The Hidden Cave: A Short Story.

It is said that a very wise old man lives here in this forest, a large house full of sunshine and beauty. A house close to divinity; the small woodland creatures gather. Bunnies and Foxes play in the day and sleep among each other in the night, keeping each other company through the soft quiet nights. A bear and her cubs find refuge in this part of the forest escaping the gunshots of poachers.

The sun breaches the horizon and intrudes the dark sky filling the atmosphere with a yellowish orange glow. This sight is said to be the work of angels painting a taste of heaven. The sound of birds chirping mixed with the sound of rivers flowing down makes for the perfect setting to watch the sunrise, this perhaps is why he settled here . . . .

A figure approaches the window of the house and opens it, peaking out to see the beautiful scenery. He has hair shiny and silver mixed with the occasional black strands. He stretches and begins his daily commute.

He first puts eggs on the skillet pared with thick cut bacon, the aroma of breakfast fills the house. He then begins to prepare dough for biscuits and puts the finished dough in the oven strengthening the smell. As he waits, he sips on coffee gazing out the open window, staring at the fox and bunnies playing. This takes him to a time where he and his brother would tussle and play like the creatures doing so before him.

The past was all the entertainment a man of this age would ever require for entertainment. All the silly arguments he would chuckle at, all the moments of regret he would resent, all the rebellious acts that made him proud, all the good times and the bad times. A man of this age had many stories to tell; so many to keep to himself as well.

He snaps out of the trance the past had put him in and remembered he had food ready to be plated and eaten, so he goes back to the kitchen and plates and eats his meal. In his kitchen he looks only for a moment at the picture that hangs on the fridge: a young blonde girl and what seems to be a smaller younger version of herself to her right, but there is a young man in the background who seems to be staring at them the same way the old man stares at this picture.

After breakfast he goes outside for his morning walk, he walks around the forest just to keep himself busy in a way, but also to talk amongst himself. He talks about how his day was, what he did right, what he did wrong, how it was good, his favorite part of the day, etc. When he was on these walks - when he talked with himself - it was almost as if he wasn't actually talking to himself; it was like he was talking to someone else.

After his stroll through the woods, he goes back inside and begins working again. He gets out his books and his voice recorder and begins speaking and writing. This is his job. He tells stories of his past experiences in hope to inspire someone or just to entertain them.

He takes a deep breath and begins to speak, "On this day, fifty years ago, me and some friends were out going on a joy ride as youngins do, and we hit this trail that seemed to be fresh or not used that much or barely been used. Being who we are, the curiosity got to us and we were down that trail faster than light it seemed. We got out and wouldn't you believe it; there was a old hospital just sittin' there. Well again curiosity has a way of getting to us, and we decided to go in. Well it just so happened that a man was watchin' us and decided he was gonna take us in that there building. We were in there for about three months. There was a crazy lady running that place and buildin' a family or something because there was all kinds of individuals there. Remember that man i was talkin' about? The one that let us in? Well, he was some type of security for that place because he wouldn't let nobody leave. During that three months someone managed to escape, but turns out he came back because he didn't know nothing anymore but how to live by that ladies rules. To make a long story not as long, that man told us how he got out and well, it worked. We were down that old road faster than a jackrabbit getting chased by a coyote."