The Tree of Knowledge

To The Bat Cave

When I wake, my little compass rose of rocks is still there, pointing into the distance.

Today I find water or die trying. Maybe for real this time. I'm trying very hard not to think about how dry my throat feels.

But at least today I have a lead.

I break camp and set off, singing to myself as I trek across the desert.

"Larks never will you know, when they're captive. Teach me to be more adaptive."

I wonder if Little Bird misses me? Right about now, Rebecca will be feeding her her breakfast, more oatmeal and bananas on her face and her little hands then making it into her mouth. I never did teach her to say my name. I guess now she might never know it.

I think about Green Finch and Linnet Bird and it occurs to me for the first time that I've flown out of the cage. Or maybe I just swapped it for a bigger cage?

I can't leave here, but this place is beautiful, sprawling acres of desert and grass lands. Great towering mountain tops. All around me I see colors of desert flowers and singing birds. And I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing the bats fly out at night. I try to picture myself, an old woman, sitting in my cave and watching the bats fly out at sunset.

I wouldn't mind a sighting of them now. I've been walking for hours. I'm afraid I might have veered off course.

Just as I'm thinking there's always tomorrow, I see a dark shape up ahead, close to the ground. I have to resist the urge to bolt for it, excited as I am to have found it. I should still try to conserve my strength. I have all of no guaranties this is one of the caverns with water in it.

An hour later, I reach the lip of the cavern.

This is not one of those tourist friendly, handicap accessible caverns like Carlsbad. This is essentially a hole in the ground. The entrance looks cave like, with a smooth grey rock archway over the top about five feet high. But about four feet in the floor just ends. I crawl on my belly to the ledge and peer over. There's no way to tell how long the drop is. It's much too dark to see the bottom. From the ledge I'm laying on the rock face juts sharply inward and then straight down. What I'm laying on is essentially the plank of a pirate ship. No way to climb down.

Good thing I came prepared.

I've got a helmet with a light, rope, anchors, and a repel device.

Time to walk the plank.

I use four anchors to tether my rope in place, just to be safe. I walk right to the edge, turn around backwards, and jump.

I can't help but whoop as my stomach lunges from the free fall. This is my favorite part. Rushing down, the cold cavern air on my face. I slow my progress and carefully lower myself to the ground.

The cavern is almost pitch black at the bottom. I can only see where I point my helmet. By that narrow beam, I piece together a picture of my surroundings. The space is huge. I can just barely make out the walls on the other side. There's three good sized tunnels branching off of this one, and one small tunnel I might be able to crawl through. The ceiling is lower a little further on from where I dropped down. Sleeping bats line every inch of it. I get just a glimpse of them as I glance up. A couple stir and screech, flapping their wings, disturbed by the light. I resolve not to look up again.

And there right in the middle of the cavern, sparkling gloriously in the light, is a stream.

I yell in excitement. My yell spooks the bats, who tear out of the cavern inches from my head. I throw myself to the ground to avoid them as the column moves en mass to the entrance. From this close, they are so dense and black they look like one solid thing. Like schools of fish, pressing together in an attempt to ward of predators. They are all one giant black bat, soaring out of the cavern and into the night, leaving a chaos of echoing screeches and guano in its wake. I cover my head a laugh, unperturbed.

Guess who's won't be dying of dehydration? This girl! Right here! I found water! Power and glory is mine!

It takes all my will power not to run to it and start drinking immediately. Instead, it's time to bust out my shiny new cookware.

I had the foresight to pack some brush and sticks into my bag after breaking this morning's camp. I get those out now, and using the flint, start a little fire. It does wonders to alleviate the cold dampness of the cavern.

I scoop some water out of the stream and into my pot, then put the pot over the flames. While I wait for it to boil, I warm my hands over the dancing fire. Once the water boils, I dunk the bottom of the pot into the cold stream, trying to cool it down as fast as I possibly can.

Finally, the water is just cool enough to drink. I gulp down the whole pot, greedily, until my belly feels like it will burst from it. The water tastes better then any water I have ever had before it, and I am convinced that none after it will ever be as good either. Sweet, delicious water.

And Rebecca said I couldn't even boil water. Ha! Showed her, didn't I?