Magnolia's Code

The Clock

Tim had thought a lot about what the Magnolia Caverns would look like. He’d imagined arching rock ceilings, swooping drops, and magnificent craggy caves. He’d imagined, however much he tried to stop himself, a stereotypical cave such as you would see in the movies. It was stupid because he had worked in caves for a lot of his life, and he knew he shouldn’t expect too much. But there was something about the mystery of DeVuo City, and the secrecy of the townspeople, that had gotten him riled up about it.

    He was sorely disappointed with the reality. The cavern entrance was underwhelming; it was basically a hole in the ground with some rubble rock spilling out of it, which looked to Tim like standard limestone on closer inspection. To get here, Jay had taken him on a path that was barely visible to the human eye; there was no wonder he couldn’t find the caves by himself. Tim got the feeling there wasn’t a lot of tourism in DeVuo City.

    “Here we have it,” Jay said, waving a hand at the dark hole in the grass. It was partially hidden by a few leafy bushes. Unlike Tim, Jay didn’t look like he’d even broken a sweat on their impromptu hike. “Magnolia Caverns.”

    “I thought that it would, it would be…”

    “Bigger?” Jay rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you an archaeologist, you fitta? Don’t you know the value is on the inside?” Tim thought Jay sounded slightly good-natured when he said this, although he couldn’t be sure.

    “Right,” Tim replied hastily. He set his backpack down with relief (it had been killing his back) and began taking out his climbing equipment.

    Jay gave him a strange look. “Vad gör du? What are you doing?”

    “I’m setting up,” Tim said slowly, suddenly unsure of himself. “To go into the cave?”

    Jay laughed. “You don’t need all that stuff. Just walk in.” He demonstrated this by promptly jumping down into the hole so that only his shoulders and head were visible. “Water’s great,” he joked.

    “But have you, have you been in, in there before?” Tim asked timidly. He had never been inside a cave without the proper spelunking gear, and he wasn’t about to start now, no matter what Jay thought. He reached for his gear again and slowly started to pull it on.

    “Nah,” Jay said flippantly. “Locals think it’s nuts. But there’s gotta be a first time for everything, right?”

    “W-well, we do need to see,” Tim said, indicating the large lamp on his yellow helmet. “I don’t, I don’t think we can explore anything in total darkness.” He stood, slightly defiantly, in front of the hole.

    Jay raised an eyebrow, an unreadable expression on his face. Tim was irrationally half-afraid Jay was going to flip out and force Tim to enter the cave unprotected. However, he only scoffed, “Finally the fitta stands up for himself. Seems to me you’ve got a lot of sense rolling around up there, just not the guts to use it.” He tapped his head with a half-smile and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Tim slightly stunned. “Now come on, flashlight boy. Time’s a-wastin’, as they say in this country.”

    As Tim descended into the Magnolia Caverns, his first thought was, Jay was right. It’s beautiful.

    Even though the two hadn’t gotten very far, Tim’s narrow headlight beam swept over a vast black, empty space. Tim could see stalactites spilling from the ceiling, and huge stalagmites reaching up from the gloom. The silence didn’t seem to hold the cave into itself; Tim had a feeling as if it was almost reaching out to greet him. He felt safe and warm, despite the dampness, for maybe two seconds.