The Rumored Jewels

Never To Be Seen Again

   Hours upon hours upon hours passed by, not once did they know where they were going. It wasn't until Jasmine pointed out that they should turn back, go home, rest and try again in a few days that they realized they didn't know which way was back. Of course, this was bound to happen, it's inevitable to anyone who ever enters the cave. You enter, you walk around, slowly losing hope, then right when you give up you realize there's no path back. If you were lucky you'd make it out but would end up in a care facility without any recollection of what happened.

Jasmine, Michelle, and Joshua can't say they didn't know this. Josh warned them before they entered, so it shouldn't have been much of a shock when they realized they were lost and every turn they took led them in circles. They thought that they would be fine up until Jasmine began to panic that they would never make it out, with tears forming in her eyes she turned to her closest friends, "What if the rumors are true? What if we don't make it out of here? We've been lost for hours, I think it's time to admit that we don't know what we're doing."

   Josh and Michelle were stunned. They didn't know what to do other than agree with her, they had no sense of direction and were more than likely not going to find a way out anytime soon. So they continued, hoping that maybe they'd find a way out before they ran out of essential materials necessary to their survival.

   They 're not special. Everyone who enters either doesn't leave or goes insane trying to leave. They weren't an exception to this. Just as everyone before them, they fell victim to the curse of the cave. Michelle, she tried so hard to make their materials last, but she was the first to go.

"MICHELLE, NOO. Please don't leave me." Jasmine watched her best friend meet the same end as many others have. She knew without a doubt that Michelle Torres, the girl she knew since age 4, the only person who knew every detail of her life, the one human on this earth, besides her brother, that could cheer her up, was gone. Her person was no longer. "I can't do this without you," she whispered to herself. Tears streamed down her face, her brother held her tightly, afraid he might lose her too. Even though he was with her, she had never felt quite alone in the world.

"Jas, please, listen to me, I think we should go. She's not coming back, and I don't think she would want us to stay here any longer. Please."

"But don't you understand, our Michelle, she's...she's..." she trailed off, fearing that if she continued she would not be able to stop the tearful sobs that would follow. 

  Not long after her, Joshua followed, he succumbed to the darkness closing in on him and his sister. They were all alone, down to their last supplies, slowly dying from hypothermia and starvation in the depths of the cave walls. Jasmine and Joshua fell asleep in each other's arms, only one of them woke up.

Jasmine didn't think this was possible. She had lost her people, after Michelle, she didn't think it was believable that she could be deprived of yet another person she held dear. When she woke up she was wrapped around her brother, it took her a while to discover he was no longer breathing. She tried to wake him several times, but it was pointless. She took the remaining supplies and ran off without turning back, she couldn't bear what laid behind her. She made it a couple of miles before she collapsed of exhaustion. She stopped to think and knew she wouldn't make it out either. 

   Whatever may have happened to Jasmine is unknown, it's thought that she made it out, but no one ever believed her and she went insane, but this is not what happened. It is believed that she found the jewels, but wasn't strong enough to make it back. She spent her last moments with treasure, happy that at least their effort wasn't pointless. Whatever happened to her may never be known, though the story of Jasmine, Joshua, and Michelle became iconic. They may not have made it out, but their attempt inspired various people that not everything is in vain.