My Horrible Adventure

I stared at the man eyes dilated with fear, I started to sweat even though it was chill inside the cave. 'what do we do now?, who is that?, millions of questions welled up, but I was too afraid to speak.
The man stood up and motioned for me to follow, at the back of the cave was a very low and dark looking hole, it didnt look big enough for a cat to crawl through, but he got down on all fours and started to squeeze himself inside the hole. Outside the noise was getting deafening, it sounded like a storm was howling and bits of rock and large stones were being hurled. Cracks were appearing, slithers of daylight were showing, a furious screaming was coming from behind the door. A long scabbed finger was tearing at the rapidly enlarging hole.
The man had now disappeared down the hole. His kicking heels were the last thing I saw of him, I was terrified of enclosed spaces, I freaked out in elevators if they didnt open, and hated the thought of being trapped. I had a choice, to follow him into a suffocating tunnel, or wait for the Thing to get me when it broke in.
I chose the tunnel funnily enough.
I bent down flat and tried to ease my way in, it was surely impossible, I crawled forward on my belly, my arms stretched out in front, the cave roof about three inches from my head. I suddenly realized there was about a million tons of rock pressing down above my head, and I was trapped under it. I felt the claustrophobia taking over, but if I panicked it was all over. I couldnt go back, and it looked like going forward would get a lot tighter. I felt like screaming but no one would hear me.
I crawled as best I could inching my feet and fingers trying to slither forward. It was slow exhausting work, sometimes I just lay there in the blackness surrounding me like a tomb. I cried and my tears filled my eyes but I didnt have the space to wipe them, I couldnt wipe them with my hands because they were full of sand, so I decided to stop crying and just get on with it.

oh. that was so claustrophobic! nightmares!

The tunnel was luckily quite straight and sloped a bit downwards, I just grit my teeth and hoped it would be over soon. The darkness and silence was absolute, the only sound was the blood pounding in my ears. I suppose my other senses got heightened as a result. My nose suddenly became useful for the first time in my life. and it would save my life.
I was slowly making progress and even having a hysterical giggle to myself about how the Girl Guides didnt have a badge for doing Tunnels of Death, but they had thrown me out of the Guides for insubordination, so maybe for all I knew they had special awards for this. and then disaster struck.
The worst thing happened. I came to two openings, it was a left or right choice. There was no way of return or retracing my steps, I couldnt go back if I chose wrong. I was totally screwed.
I tried desperately to work out which one to follow. and then like some far off ray of hope I suddenly remembered.
What would Gandalf do?
I laughed for the first time, of course, you follow your nose.
But that was easier said than done. The two entrances were close together, how on earth could I tell. I stuck my head down the tunnel to the right. Nothing. I tried the one on the left. Nothing.
oh wait. There was a very faint Smell of the Sea, just a whisper, but it was enough to make me choose. Right meant going further into the mountain, left meant going back to the Sea and fresh open air. There was no time to lose, because I was cramping up and tiring.
I struggled down the last bit of tunnel, it was getting steadily lighter and fresher. My heart beat with anticipation. and there was the exit hole. It grew and grew lighter, until a few weak sunbeams crept into the tunnel. I poked my head outside the hole. It was really bad.
Directly below me was the churning Sea. It seemed to be a covered cove or cave, a large blow hole. You could see in the high vaulted roof a tiny pinprick of light which would be the Cliff- top. The Sea swung and great waves lapped the sides. If I jumped I probably wouldnt stand a chance. I was a strong swimmer but I wasnt Willy the Killer Whale.

and then the absolute horror happened. My ankle was grabbed in an iron grip.
Something had snuck up behind me in the tunnel.
I couldnt turn round to see what it was, so I did the only thing I could, I kicked back with all my might in the tight space. I couldnt get my knee up to really give a good donkey kick, but I tried to grind my heel on the hand, claw, ...thing... whatever.

I am honestly shitting my pants here ! Its brilliant !  

I totally lost it. I started to scream and in the confined space, and after the silence, it even scared me. I wriggled forward and plunged headfirst into the waiting Sea. My last thoughts were. 'goodbye world'.

I hit the water hard, it was about a 12 meter drop, I sank deeper and deeper, my momentum was very fast, and I started to thrash my legs before I got too deep to rise to the surface. I held my breath until my lungs felt they would burst and violently kicked to the surface. just in time for a gulp of air before a wave crashed over me.
I could hardly see anything but a rising wall of water, it was like being on a giant roller coaster, I tried to keep afloat, keep my head out the water and not get smashed against the rocks. It was only a matter of time.
I just struggled to survive from second to second, spewing out water, and trying to get my orientation. I looked up for a second and looked at the hole in the Cliff wall, a pair of red eyes were staring at me. I screamed and got a mouthful of Sea.
Coughing and spluttering I swam for the exit of the cave. The tide and undercurrent were far too powerful, I had no chance.
I fought the Sea, the Sea won.
and then something unexpected happened. I got angry. Well not angry exactly, but determined, I was determined not to give up, I wondered where the man had got to, I had assumed he had left me to my fate.

