Clara's Caverns

f o u r

Clara let out a breath of air. "That's terrible. You can't swim?" "Nope," Luke replied. Clara paused. "Well, I can swim, and Roxy can fly so..." Without further thought, she dove into the water. It was freezing. She shuddered, but quickly got accustomed to it as she swam across the small lagoon. When she got to the other side, she grabbed a stalagmite and Luke's hand. She pulled herself up, and held her wet dress away from her body, and then grabbed her hair, gently twisting it to get all the water out. "Well, that was effective," Luke chortled. Clara rubbed her arms. "Do you have anything I can use to get warmer?" She asked. Luke shook his head. "Should have thought this through," Clara muttered under her breath.

She sat shivering for a few moments, when she decided to sit in front of the area where the sunlight was being let in, the only thing illuminated the dark chamber. After a minute Clara spoke. "Well, how long?" She asked. "How long have you been here?" "Wait, what day is it today?" Luke questioned. "February 13 2020" She replied. "Wow.. I've been in here for.. 2 months?" Luke inquired. He sighed. Roxy chirped sadly. "Wow..." Clara sat down on a rock (still in the sunlight) and dipped her feet into the water. "That is surprisingly nice," she said. Then it hit her. She looked around. There were at least a million pathways leading away from the grotto. "Is this how you got lost?" She asked. Luke nodded. "Wow!" She said again. "I can't imagine living here for 2 months" She said. He smiled. "I know I'll get out. We'll find a way. In the meantime, I have some freshly cooked fish" He pointed to a small mat that had a fish on it. "Let's eat".

5 Hours Later

Clara and Luke both sat down in the tent. "What's it like? Living here" She whispered. "It's alright..." He murmured. "I, I think there's a way out" He said "There's a myth that there is a creature. Named Wolfsbane. Half wolf half bird, about the size of a baby wolf. He helps people who are lost out of the cave. He sings and if you sing a certain melody back, he will fly to you and help you out of the cave. I've heard them sing before and I have tried to sing back but the melody is way too hard." Clara nodded and said "Do you... Maybe have the melody and lyric sheet?" Luke paused and said, "I wrote it down a while ago..." Then he proceeded to rummage through some stuff and finally produced a single paper. He handed it to her. "Thanks," She said. She sat staring at the lyric sheet, trying to memorize it. After a while, she heard Luke's breathing even out, and the light from the sun eventually faded. She glanced at her watch, hoping it would still work. She rapped it quietly and eventually 4 numbers blared up from the screen. 09:37 pm. She sighed. Clara gave one more steely look at the parchment and then drifted off to sleep.