Darkness

DARKNESS

I kept falling, darkness surrounding me. I could hear Sillas's bark a small distance behind me. I closed my eyes and for the millionth time waited to die. I still kept falling. I opened my eyes and saw a dim light in the distance. I was able to make out water beneath me. I splashed down with  a force that nearly ripped off my broken arm. I heard a smaller splash behind me, which I assumed was Sillas. 

I swam up and took a deep breath. I looked for the source of the light and saw a deep crevice from which the light was emanating. I slowly pushed myself through the water to Sillas. I dove in and brought him to the surface. 

"Good boy, good boy,….." I swam back to the side of the crevice and looked down. Deep in the crevice I could make out an orange color liquid. I could also make out smoke emanating from the liquid. I guessed it was hot. I swam in the opposite direction slowly, my leg aching with pain. I finally found a small piece of land to rest on. 

Suddenly, I heard a sound above me. I froze. It was a sliding sound as if something was moving across the ceiling. 

"Habis! Come here!" I heard a yell from above. I knew that was Lorin. Suddenly, I realized where we were.

Under Lorins cave was not a good place to be. In fact, it was one of the worst places to be. I kept hearing the sound of Habis the snake slithering on the floor. Sometimes I even heard Lorin's grunts as if he was doing some extremely difficult task. Finally, I managed to drift into a disturbed sleep. 

When I woke up, the first thing I heard was Lorin yelling "AH! I have almost got it." I blinked wondering what in the world Lorin was talking about. I pushed myself up and went to the water. I sat down slowly moving my feet in the water hoping to rest the broken foot even more. I heard a low growl and turned to see Sillas moving toward me slowly. He sat down next to me and stayed in a vigilant pose ready to protect me from any harm. I smiled and stretched my arm to pat his back. I smiled seeing how big Sillas had grown. I got up and walked toward the hole through which I had fallen in the lake. I wondered if I would ever see daylight again.

I noticed the rough rock edges next to the hole and wondered if I would be able to climb up with a broken leg. I thought to myself that I might as well try.

I climbed up the rocky ledges putting all my weight on my hangs in pushing myself up. It was slow progress and Sillas (who was hugging on to me from behind) was not helping. I still kept climbing, the thought of day light my one hope. After a long time, I stopped next to a slightly larger ledge and sat down on it. The task of climbing would have been impossible if Sillas had not helped me by pushing with his legs. Sillas stood again in a guarding pose next to me waiting patiently for me to finish my break. I took a deep breath and stood up and moved Sillas back to his earlier position. I began climbing.

I reached the top after a very long time and by then I had almost fainted out if exhaustion. I lay down on the rocky floor and closed my eyes. I immediately fell asleep. Before I lost consciousness, I noticed that my back was wet. When I opened my eyes later, I realized that I had come out in a kind of rocky room.  The room was filled with water that I hadn't noticed. I had been sleeping while floating on the surface of the water. I greedily drank some of it and clenched my stomach in hunger. I had not eaten for many days. I sighed and sat down thinking about my situation and wondering if my village was okay. I had only a knife on me now. The spear was back in the rocky ridge on which I had survived.