A rope hit my shoulder, I looked up and there he was up above me on a lip of rock. I tried to grab it but the Sea had other ideas. The rope was hauled up and thrown again, this time I caught it. Other men had arrived and they dragged me out of the water. My arms felt they were being pulled out of their sockets, but I clung on in desperation. I lost my shoes which irritated me no end. Weirdly my bag which I had over my shoulder, had not got washed away.
I lay panting on the rock floor, until two men lifted me up and one of them gave me a very sick making firemans lift, the plus point being I brought up the rest of the sea water I had swallowed.

 Spooky!

{{{My goodness, Mrs Figg, you're writing about sea caves at (presumably) the same time I have been! Wow!  }}}

The men jogged up a spiral staircase cut out of live rock, the higher we got the lighter and warmer it got. I wriggled and asked to be put down, but they ignored me and carried on. By the time they had reached a dry cave and had put me down I was in a right paddy. I demanded water and was given a beaker of filthy looking liquid. I spat it out, it was a weak ale and totally disgusting. I wasnt allowed alcohol, I was lucky to get a sip of my mums Sherry at Christmas. I stood there dripping wet. my hands on my hips, full on strop mode.
A pattern to my future self was emerging, I had decided I would no longer take Shit. Any Shit. From Anyone. it was a liberating moment.
I also realized that when I was afraid I would get angry and fight off the fear, with sarcasm if necessary.
The men were crouched around a fire getting dry, they steamed gently, they looked like a band of Banditi in the mist, but they had just saved my life and hadnt yet done anything nasty to me.
They were ignoring me and that got me madder, my 'friend' from earlier walked up to me and gave me a tunic and belt to wear, he had a look of sad reproach on his face, which made me feel like a total shit, I apologized and went off to find a dark corner to change.

I picked up my wet clothes and walked over to the fire. One of the men slung my stuff over a rope to dry, and to my delight my shoes were there hanging by their Laces with their tongues out, someone had fished them out of the raging sea. My satchel had been hung up too, and all my books miraculously saved by the wallpaper covering, were dotted about on bits of rope, drying fanned out like large smoked butterflies.
There were about ten men, it seemed to be their dormitary, tools were lying in a corner, rudimentary pick axes, shovels and spades, they must be miners I thought. They were kind but neutral, they kept to themselves and sat talking in low voices in the strange Language.
I was given bits of dried meat and hard bread and more of the ale to wash it down. Then I was shown to a bed of dried seaweed covered in woollen blankets, and was left alone. I drifted off with the soft murmering of the sea in my dreams.

Someone poked me in the shoulder. i woke up with a start, for a moment I didnt know where I was or what was happening. Then it all came flooding back. There was movement in the cave, they were packing up and moving out. I scrambled to my feet still groggy and longing for a few more hours of sleep. They filed out of the cave and I scrambled into my dry school clothes, I grabbed my books and all my kit and legged it, I didnt want to be left behind. My friend who I had named Red because of his red hair, waited for me patiently and then we set off into the unknown.
We walked down tunnels, we walked through enormous vaulted caves full of stalagmites and stalactites, it was very slippy in these parts and I didnt want to fall into the icy lakes and underground rivers, so I had to walk slowly, we were quite far behind the others who were going at a cracking pace. Then we lost sight of them round a tunnel bend, Red told me to wait while he caught up with the other men and told them to wait for us.

I like the Ebb & Flow of this ! one minute your on a high & the next, your calming down ! Im enjoying this.  

thanks Azriel  

I was left alone in the dark cave, every movement echoed and reverberated. I sat down on a smooth rock and waited for Red to return. There was a silvery light playing on the black lake in front of me, a constant drip drip drip from the stalectites, little rippling circles on the icy water. Then from the far side of the lake I saw movement in the shadows, something was creeping steadily towards me, it was a shadow in the gloom, it kept disappearing when I looked directly at it. I got up and backed away, I was afraid to turn my back on it and afraid to walk backwards, where was Red and his friends? typical man to disapear when you needed him.
I decided to run away in the direction of the others and hope to catch up with them before whatever it was caught me.
There was a narrow passage I charged down it my feet echoing, my pounding shoes made an awful racket it was impossible not to be heard. I was alone, I ran and ran and then I tripped up and fell headfirst on the ground, I just managed to put my hands out to break my fall, it hurt and I felt winded. My hands were scraped and I bruised my hip, I scrambled to my feet and hobbled forward. I heard a noise behind me, it was chuckling, but not nice chuckles, nasty chuckles. I picked up a rock and put my back to the wall, I moved slowly to one side and couldnt. My bag had caught on something, the strap had caught on a handle, a door handle. My shaking fingers grabbed it and it turned on its own accord, a crack of light appeared, I pushed the door with all my might, just as the Thing started to creep up to me, I could hear it scream as I fell through the door and it shut behind me with a snap.

