In Charlotte's Eyes

Broke

Three months passed. Life was normal for Charlotte. She remained good friends with Carlos, Aaron, Suzuki, and Parker. She continued her spelunking adventures with Parker, continued going on motorcycle trips with Aaron, continued doing various different activities with Suzuki, and infrequently hung out with Carlos. Among other things with them. She was saving up money so that she could buy a house. It was stressful, figuring out all the complexities and intricacies of buying a house. But she was dead set on it, now. All she needed was some time to get some more money so that she was financially ready. But, for now..

“Woah, Parker..! Come look at this!” Charlotte said in awe. She was on her knees, staring down a dark, narrow hole. The duo were spelunking together again. The hole was narrow, but just large enough so that thin objects like Parker and her could fit into. As Parker knelt down next to her, she pointed her flashlight down into the darkness. There was no bottom that they could see from where they were.

“Woah.” Parker raised his brows.

“What do you think is down there?” She raised a brow at him, smiling.

He put a hand to his chin. “Hm, don’t know.”

“Let’s go down and find out, then, silly.” She suggested, breaking into a light chuckle.

“I dunno, Charlotte. Chances are that whatever is down there hasn’t been explored. I mean, look at that hole!” He pointed at it with both his hands. “That hole looks like a coin slot! It’d be a tight squeeze, even for us.” He put a hand on his hip.

“That makes it even better!” She exclaimed. “We could find something that no one else has! And, look, if it makes you feel safer, we can just go down and see if there’s anything interesting, then climb back up immediately if there isn’t.”

Parker hummed. “Well, I wouldn’t be totally against it. How deep is this thing?” He knelt over the hole, looking down. His headlight did not reveal the floor.

“Move over for a sec.” Charlotte ordered politely. Parker obliged, noticing a small rock in her hand. She dropped the rock into the hole, making sure it didn’t collide with the walls. It took a second before a small thud sounded. “It’s not that deep.” She smiled at Parker.

“Alright.” He smiled lightly, beginning to dig through his backpack. He pulled out a set of rope. Charlotte walked next to him. “Alright,” He looked at her. “I’ll set up the rope so you can climb down. I’ll wait up here while you climb down, to make sure you don’t get stuck down there.” He chuckled.

“Heheh, alright, then. I’ll shout at you if there’s anything down there.”

He gave her a thumbs up and a nod, before taking the bundle of rope to a large stalagmite near the hole. He tied the rope to it, then tugged on it to make sure it was secure. Charlotte watched him as he tossed the rope down the hole. “Okay, it should be good now.” He looked at her.

“Sweet.” She said confidently. She removed the backpack from her body, since it wouldn’t fit with her through the hole. A flashlight in one hand, she was ready to go down. She turned around, facing Parker. She carefully dipped her feet into the hole, backing up more so that she would fit.

“Careful.”

She acknowledged him with a hum, focusing on squeezing through. She straightened out her legs, then began sliding down into the hole. She was now fully inside. It was a tight squeeze, walls surrounding her front and behind. She grasped on to the rope, and her feet loosely pressed against the walls. It was a bit tricky to hang on to the rope with a flashlight in hand, but she was managing. Slowly, grunting and struggling, she descended. She slid down the rope, her feet grabbing on to the walls to make up for her lack of hand grip.