Into the Pit

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

This is the first and only time I have ever been excited to wake up at six a.m. I quickly throw on some frumpy clothes (because the stink will most likely never leave them) and skip downstairs to eat breakfast.

Ajax and Misto are already there, Ajax swirling his bowl of mush with a disgusted look.

"Good morning Misto, Ajax. How are we all doing this fine morning?" I ask playfully.

"I'm wonderful Liliya, just wonderful," Ajax bluntly says.

Misto laughs. "It's okay, even after you jump in, and you smell like a combination of the locker room and this mush times a thousand, you'll still be my home slice."

"Oh gee, thanks," Ajax says.

"Oh come on A! You're the one who suggested the pit in the first place!" I say, sitting down on a chair next to Misto.

"I know, but that was when I thought I was going to beat you easy!" he says.

Melina and Dylis join us at the table. Dylis lays what look like pink mini marshmallows on the table. "They're actually ear plugs, but we can shove them up our nostrils when we go over to the pit later," she says.

Ajax groans. "Can we just go now and get it over with?" He runs his fingers impatiently through his coarse brown hair, like he always does.

"Sure, let's go through the back while no one's looking," I say.

We sneak through the back door of the dining hall and head towards the city limits.

Ajax doesn't speak the whole way. His fists are stuffed in the pockets of his jeans and keeps a stiff look on his face. Someone certainly isn't looking forward to this as much as I am.

We walk through the bubble and Dylis passes out the ear-nose plugs. We giggle as we shove them up our noses and we approach the pit. But our laughter is cut short, when we actually see it. Then Ajax starts laughing.

"There's nothing in it! I don't know how or why but it's all gone! WOOHOO!" he cheers.

It's true. What was once a pile of waste and garbage is now just a really deep hole in the ground about six feet in diameter. All of our mouths gape open.

"What happened to it?! You were supposed to jump into it!" I shout. I stomp around and throw my ear-nose plugs on the ground. I was really looking forward to this. And now it's no longer even a possibility.

"Calm down Liliya!" Dylis says. She walks over to the pit and looks into it. "I can't see the bottom. Guys take a look."

We all walk over, my arms crossed, and try to see down the pit. She was right that the bottom of it isn't visible, but there are rocks and such jutting out on the way down. Suddenly, I get an idea.

"Hey, we made a bet that whoever loses the race, has to go into the pit, right?" I say.

Ajax looks at me. "Yeah, but now the pit isn't even here, just this...pit..."

I smile. "Exactly."

"Are you saying that he should still have to go down there?" Misto asks. "What if he falls and we can't get to him?"

"We could send a rope down with him," Melina suggests.

"Or after he goes, we could all go down with him, unless something bad is down there of course," Dylis says.

Ajax smiles. "Well, being my adventurous and curious self, I'll do it. And I guess I have to stay true to my word."

"We don't have a rope though," Misto says.