the whispers would sound the same . They never got louder nor did they become quieter , just at the same low pitch . Delilah couldn't make out what they were saying , which only made her more uncomfortable . Digging in her bag , Delilah pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight to see . As she panned it around the cave , she could see the rough , pointy edges of the cave walls extruding from all around , almost as if they were long , spindly fingers pointing at her .
Every now and then Delilah would sit on the cold floor to ease her aching feet . She had probably been walking for an hour now , but she felt that no matter how long she would continue down this creepy tunnel would she ever reach the end . The only thing that kept her going was the sheer determination burning within her chest , encouraging her to find and save her dad . She'd rest for a few minutes , only to push herself to keep going no matter how bad her feet hurt . Looking around the cave she felt ,,, somber . As if this cave may have been a different place , maybe somewhere even happy . If there were to be a lonely place , Delilah thought , then this certainly would be the loneliest place in the world .
Seeing as she was so alone , the only thing she could really do was think to herself as she walked . Was her mom okay ? Is she looking for her ? What about her sisters , May and June ? Where they looking for her too ? She thought about her family back at home and imagined what might be going on . Maybe Scrooge and the others went to look for Donald anyway , even without the compass . Maybe they decided not to , and instead mourned the disappearance of three of their own . Then Delilah thought about Webby and Dewey . What are they doing now ? It had been a while since she left , and they definitely got bored waiting out in front for her . Did they turn back ? Did they walk back along the canyon ? The kingdom ? The sirens ? Maybe they're home right now ,, or maybe they aren't . They couldn't have gotten home that fast , that's what Delilah told herself , but deep down she was just hoping to be there with them .
Thoughts came in and out of her head like flies , in and out until back in again when she would add onto her wonders . She thought of almost anything that came to her mind - even thinking about what causes the rocks in the cave to form in the way they did . While she was in the midst of her thoughts , her phone battery died and along with it , her flashlight . Now in complete darkness , Delilah had to continue her journey even more cautiously than before . She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that the strange whispering from within the walls had become a little louder .
At this point , Delilah had begun to lose hope . Nothing in the cave seemed to tell her that she was making any progress , and at one point she began to think that maybe the cave was just leading her in a circle , an endless loop on the journey to nowhere . However , there was still that light in her heart , pushing her harder and harder to keep going , she's almost there . And so , she listened . The little voice in her head echoed throughout her mind as she walked , no , sprinted through the cave , closing her eyes in hopes that when she opened them she would be with her dad , finally being able to hug him after almost two weeks . When she did eventually open her eyes though , she could see something different . In front of her , off in the distance - was a very faint light . She could barely see it , but after spending all this time in eternal darkness she was able to recognize the first light she had seen in what felt like forever . That wasn't the only thing she could see though . The walls of the cave were changing - the further she walked the more gradually they began to change . Her heart sunk as she began to recognize the tall , thick obsidian pillars rising above her head , curving over her as if they were going to trap her in a dark obsidian prison . Not only that , but she noticed the green fog with just enough time for her to put her mask on again before she could breathe it in .
The dream from that one night flashed in front of her eyes , and now she began to feel the exact same feeling of intense fear as she had before . She froze in her tracks , unable to go any further no matter how hard she encouraged herself to keep going . The walls were now open , the cave was no more . Through the pillars was a murky greenish-gray river that sort of looked like mist . In front of her was a long red carpet , stretching out off into the distance where the light was coming from . Delilah was so caught up with managing her emotions she didn't even realize that there were tears streaming down her cheeks . She wiped her face , trying her best to regain her posture when she remembered all the stories from the book she had . All of her worst fear would come true - is this what that was ? It certainly didn't feel like her worst fear , did she even have any real fears ? Slowly , Delilah continued to walk down the glowing green hall , holding her mask on her tight to ensure that she wouldn't inhale any of the green fog . Her whole body was shaking from the anxiety as she stepped closer and closer to the bright light in front of her . Every step she took made the whispers louder and louder until eventually they were practically screaming incomprehensively in her ears . She reached and grabbed at her chest , and to her relief there was no whole like in the dream .
As she stood in front of the light , the reached her other arm out in front of her and closed her eyes as tight as she could . With one last wipe of her face , she held her breath and despite her body's wishes , continued into the blinding glow on the wall .