The Unknown World

"Crawling through the Hole"

At that moment, my eyes locked onto the hole - it was just wide enough for someone to bend and crawl through, almost like a baby.

Sophie's face seemed troubled, and I couldn't help raising an eyebrow, silently asking what was up. She hesitated before speaking. "Um, I'm not sure about this hole. The smell... it's really bad. Do we have to go in?"

She had a point. The hole emitted this crazy toxic-like smell, something so foul that I had to pull the collar of my shirt over my nose to shield myself from the stench. But I wasn't about to back down. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Trust me. Come on, we'll manage. Plus, we've got our torches, and we can always backtrack if things get weird," I reassured her.

With our flashlights flickering, I positioned myself to peer into the hole, shining my light within. It looked pretty empty, just disappearing into the wall. Gritting my teeth, I mustered up the courage to bend down and prepare for some hands-and-knee action. Holding the torch in one hand, I plunged headfirst into the hole, using my other hand to gesture for Sophie to follow.

The hole was so cramped, I couldn't even glance back to see if Sophie was behind me. But I could hear her breathing - her inhales and exhales were loud in the tight space.

As we went deeper, our nerves got worse. At some point, my own confidence wavered, and Sophie as if reading my doubts said,

"Hey, this is getting seriously creepy. I've got this really unsettling feeling that this might not be such a great idea. Can't we just turn back?" Her voice quivered, almost on the verge of tears.

I tried to reassure her, "Sophie, it's going to be okay. Seriously. If we need to back down, we will. But look, we've come too far to turn back now. " Even though I spoke those words, the tunnel seemed endless - but I wanted to keep her spirits up.

Remember those water park rides with those enclosed vortex slides? Ever been on one? If so, you might relate. When you're sliding in there for what feels like an eternity, you hit a point where you're like, "Is this thing ever gonna end?". It's that same mix of nerves and excitement, spreading like wildfire through your body that I felt.

I had a hunch Sophie was experiencing the same thing; she began to whimper under her breath.

There came a moment when it felt like even the hole was warning us to turn back. It started closing in more and more, forcing us to bend our heads down even further. My shoulders, hands, and knees were quivering and throbbing with pain. I couldn't keep up the crawling as the hole narrowed even more. But when it finally widened slightly, allowing us to crawl with our heads up again, it was such a relief.

After all that intense crawling, we finally reached a dead end. But by the time I got there, my torch wasn't of much help. The battery was on its last legs, and I knew I only had a few minutes left before it died. Sophie's torch seemed to be in the same boat, showing just a flicker of light.

With caution, we inched forward toward the dead end. Surprisingly, the space opened up a bit, giving us room to settle side by side on hands and knees. I shined my flashlight toward the dead end, feeling uneasy. From the corner of my eye, I could tell my friend wasn't fully convinced about my plan.

At first, due to the dim light of our torches, I couldn't quite make out the details of the dead end. But one thing was clear - the wall was worn out, and cobwebs hung here and there, with spiders scurrying along the sudden illumination.

And then, in an instant, I saw something. It was that same moment when I realized Sophie had seen it too, and that's when I wished I had never aimed the light in that way.

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Hope you like this chapter! 😊