Cave Adventure

Chapter 1

"Millie! Let's get out of here!" I yelled, but Millie just burst out laughing. "What?" I ask, confused.

"You're so gullible Sasha! I was just kidding!" Millie said between giggles. I stare at her madly, but I realized it was too dark for her to even see. We kept on walking, but the cave started to slope down, and there were many different tunnels. They were all very tight, and at one point, we had to stand on our hind legs to squeeze through. There were even places where many tunnels met and they all looked the same.

"Millie, I'm going back."

"Chicken, chicken. Bock bock!" She teased.

"Hey! Fine! You can call me chicken, but don't blame me when you get lost in here. I'm getting out of here." I told her and started to walk back.

"Uh, do you even know where you are going?" Millie suddenly asked.

"No…. Oh great! We're lost!"

"Fine, but we're coming back here tomorrow! I'll lead the way. Meet me here by sun high."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. I'm leading the way."

"Okay, fine." I said, but I knew I was not coming here ever again. We walked for a long time until we got back to the crossroads. “Uh… do you know where we are going?”

“I think we came from here.” Millie said hesitantly while pointing her tail at a wide tunnel. “Or maybe we went in that tunnel!” She pointed to another tunnel. “I don’t know where to go! We’re lost! It’s all my fault…” she wailed.

“Stop crying! It’s echoing off the walls. I think we went through that tunnel, the one where we had to squeeze through on our hind legs.”

“Maybe.” Her reply came out as a small whimper. Ever since I met her on the very first day, Millie was the most confident living thing I ever met. Never have I seen Millie so scared and uncomfortable.

“Are you sure you want to come back tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yes! Of course. I have an idea that will prevent us from getting lost. Tomorrow, I will bring a roll of thick bright coloured tape and trail it behind us. That way, when we want to come out, all we have to do is follow the tape. We could even paint it with glow-in-the dark paint! Or, we could paint pictures on the walls using glow-in-the dark paint!” Millie got more excited by the second. “That way, we could explore this entire cave without getting lost!”

“Stop getting so excited. We haven’t even gotten out yet.” I demanded.

“Stop being so mean Sasha! I was just telling you about my idea.” Stubborn. I thought. As I led us forward, I kept thinking about Millie’s idea. There were so many problems with that idea. The tape could break, we could run out of tape, how are we going to paint the tape, how are we going to get the paint to glow.

“Ahhh!!! My claw!” I cried in pain as my unsheathed claw caught the side of a rock. I have a feeling it got ripped out, but I could see anything.

“Are you okay Sasha?”

“I think so. Let’s keep going. I’m getting bored.”  We walked for a long time until my legs started aching. The cave had ruffled every piece of my pelt and there were disgusting bat droppings all over my back. “Are you tired?” I asked. There was no reply. I tried again. “Millie? Are you there? Hello? Millie!! Where are you?” Oh great. I thought, Millie’s lost.  I wriggled and squirmed to try to turn around, but the cave walls were tightly surrounding me. My instinct told me to walk backwards, so I did. “Ouch!” I yelped as I stepped right into a snake hole, “Yuck. This place is disgusting!” I exclaimed after tripping over bat droppings. Suddenly, my tail touched something soft and furry. I swished my tail around the cave walls and discovered that the creature blocked the entire exit of the cave without a single gap. A huge amount of heat came off its’ body, and for a second, I thought it was Millie, but realized that Millie was not this big and definitely not this hot.

When we were little, I would always think Millie was cold blooded and during sleepovers, I would try to stay as far away from her sleeping bag as possible.

I took a step forwards and managed to back flip so I was facing the creature. At first, I couldn’t make anything out but these red dots. Then, I realized the red dots were eyes of some furious monster. The creature growled. “Oh great! A Cradisle!” I shrieked as the huge creature stood up on its hind legs and its head smashed through the roof. Bright sunlight shone through the hole, but I didn’t care. It roared loudly and dropped back onto its four feet. I back fliped again and charged back into darkness. As I ran, I heard thunderous paws advancing towards me. Squishing into a small crack, I caught my breath, and review what had happened. Millie disappears, I go look for her, walking backwards. Wake up sleeping Cradisle. Cradisle cracks open roof… sunlight comes in… and I see a figure behind it! That’s it! It must be Millie.  I thought. The stupid Cradisle walked right past my crack and into pure darkness. Putting one paw in front of the other, I creep back to the place where I saw the figure. Sunshine still seeped through the hole, but the figure was gone. That’s when I see the random tail hanging from the hole.

It was thick and furry with a small band of bare skin near the end. The tail disappeared and soon after, a small, furry, and almost cute face appeared in its’ spot. “A baby Cradisle!” I cried out loud. The cute little thing dropped back into the cave and scampered after its’ mother. I cautiously stick my head out of the hole into bright sunlight. Ahh… that felt good. Suddenly, another baby Cradisle launched onto my head and shoved me back into the cave. This one was not cute. It had evil looking eyes that glowed with a pale red colour. This one must be the boy, and the cute one was the girl. The creepy boy Cradisle ran off to find his sister and mother with long and surprisingly, gentle and soft strides.

I walked back into the tunnel with the memory of the Cradisle imprinted in my mind. Millie, was still not found, and we still were not out of the cave. What was I to do?