Overhung with creepers, the cave was invisible from view.
Uni, the first to arrive, dropped to her knees at the edge of the overhang and carefully parted the creeping vines before crawling in, out of view. Keeping the wall at her side, she counted how many hands over knees she moved before she knew she could stand. At the entrance, the cave roof was too low for even a child to stand to full height.
Feeling along the wall due to the darkness, she moved sideways, with both hands on the rock above, reaching up as it widened. Soon, she couldn't reach the rocky roof.
Sliding her right foot along the ground, she continued moving until she felt the hardness of the trunk they'd hidden here. Torches and batteries with other gear had been brought and put in the trunk by the girls two years ago after they found the cave while searching for a secret place to call their own.
Turning on a torch, she moved further into the cave where there was a flat rock to the side upon which a dozen old cushions were stacked.
By the time her friends arrived, Uni had lit the oil lamp that had been kept in the trunk and bunched the cushions along the wall near the 'table rock' so the others could sit and rest with her.
Carol arrived first, dropping to lie down to rest on the cushions.
Jilly, giggling, entered the cave within a few minutes of Carol. Following the light, she crawled a little before rising and bumping her head on the still low rock above. "Ow! Ow!" she yelled, dropping and holding her head. "That really hurt." She removed her school bag before crawling to join them on the cushions.
For a while, Uni had to listen to Jilly's complaints and Carol's jabbering. They were excited they'd escaped from their tormentors and needed to give step-by-step accounts of it all. It was hard for Uni to make sense out of their joint chitchat.
When Jilly was silent, Carol asked, "You got here first, Uni. How did you get away from all those boys?"
"I had help," she told them.
"Who?" the girls asked in unison.
She laughed, not wanting to tell them she'd prayed. "It was Mister Bumblebee. It followed me and the boys were chased away by it while I was in the cemetery. Joe nearly got me, but the bee chased him. She didn't tell them there were only two boys by then, it was more dramatic to let them imagine all eight boys being chased by the bee.
Laughter filled the cave.
Silence took over as they rested, still recovering from their prolonged escape...
It wasn't the bee that had saved her...
What she did not realize, that bee was a threat...
And so, had they —really —escaped?
YOU ARE READING
Uni's Unicorn
Ficção CientíficaUni has a secret she's kept since she was seven years old. Can it be kept any longer? Her brother, Tyson, has been missing for four long years and Uni was the last one to see him. Before Ty had flown away on a winged unicorn with her father, Uni ha...
