1921, PHILIPPINE CAVES
"RUN!" Ernesto's screams bounced off the murky cave walls. He could feel the terror of being caught rushing through his body.
"Wait-" Jonah paused to look around, to look for a different path, "We, well you see. Uhmm, it's - there's nowhere left to go,"
Slowly, Ernesto turned around to look at Jonah, he was right. The path gave way to a cliff. He looked back in the direction they just came from. There was no possible way that they would make it back, not without getting caught for what they'd done. He estimated they had a couple of minutes before the cops found them, they were running out of time.
"Okay, so here's the plan-" Ernesto began but was interrupted.
"Ernesto! Stop it. There is no plan. We didn't think this through enough, we might have succeeded in stealing the jewels, but now we have nowhere left to run, we might as well turn ourselves in. Maybe we'll even get a shorter sentence for stealing the 'most precious jewels to ever exist'. Honestly, we really are the worst thieves to ever exist."
"No, before you begin again let me talk. We jump down, brush ourselves off, continue running. If we can manage with minimum noise, they might believe we took a different route."
"Okay, I agree, but you see the issue there is that we might-", with that Ernesto and Jonah both turned the opposite direction as they could hear the cops get closer, their voices nearing them. In a split-second decision, Ernesto pushed Jonah off the cliff and followed him shortly after he'd collected their belongings. They both landed with a thud.
In a hushed whisper, they continued their conversation from earlier, "Great job, Ernesto, you idiot. Now, how are we are ever going to escape the police, let alone get out of this cave? The whole world probably heard us land on the floor. Not only that but how are we going to get back up, because in case you forgot we can't fly."
Ernesto, after a long day of putting up with Jonah's whining, finally went off on him, "Alright, listen, I could have chosen anyone, literally anyone I wanted to complete this heist with me. You know who I chose, though? Some annoying idiot, like you. So if you could please just shut up and let me figure out an exit from this maze, then that'd be great. Thanks."
Knowing that Ernesto had won this argument, Jonah couldn't do anything but glare and follow after him as they wound their way through the miles of corridors in this unimaginably vast cave system.
Rumor has it that they continued for days. They, quite obviously, never made it out and it's a mystery where the precious jewels ever ended up where their bodies lay now. There are various versions of how this story goes on, but all end with their deaths and the missing jewels. Although some versions say they made it out and faked it, evidence proves otherwise. It's said that everyone who has never made it out still roams the caves. Not many have made it out.
PRESENT DAY, U.S.
"People, gather round, for I have found our next location!" Michelle squealed excitedly to her closest friends. Jasmine Reyes, Michelle's "most best-est best friend in the world", along with her brother Joshua approached where Michelle currently sat, staring at her computer screen.
"Oooh, guess we're going to the Philippines!" she replied and then turned to her brother, "Huh, Josh, what do you think? Searching for the lost jewels of the Philippines?"
"To me, the story seems a little far fetched. I mean 'miles of corridors' and 'unimaginably vast cave system'? I might just be a little put off from our recent disappointment in Europe, but I don't think it's time to start another adventure again."
Michelle countered his statement with, "Well, I for one, believe the story is true and anyway lost jewels in the Philippines caves sounds way better than stolen artifacts hidden in Europe by petty thieves. That led us nowhere, and I think this could lift our spirits." Joshua couldn't help but roll his eyes at her statement. He replied, "I guess we're headed to the Philippines."
YOU ARE READING
The Rumored Jewels
FantasyWhen Jasmine, Michelle, and Josh travel to the Philippines to search for lost jewels they don't expect to actually find anything. They believed that everything would be just like all their other adventures: inconclusive. They face issues they didn'...