Choice of my Fascination

I am going crazy being stuck inside. Usually, my mother would just let me outside in the garden, but not these days. Now she doesn't let me leave the house at all. Even when someone comes over, she locks me inside my room. She calls it a suite, whatever that means. I was content to just have my books; my mother doesn't let me watch tv either even though she watches it all the time. A week ago, she locked me in my windowless room and hadn't let me out since. At first, I thought it was because she had someone over, but I haven't heard anyone walking upstairs other than her all this time. She still feeds and waters me, so I suppose I don't really have anything to complain about. Well, at least except this boredom that hit me today.

I listened to my mother putter around the upstairs for a while, then go to bed. It was pretty early for me, so I decide to pretend to be a pirate. I am on a deserted island finding buried treasure. I search and search around the rather large room when I stumble upon a loose board near my dresser. This is something new, I have explored my room many times before and never have I ever found such a thing. The discovery brought me right out of my pretend adventure as I pull the board away from what it covered. I looked down into the nearly pitch-black space; naturally, I can't see anything. I run to my desk and grab my flashlight; I usually use it to read when my mother insists that I go to sleep. Running back, I switch it on and point it down the hole.

Dirt that is all I see, other than the fact that the hole is clearly larger than the one wooden board I moved. I pull the two boards away from each side, revealing a much larger hole. Grinning, I crawl inside, now for a real adventure like in my books.

For as far as I could see, there was nothing but darkness. As I crawled through the tunnel, it occurred to me that I should have brought more than just the flashlight. Well, it was too late now, so I continued on down the tunnel. It had to be more than an hour when I came upon a crossroads of sorts. How on earth can I decide which way to go, I wondered to myself. Shining the light down each route in turn and taking a good look. That did not help me with my decision at all. Laying entirely down on my stomach, I contemplate my choices. Left or right, right or left, ran through my mind. Sighing to myself, I look down each side again. "I guess going to the right is as good a decision as going left" I whisper to myself, there really was no reason for me to whisper, but I did. Feeling resolute in my choice, I get back up on all fours and head down the path.

Another hour or so, I continue to crawl down the tunnel, then I hit a dead end. "What," I say aloud as I look to my left and right for another passage to go down. There is no-where else for me to go. This path was a bust now I have to go back the way I came. Instead of turning around, I just decide to crawl backward. It will be easier to keep my bearings that way than if I were to turn around. Somehow it didn't seem to take as long to get back to the junction as it did to reach the dead end. Once I got back, I turn to the left and head down that path. This path seems to be getting wider little by little, and it curved as far as I could tell away from the other tunnel. As I was looking around to see just how wide it was getting, I found something pushed into the wall to my right. It looked like a stone right at eye level. Looking closer, there was some writing on it. The words, I can only assume they were words, I did not recognize. It didn't seem to be written in any language that I knew. Above it there was an arrow pointing up, I wonder what that means. I try to pull the stone from the wall, but it was stuck tight. I guess I will leave it there for now. This tunnel went on for longer than the other. I got tired, so I stop to rest a moment.

I woke up in the dark. Reaching out, I found dirt walls. My heart is racing as I panic at the enclosed space, I seem to be in. Trying to sit was no good as my head hit the dirt ceiling above, causing me to go into a tailspin as I attack the walls surrounding me. I scratch and claw at the dirt surrounding me rolling around. I scream out for help, but the sound is muffled even to my ears. As my thrashing gets more frantic, I can feel the dirt falling into my mouth and eyes. Panicking more, I knock something hard into the wall close to me. Grasping at it, I grip it attempting to examine it. This action helped me to calm down a little, at least enough to start thinking about moving. The gripping revealed that the object was the flashlight. I flipped the switch, but nothing happened. Hyperventilating, I continue flipping the switch on and off, trying to will the thing to work. Crying now, I shake laying there, trying to accept my fate to be buried alive. It didn't work, and another bout of thrashing wracked my body.

This time, however, I feel it, my arms and legs flapping through more air before hitting the walls again. I calm down a bit as I continue to fumble around above me. Never letting go of the useless flashlight, I began to crawl forward as quickly as I can.

I see a light, but it is still far away. I have been crawling long enough that the panic I felt earlier is all but completely gone, and my pace had slowed back to a leisurely crawl. It gives me hope that I was not buried alive. I continue picking up my pace as much as space will allow. Soon enough, I found the end of the tunnel, but the light was not coming from ahead of me but from above. Looking up, an opening showed the sky, a night sky. I have been down here so long that there is no way that it is still night. Could it be that it was the next night from when I first set out?

Peeking out the hole I find myself in the middle of an open field. Tallgrass, as far as I could tell, only my head was out of the tunnel after all. It was also quiet, not even the normal nightly sounds that I know I should be able to hear. Being cautious, I slowly climb fully out of the hole but stay low to the ground next to it. Peering over the nearest group close to me, my breath catches in my throat with the sight that greets me.

The tall grass didn't go as far as I thought at first. Only far enough so that when I was looking through it, I couldn't see what lay beyond but not so much that the city I now laid eyes on seemed out of reach. Standing to my full height as I gaze at the silver city before me. I contemplate if I should go there or not. Looking in the opposite direction, I see a lone house on a distant hill, it was dark like no one was home. I couldn't help but wonder briefly if that was my home. It doesn't look like it from here, but it is a little too far to be sure. I turn my attention back to the city; I should go see it before going back home. I don't think I will get another chance to do so once I return. By now, my mother would have noticed that I was not in my room anymore. It would not take her much time to find the hole in the flooring and to follow me here. Taking a deep breath, I begin my walk through the grass towards the gleaming silver city.