Can't Go Back

      “Why is it so dark in here?”

           “You were the one who wanted to jump into the hole!”

           “No, I did not! Dan, you take that back!”

           “Bess don’t even-”

           “Children please!” Shouted a third voice. “Will you shut up!”

           The four of them have been following the walls of the cave for hours. Was it hours? They didn’t know, there was no way to tell. Bess and Dan continued muttering amongst themselves over who’s fault it was that they’re in this mess. Stacy, the groups voice of reason, was losing her patience with the idiots she called friend. And Joseph continued to remain silent.

           Despite not being able to see anything Stacy knew when they entered that Joseph was in front of her. She reached out and patted what she hopped was his back. “You’ve been quiet, what’s up?”

           She moved her hand up to his shoulder, but he shrugged her off. He murmured something and kept moving forwards.

           “I’m just saying is that you’re too impulsive,” Dan’s voice gained in volume.

           “Oh, you want to go there Daniel?” But Bess’s voice could be just as loud.

           “I’m not trying to go anywhere. I’m just stating facts.”

           “We’ll by my calculations you’re a dumbass!”

           “Shut. Up.” Stacy warned.

           A pregnant silence engulfed the quartet as they continued to go through the cave system. Nothing but pure black in every direction. No light. Not even the smallest crack.

           Bess was in the back of the group, further evidence that it totally wasn’t her fault. She liked an adventure, sure, but caves? Uncharted caves? Uncharted and possible dangerous caves? No thanks, she’d rather smash pumpkins in a dumpster any day than this.

           “What do you guys think Jordan would do?”

           But no answer came. The other three just kept moving in silence like cattle. But Bess wasn’t taking that for an answer.

           “He probably would have left a mark of some kind, right? Like in that one story with the bull?”

           “Minotaur, Bess,” Dan groaned, “Just… minotaur.”

           “Whatever, my point is that he-”

           Bess walked into Dan who abruptly stopped. Or, Stacy abruptly stopped. Or, correctly, everyone walked into each other because Joseph stopped abruptly. “The point is that Jordan isn’t here anymore, so we should just not think about it.”

           No one said it, but the other three where all thinking the same thing. That’s the first thing he said all day.

           The awkward silence was back as they continued moving again. At some point they all stepped in a puddle and got wet. Bess making the offhand joke how she hoped it was water, but nobody laughed. Nobody could laugh.

           “It’s not your fault you know,” Stacy said, her voice echoing through the cave. “That he’s gone I mean.”

           “I mean it sort of is?” Dan cut in only to get smacked in the back of the head by Bess.

           “Leave him alone you idiot!”

           “But it is my fault,” Joseph whimpered, “if not for me, Jordan would still be…”

           Stacy cut in, “You’re kidding me, right? There was nothing you could have done. Besides we all knew she was a crazy bitch, right?”

           Dan and Bess nodded in the darkness. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed one of us next,” Dan said.

           “Don’t even joke like that!”

           “Okay, they’re useless. Joseph,” Stacy said, “How could you have known Jordan was being followed by his ex? He lived a good life, and he spent his last moments with his friend.”

           “He died at nineteen!”

           “I said a good life not a long one.”

           The silence came back, as routine by now. The drip of water on stone filled the groups ears. Their footsteps all moving in time with one another. Their thoughts were scattered.

           “I wish I could do something different, you know? Like, I could go back and tell him to stay home and defend himself,” Joseph admitted, “And maybe I would talk to Cassie more, she was always lonely. Maybe she needed somebody to talk to, yeah? If I’d done things differently everything would be okay.”

           “You can’t go back. Come on, you know that.” Dan said.

           “Dan did anybody ask?” Bess spat.

           “He has a point though. You can’t go back. What happened, happened. What’s happening is happening. And what’s going to happen is going to happen. All we can really do is try to move on without regrets.” Stacy spoke.

           “When did you get so wise?” Bess joked.

           “From having to deal with you two.”

           “Two? What about Joseph?”

           “Maybe she is talking about him because I’m wonderful to be around,” Dan boasted.

           Bess hit her friends back. “Dan nobody asked for your opinion.”

           “Joseph is an angle compared to you two. He’s a sweetheart, smart, and a gentleman, unlike some people,” Stacy explained.

           Dan shouted, “Hey!”

           “You brought that onto yourself and you know it!”

           “I know what you’re doing, it’s not going to work,” Joseph warned, “stop it.”

           But Stacy kept on going. “If more guys were like you, I wouldn’t be so bitter all the time. Eh, who am I kidding? One truly good person makes all the bitches and assholes worth it.”

           Dan poked Stacy’s back. “Are you talking about us?”

           “Maybe- lord, Joseph why did you stop?”

           He didn’t say anything, not even a peep, when he took off running. Straight ahead a little bit of light was illuminating a corner. The other three friends followed in his path, turning the corner and shielding their eyes to the bright sunlight. Dan cheered and Bess jeered at him for being so happy, still insisting the whole thing was his fault.

           Stacy kept following Joseph, the boy who desperately wanted to go back. When her feet stopped hitting the hard stone and into soft dirt, she opened her eyes and saw Joseph standing there, his back to her. At least, until Dan and Bess ran into her.

           “I hate you all.”

           “Says the sap.”

           “Joseph, walk away while I beat the shit out of Dan?”

           “Okay.”

           “No wait, come back!”