SUNGLASSES AND ROCKETS Part 1 : New Moon

AT THE EDGE OF THE PRECIPICE

I walked at a squat for a little bit, until it was no longer possible to go on like that. I lay down and I started to drag myself.

The sensation of having that enormous mass of rock above me was asphyxiating. At least there were two lights that lit me up from the other end.

In any case, I felt the temptation to look and see how much I had left to go. I lifted up my head. The bang I got stopped me from doing it again. It's like a tomography, I told myself, overcome by claustrophobia. It's just like a tomography. Just then I felt a slight tickle at the nape of my neck. The tickle extended down my entire back. The same sensation came over my arms. I tilted my head and looked over my shoulder. With horror I observed my left arm become covered in delicate black hairs. Spiders! What a horrible feeling! I shook my arms violently to shake off the repugnant little beasts. My attempts were in vain. I stifled a scream. The narrow passageway only allowed me to drag myself along.

"Be calm, Gordo," I heard Vanessa say. "The spiders won't hurt you..."

I tried to speak, but I didn't dare open my mouth. There were spiders everywhere.

"...if you don't bother them," the doctor's niece completed. "Treat them nicely."

That meant that I should let those horrendous creatures explore my body without any restriction. And so I did. To resist made no sense. I kept dragging myself along.

Defenseless, I felt as if my many-legged guests were walking along my throat and then squeezing in underneath my shirt. I tried to lift my head in a desperate attempt to see the end of that torturous passage, with the idea of getting my nerve up a bit, but my eyes only came across the dazzling glare of the flashlights, which was distorted by the lashes of sweat that were running down from my forehead.

And, although I struggled to fix my attention on anything other than those disgusting insects, I gradually started to feel that unsettling tickle reach up to my knees, as well. They were ascending. The tuft of arachnids slowly climbed up my legs...they made their way into my shorts.

"Oh my God!" I let escape.

I went quicker, getting scrapes along the way.

"Oh no!" I whimpered, distressed. "Not there!"

I had to get out of there before it was too late. The tickle gradually advanced. Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands catch hold of my shoulders and tug at me energetically. They fished me out of the crevice.

But it had been too late. A swarming hoard of spiders were having a ball in the most sacred regions of my body...I quickly struggled free of the hands that held me, and in the middle of the darkness I stumbled forward and lowered my pants in one movement, to get rid of the indiscreet insects. I felt my foot go up in the air. I lost my balance. A hand caught hold of my arm.

"Careful," you could hear Felix saying, "we're standing on a narrow ledge."

"What!" I exclaimed.

My voice resonated in a strident echo. I discovered that we were in a gigantic, enclosed vault.

"Don't separate from one another!" boomed the doctor's voice.

The hand kept pulling me to one side. Some beams of light fell on me.

"Stay calm, Gordo," you could hear Vanessa say.

Oh God! I pulled my pants up at once. The light diverted to the floor and then changed direction. All in all, the fleeting illumination allowed me to make out the kind of yellowish cornice—a ledge—that was barely a few inches wide and on which we were standing. Below was an abyss.