Prisoner of the Molepeople

Chapter 41 - Dungeon. Again.

I was ushered into the dismal cave where I'd spent my first night in Molemania. Still on the stony floor was the rusty bucket I'd refused to use and the plastic bucket full of shrimp. The metal door was slammed behind me, leaving me in total darkness. I already knew there was no way out of this pit of despair.

I'd gotten so close. But now it was finally over. I'd failed Lenny. I'd failed myself. Worst of all, I'd needlessly ruined the lives of Gunhilda and Bobbert. Surely they'd be thrown in lava for this.

If only I could be thrown in lava. But my fate was inevitable: Ann the molewoman. I would end up like Grandma, slaving my life away in the belly of the earth. Perhaps I would grow fur and claws. Perhaps my eyes would turn black. Perhaps my heart would turn black. If I couldn't succeed in killing Duthbert, I could at least kill myself. Or would it be better to punish myself for the deaths of my friends over a lifetime of misery?

This was nothing like what Henry David Thoreau had experienced. I would get no extra credit in my English class. I would gain no victory over Lenny. My parents would wonder what had happened to me for the rest of their lives.

Worst of all, I’d left an old lady in the company of freaky hippies … Grandma … the one person I was supposed to help! Not for me, but for the helpless old lady in a cruel world, I cried.

The room filled with the sound of grinding stone. I imagined Duthbert opening the shutter to give me something cruel to eat. But the sound wasn't coming from the door. In the midst of my dark world was appearing a rectangle of purple light, growing brighter. Then the grinding stopped, and out the glowing rectangle came a head … of Lenny. He was climbing out of a hole in the wall.

“Lenny!” I squealed in confusion.

“Hi,” he said, already on his feet. In his hand was the source of the strange light: a glowing crystal. The crystal filled the little cave with beams and shadows.

It will turn darkness to light.

Stretching his herculean body, Lenny said, “This thing is awesome.”

“How did you get my crystal?” I asked, trying not to gawk at his handsome face in the romantic lighting.

“Your crystal? This one's mine.”

“Yours?”

“There's six of them, you know.”

“But how –”

“Let's just say I've got connections.”

“You mean you've had it this whole time?”

“Not the whole time. My friends had to sneak it to me through a pie. I was waiting for the right time to use it. Then, just minutes ago, I heard your little speech to Kevin outside my cell door.”

“You heard me?”

He nodded. “So when Kevin took you down here, leaving me completely unguarded, I held the crystal against the wall and … voila … secret passage. But we're wasting time. Let's get out of here before he discovers we're missing.” He was about to climb back into the hole when he remembered his manners. “Ladies first.”

Not wanting to look at him anymore, I didn't hesitate to climb inside.

“By the way,” he continued, a trace of humor in his voice, “that speech … moving.”

Somebody shoot me.

* * *

Crawling out of the tight space, I found myself in a narrow corridor lit by blue, florescent tubes. The wall in front of me was adorned with glow-in-the-dark paint, spelling the word “freedom.” A large glowing arrow pointed to the right.