Serial Micro Fiction: Zamy and Landric – Part 4

The dark of the cave’s walls turned darker where the tunnel began, and the two children approached it side-by-side. The scarcity of light that filtered in from above did not travel far enough to reveal anything but the location of the tunnel. Beyond the threshold of the cave’s wall only silence and stillness waited for them.

“Well, let’s do this, Zamy,” suggested Landric in a tone that she knew was meant to reassure himself. In the dark she reached for his hand, making a face no one could see when her hand smushed the fruit biscuit that he hadn’t yet finished. Their hands parted and brushed the sticky crumbs off onto the ground, to disappear within the gaps between the leaves.

“Nice,” he said in a voice that Zamy wasn’t sure whether to receive as teasing or upset. His hand taking hers a brief second later eased the tension as they took a few steps forward. Zamy’s other hand held the stick out before them, testing for the wall and anything else that might be in her way. Landric held his other hand out in much the same way.

After about a dozen steps, Zamy looked back and the light barely registered to her tiny eyes. She faced forward again, knowing it would do nothing to help her sight. Their feet made soft, scraping sounds on the now stony ground as they shuffled forward, slowly in their blindness. They felt the tunnel descending, but it did so gradually and did not cause them any problems. More of a problem was the tunnel’s insistence on turning. It twisted this way and that, leaving the children uncertain of which direction they were facing and whether they were located beneath the plains, the lake, or the mountains.

There was a coolness to the air that they had not realized until they came to a stop where the tunnel ended in a T-intersection, one path leading off to the right and one to the left.

“Landric, the tunnel is turning right,” said Zamy, as her stick followed the wall sharply, and she gently pulled him in that direction.

“Well, it’s also going to the left,” he said, tugging on her arm in turn.

They stopped and stared at each other in the dark, despite not being able to see. They listened, but heard nothing aside from their light breathing. The air smelled a bit stale down here but off to the right Landric noticed the faint smell of oil.

“We should go your way, Zamy,” suggested Landric. “Maybe there is someone down there with a light that can help us.”

Zamy agreed and the two children felt along the wall to resume their journey toward the smell of hope.