 

'Oi you! came a loud male voice.
I was lying on a London Underground tube station. It was Greenwich.
I got up totally bewildered, how on earth had I got from Cheshire to London through underground caves. The man pulled me to my feet, he had a station uniform on, he told me I was trespassing, I told him that was rubbish, he told me the station was closed for maintainence due to an earth fall, there was a large hole in the middle where the train tracks should have been, mangled iron and brick dust were everywhere. Some men were working, digging, one of them had red hair.
It was Red, but in a workmans overalls and a hard hat. He looked at me with curiosity, like you would look at an interesting but slightly dangerous specimen in a glass case. The shouty guy told Red to take me top side and report me to the fuzz for trespass, he had better things to do on his lunchbreak.

oooooooo-ooo !  

As soon as Shouty had gone the men as one dropped their spades and threw away their hard hats. Red grinned and caught my hand in his, he was dirty and smelled of damp earth, nobody spoke, the men one by one jumped down the hole.
I backed off horrified, there was NO way I was jumping. Unfortunately Red was stronger than me, he pulled me towards the gaping black hole, rushing air flowed out, bits of everyday Tube debris floated about on the air currents, tickets, sweet packets, Ribena cartons, and fag ends. They started to swirl in a mini plastic packaging tornado of yuckiness.
I was dragged to the edge and pulled in screaming in terror.
We fell and fell down the black  hole, round and round we fell, down and down. Reds hand felt like an iron grip, it felt asif our hands had melt and become one, I couldnt have let go even if I had wanted to. It was a weird experience, from time to time there would be openings like archways and you could catch fleeting glimpses of the outside world, but if we were going down a hole how could we see outside? I stopped wondering and just looked. Avidly. First of all there were chimneys and houses made of brick, it was snowing, it smelt of smoke and coal, then at the next arch, the houses were made of White stone, there were blue skies it was Summer, I could see great sailing ships in the distant sea, then the houses were made from wood, small and cramped, the air smelled bad, of rotting vegtables and dung, and then oh no! there was Fire! fire everywhere, the acrid smoke made me cough, it was terrible, everything was burning as far as the eye could see, this was swiftly gone and I heaved a sigh of relief, then fields, nothing but green fields, cows, horses, then just wild land, boggy and reedy, no houses, nothing, but wait there were soldiers in shining armour, a man in purple holding a Golden Eagle standard, and then nothing, just darkness. We hit the floor with a gentle bump. We had arrived.

We were stood on a plain, waving green grass as far as the eyes could see in every direction, little birds whirred into the sky as we passed in single file. The grass and reeds were thigh high in places and the ground was springy with peat. At every step the peat sucked and gurgled at our feet, the air smelled fresh clear and it seemed so full of oxygen that blood rushed to my cheeks, it was quite a high.
The sky was a pearly grey dotted with clouds and splashes of blue, there were no trees, no land marks.
I was walking at the back of the men, every so often Red looked round to see if I was keeping pace, I wasnt tired so I surged forward with the others. Then after a while we came on more rocky terrain, the ground started to slope uphill, the grass got shorter and more turflike, we arrived at the summit of a smooth green hill dotted with stones.
On the top of the hill a man stood waiting for us, he was old but upright and sinewy. He had oak Leaves round his head like a coronet, he had blue paint daubed on his arms and legs, and a bronze torq round his neck. He also had a bronze dagger tucked into his belt.

Fast paced and I have no idea where this ride is taking me.

''welcome'' said the man. It was the first time I had understood anyone, it was very strange to hear him speak in accentless English.
''oh hello'' I said shyly, he was very intimidating, he looked quite Dangerous and unpredictable, for all I knew I would feel the bronze blade in my guts.
''why have you brought me here?'' I said, I was trying to very slowly back away as much as possible from his reach without seeming rude.
''You will come to no harm while you are with my men'', he said kindly, ''you are here to help us, you will return to your home when all is found, all under Sea and over Land''.
I didnt like the sound of that, but I wasnt in the position to quibble.
''you must find the Heart Stone before all is lost''.
''ok...whats the Heart Stone and how do I find it?''
''We have sought it for many ages, it must be brought to Eorlburg before the Dark Woman defiles the Ley''.
All this was double Dutch to me, I just stood there staring at him, my mind was numb with having to take in too much weirdness at once.
I kept trying to formulate intelligent questions, but they all died on my lips, I think I would have had to ask a thousand questions to even begin to understand, so I decided the sensible thing would be to just go with the flow and see what happened next.

After some more enigmatic utterances I gathered that the Heart Stone was a large green stone or rock, that had been lost, or misplaced over many centuries, it had to be brought back to Cheshire and placed once more in the Centre of the Stone Circle, it was there to protect the Land. By all accounts I could help out, but how I had no idea.

Mmmm... and then...?  

this story is quit lame

yeah I know.

*bitchqueen*