Ch. 5 Cave In
“Peter, maybe we should head back about now.” Jake complained. I didn’t know Jake well before we enter the old mine, just that he’s a distant cousin that is a soldier in the U.S. military. The concern though was apparent on his face gave me little worry, I’ve learn to trust his instincts since we enter the tunnels. “Something just doesn’t feel right here.”
“I agree; we’ll get out of here just as soon as I finish this sketch.” I said, looking up from my notebook to a small carving in one of the timbers that was supporting the ceiling. The carving looks somewhat like a tree with gems sitting on six branches coming off the trunk of the tree.
“Ok, just make it quick.”
“Another line here and done. Ok, let’s get out of here.” I said, reaching up to grab something to pull me to my feet. As soon as I put my weight on what I thought was a sturdy board, the board shifted to a position that was no longer supporting the ceiling. “Uh oh, you might want to start running Jake.” I said as the boards supporting the walls and ceiling start to groan and break. “Jake RUN!” I yelled when I saw he wasn’t moving. That jarred him to action.
There was 10 to 15 feet between us as the first rock fell, too much for me to make it to Jake’s side which was the exit. A decent size rock nearly hit him as he yelled back over his shoulder. “But what about you?!”
“No time, just get help!” I yelled in reply over the noise of falling rocks and timber that was forcing me deeper into the mine. A rock came out of nowhere and hit my leg just below the knee. Before I knew what hit me I was on the ground eating a mouthful of dirt. Knowing that I was most likely going to die, I covered myself as the best I could and I prayed as I waited for the end. It seemed like an eternity before the rocks stop falling but it might’ve been seconds or minutes before everything settle down again. Looking up from my crouch position I can’t believe that I’m alive.
I broke into laughter as the tension melted away from sheer relief that I’m still alive. After a few minutes I calm down enough so that my sides would stop hurting to notice that my lower right leg bent at funny angle, and not the good funny but funny bad with a little pool of blood beginning to form under my leg. That’s when the most excessive pain I’ve ever felt that threaten to cause me to black out hit me. Knowing that I got to act fast or I’ll never see the light of day again, I toss my heavy pack off and grab the first aid kit from its pocket.
Starting to feel light headed from the lack of blood; I wrapped a strap around my upper thigh and pulled it so tight that it effectively cut off the circulation to my broken leg. This bought me some precious time, enough time to bandage the wound. This part is going to be disturbing for I need to move my pants leg up over my knee in order to see the damage. Upon seeing the damage my stomach roiled and very nearly threw my dinner up as there was a nasty gash about six inches long with the Tibia and the Fibula both broken in half stick out of the hole. Luckily it’s a clean break or otherwise there would be nothing I could do to survive. The pain was still excruciating as I straighten the leg to line the bones up right and back into place so I can sew the wound shut. I can’t use any anesthesia for two reasons; one I don’t have any and two it’ll put me out like a light and that’s a death sentence here.
When I got to the point that I’m no longer at the risk of bleeding to death, I looked around for anything to use as a splint for my leg. There were two broken boards just the right length that looked sturdy enough just out of reach across the tunnel from where I lay against the wall. Preparing myself for the pain I crawled across the tunnel floor to the opposite wall to where the boards lay while trying not to move my broken leg too much. Upon reaching the boards I took the two rolls of gauze in my hands and wrap the boards to either side of the leg over the pants protecting the bandaged wound. Knowing that I won't be able to put weight on it anytime soon I grabbed a third board to use as a crutch.
I made sure to leave a note next to an arrow to let whoever makes it through the blockage that I’m alive and that I went to find another way out. Every so often I made a mark on the wall which was spaced roughly about every ten meters with the exception that when I came to an intersection I put an arrow pointing the direction I went and where I came from just so I lost. After about two turns and an hour or so of painful limping, the floor gave out beneath me. I didn't have time to even catch myself as I ended up screaming the whole way down, landing painfully on my broken leg in another tunnel with a splash. The drop was about five to six meters judging from the flashlight that's illuminating the tunnel above from the ledge I was just on. My other flashlight had disappear but oddly I could see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Could that be a possible way out? No, I’m too deep underground for that to a way out. Am I dead and that’s the way to heaven? No, my body is in too much pain for me to be dead. These thoughts were going through my head as I’m looking around before I realized I know exactly where I am. I’ve been here before in my dream, everything just lines up from the location to the cool water that’s flowing over my feet and the light at the end of the tunnel. Now I wish I had someone to share this moment with just to prove that I’m not going insane. Looking up I realize that I can’t climb with my broken leg I decided I’m going to crawl to the only way out of this tunnel which is unstable.
My breathing became easier as glowing crystals began to appear in the walls and ceiling of the tunnel and the air became fresh as if the crystals were air filters or the equivalent of plants. The water that I was crawling through was cool and crystal clear numb the pain to the point that I could stand again but I still had to lean against the wall. From that point on the timbers holding the ceiling up slowly began to become less frequent as I traveled along tunnel. It wasn’t long after I stood up that I reached the end of the tunnel which opened up to the most beautiful scenery that I laid eyes on.
It's an enormous crystal cavern filled with many multicolored crystals that glowed with a soft light from within. The light revealed many plants ranging from grass and wildflowers to trees and shrubs, some of which I couldn’t identify, giving the place a park like feel. There were small animals and critters all over the place making me feel like I am having “A Journey to the Center of the Earth” moment. Following the stream that flowed from the tunnel I was in lead me to a large pool of water that sat at the base of a giant tree. Upon approaching the tree I was surprised to find it made completely out of crystal.
The trunk of the tree was a dark blue color and despite being made of crystal it has the texture of bark. I noticed a golden sun at eye level with a silvery moon a few feet above it followed by a light blue and pink heart and a magenta starburst. From just above the starburst branched off six main branches, each with a gemstone in a different shape which were a pink butterfly, a red lightning bolt, a purple diamond, an orange apple, a blue balloon, and a two tone red and gold sunburst. Overall the tree looked to be a peaceful willow tree despite the rainbow colors and it being made of crystal.
My more immediate concern was to clean the dust and dirt off the many cuts and scrapes I've acquired during my fall. Approaching the pool I sat down next to the water's edge and began cleaning, not noticing the circle of crystals around me and the tree glowing brighter and sparking. I stopped cleaning myself as I noticed that a few of the cuts on my arms and hands started sealing themselves one by one. What? Such a thing should be impossible! I thought in panic. This is not possible as no one can heal that fast.
Then I noticed that the crystals around me and the tree itself is glowing a lot brighter and were sparking electricity. Panicking I tried to head back to the tunnel but just as I was about to take a step lightning jumped from crystal to crystal ending at the tree preventing any escape. Now I'm beyond panicking, I'm absolutely freaking out. That’s when something strange happen as a lightning bolt arced from the tree into my chest knocking me to the ground. Five more arcs of lightning struck me soon after making it look like I'm the center of a six pointed star in the middle of a circle. Oddly enough I don't feel the electricity coursing through my body but like my body is being pulled apart and in on itself at the same time. Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, a flash of light blinded me as I fell to the ground after it vanished beneath me momentarily. My last thought as I lost conciseness is WHAT JUST HAPPEN!?!