Cave by Indira Nankoosingh (fantasy novels to read txt) 📖

I was searching for something. I’m not sure what it was, but it seemed it might have been valuable somehow. As I searched through the darkened cave with my flashlight in hand, my foot came upon a rock, and beneath it, was a piece of paper protruding from one side. I then laid my flashlight down facing the rock, and tried to lift it, but failed to do so. It was quite hefty that only two men could handle, so I looked around for something to help budge it just enough to retrieve the paper. When I shone the flashlight about, I saw to my amazement, a crowbar at the corner of the far wall, and quickly went to grab it. It was still quite difficult to lift, but I somehow managed to grab the paper before the rock could slam onto my hand. I realized it was the map in my dreams when I unfolded the paper, and inside was a note. It read:

“Here is the map to a great treasure in which I have searched for many days until my obsession for it brought me to my end.”

There was no date, or indication of who might have written it, so it was a mystery of whomever wrote it, and when. Suddenly, I heard a scuttling noise, and immediately looked up. Fear rushed into my mind when I saw an army of beetles heading towards me. I grabbed my flashlight and began to run toward the cave’s exit. As I did this, I tripped and fell, and noticed in horror that my hand was resting on a femur with a skull lying next to it. It was then felt something crawling on me, and realized I have forgotten for a moment about the beetles. Within moments more beetles were upon me, and I felt them stinging deep into my flesh as they now covered my entire body. Instantly, I was awoken and back in my room again, sweating profusely.

It felt like hours before my terror began to dissipate, and once it had I got out of bed, had a bath, and got dressed. I headed down to the kitchen to grab myself a morning meal, and began to think about my dear friend Marshal Rix. ‘I wondered what he would think when I tell him about the dream. Once I finished my meal, and rested my plate in the sink, I headed over to the front door where I grabbed my coat, and headed out the door.

I walked for about fifteen minute toward Marshal’s residence and knocked on the door. When he answered, it seemed he had something else on his mind, as if he was in another world. He subconsciously guided me towards the sitting room where we had tea and biscuits in silence. I was about to bring up the matter in which I came to discuss, when he began talking about a dream he recently had. In amazement I listened attentively, and told him about my own dream. We were both quite puzzled at having had the exact dream on the same night. It was indeed quite a coincidence, so we discussed the matter further, then decided to venture out bright and early the next morning for an adventurous exploration.

When I left Marshal’s residence, after discussing our plans, I left for my humble abode. Upon arrival, I began to prepare for the next day, after eating a most satisfying meal. I wasn’t sure how long we would be away, so I gathered some provisions and put them in a small sack. I didn’t want to be weighed down since we were going to travel by foot, so I packed only enough for a few days. I then left the sack in the pantry, which was located in the kitchen, and walked up to my chambers to retire for the night.

It was another sleepless night as I once again dreamt about the cave. This time I stopped short at the entrance, and an overwhelming fear came over me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back in after the last time I had the dream, but at the same time I felt like there was something of importance for me to discover, so I slowly made my way into the mouth of the cave, determined to not let my fears get the better of me, and keep me from discovering my possible destiny.

At six the next morning I quickly jumped out of bed, got dressed, and descended the stairs to the kitchen. I grabbed the sack from the pantry, and laid it on the small table by the door. Moments later I heard a knock, and saw Marshal standing there with eagerness in his eyes, like a child who is excited about going to a carnival. I’m quite sure I appeared the same to him. It had been long since we had been on an adventure together, except this time it felt more of a quest. Grabbing my sack and my coat, we headed out the door.

We knew it was going to be a long walk to the other side of the woods, so we would have to search for a place to rest when night came. The air was pleasant with the scent of fresh grass. Birds were calling out to one another, and squirrels were jumping from tree to tree anticipating the summer months soon to come. When night came we found a clear spot to camp out. We cooked up a quick meal on the open fire, and ate silently. I knew that what was on my mind was on his mind too. We were both thinking about the treasure, and what we would do once it was found.

By the next morning as the sun filtered through the trees, I noticed that Marshall was still asleep, so I woke him to get an early start for the day. Once again we continued our journey to the unexpected, just after a small breakfast.

We arrived at the sea within four hours, and rested a little before we began our investigation of the caves. I had forgotten how many caves were out here, and didn’t know how long it would take to find the one we had come to explore. Once rested, Marshall and I then began our search through the caves, but found nothing. We then continued on toward the seventh cave, which was furthest from the sea, behind the others. It was about a ten minute walk along the beach to the entrance of the final cave. Marshall got out two flashlights from his sack, and handed one to me. We cautiously walked in, as I tried to keep my fear in check in order to find what we came for.

Suddenly, I spotted a rock to the far right in the deeper corner of the cave, and carefully made our way over. Under the rock, we saw what could be the same map had seen in our dreams. Marshal and I lifted the rock and carefully pushed it aside, and there it was. The paper was lying there waiting for us to unfold. I picked it up, and opened it, overcome with excitement. We studied it in every detail. It seemed that the map was pointing to the rock. The same one we had just moved to get the map. I then put the map in my shirt pocket, and we moved the rock further off to the side.

'Now where do I find a shovel,' I thought to myself, as I shone the flashlight around the cave. To my amazement there was one resting against the wall. Whoever it was that had left the map under the rock, had come prepared to dig, but had not had the chance to do it.

It took what seemed like an hour before we saw a chest buried deep under the dirt. We lifted it out together, and broke the lock with the shovel. Marshal’s eyes soon lit up as did mine when we saw what was inside. The trunk was filled with jewelry, gold, and crystals just as we imagined, and just as we began to remove it from the cave, we heard a scuttling noise coming towards us.

Shining the flashlight around to see what was coming, we saw a terrifying army of beetles, and they were moving fast. We continued in haste now to carry out the trunk, but my poor dear friend was the first to be taken over by the large beetles. I wanted to do something to save him, but it was already too late. He was devoured in seconds. He was soon nothing but a skeletal figure, collapsing right before my eyes. I tried to run, but, I found myself unable to move. I felt them biting and stinging at my flesh as they crawled up my legs.

I began to feel faint, and quickly felt my energy drain out of my entire being. I couldn’t move now, no matter how much I tried. My legs felt stiff and weakened while I slid to a sitting position against the dampened wall. The beetles was fully upon me now - with my right hand still resting on the trunk. It was then, I discovered the true meaning of my dream - just before my body crumpled to the ground. This was to be the final end of my greediness.

Text: Indira Nankoosingh
Publication Date: 10-10-2012

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