The Cave

• Appu Koreth, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

'BOOOM!' Thunder appeared as a blinding white light, splitting the sky open, and minuscule rain droplets raced towards the earth. Casper had gotten himself in a quagmire - between his safety and his friends, Casper was ambivalent.

A cold, unwelcome gust of wind whipped through trees, cracking weak branches, and another blast of lightning pierced the sky, slamming into a tree inches next to him that exploded on impact.

The sky had worn its darkest gown, with clouds suffocating the moonlight, and the weather seemed to be cold - nefarious, somehow; what alarmed Casper most, however, was the cave in front of him: a fortress forged with the darkest stones he had seen; The cave seemed to descend underground until the bottom was obscured from Casper's vision.

The frightened voice of a girl whimpered from the cave; 'Casper!' It shouted. 'Help!'

'Annabeth!' Casper yelled. 'I'm coming for you!'

Hands shaking, Casper secured a rope around his waist, the other side tied to the branch of the burning tree, the nearest in sight. The weather was proving to be capricious - the chances of the branch holding steady against it were questionable.

Casper descended into the cave, grasping the rope industriously. 'Annabeth!' He yelled. 'Can you hear me?'

Casper heard no response except the echo of his shaky voice, but he kept going. The slippery, sharp rocks drew blood from his hands; nevertheless, he grabbed on.

'Annabeth!' Casper yelled again. 'Keep talking! It's too dark.'

'Okay,' Annabeth squeaked. 'About what?.'

'What happened;' Casper responded. 'Talk about what happened; Talk about how you ended up here.'

'Okay!' Annabeth puled. 'The rain's filling the cave; it's up to my neck now!'

Casper could feel the floor now – steep, slippery slabs of stones. 'Keep on talking!'. He yelled.
'You and Leo planned to explore this cave,' Annabeth whimpered. 'Things didn't work out – It started to rain. A flash of lightning startled Hazel, and she slipped on the rock, knocking us over as she fell. Everybody except you fell into this cave, and here we are.'

Casper used his hands to feel around and touched something softer and warmer than the rocks. 'Annabeth, is that you?'

'Casper!' Annabeth sobbed. 'Where were you?'

'Later,' Casper managed to grunt. 'Where're the others?'

'They climbed up while you were coming down,' Annabeth replied. 'They couldn't see me, so they left.'

Alleviated, Casper hoisted Annabeth up to his back and clambered back up the cave, away from the phantasmagorical, spine-chilling place he'd never visit again; At least, he assumed he would never visit that place again; He would never have even pondered back then that maybe, the thing he'd taken back with him wasn't who he thought it was; Casper would never have even mused that just maybe, the girl he secretly loved was stuck in the hideous place he'd sworn never to set foot in again, that whatever he took back with him was a creature dissembling to be her, a creature unknown to mortals - the monster underneath the bed.