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This form could be cut, bled, raped, and drowned, but I was just the watcher within. Panic came from not accepting the situation. Suffering came from railing against certain fate.
But thanks to a lifetime of schooling my chaotic mind, I opened my eyes to a tranquil reality and smiled as the grounding cord of light that’d granted such salvation continued to glow up ahead.
Subtle.
Barely there.
But…
Wait.
I froze.
T-That’s not imaginary.
From this angle, I could see around the shadow of a stalagmite.
A shadow caused by the barest hint of deliverance.
“There’s another way out,” I whispered in shock, awe, disbelief.
Tugging Peter, I sloshed forward, sending water waking around our shins. The girls tripped with me.
“There’s light.” My arms shook with Peter’s weight. “The ground slopes up. It’s higher ground.”
Mollie and Rachel stopped fighting.
Rachel sniffed back tears. “W-What are you saying? I don’t see anything.”
A surge of energy filled me. I finally donned the mantel of leadership that Peter had always worn. “It’s faint. But trust me. It’s there. Come on.”
I expected Mollie to disagree. I tensed for Rachel to argue.
But…as I stepped into my role of guardian, they slipped into following.
Without a word, the two girls mirrored my steps.
We made a wet, slow procession through the small cave.
I bumped my toes multiple times, my heart pounded from carrying my share of a person.
Finally, we stopped outside the small chasm.
Peering inside, I willed the light to get brighter.
It didn’t.
It was just enough to see how hard this journey would be.
It veered up steeply, mimicking the longest tunnel I’d ever seen.
But…it was dry.
“It’s narrow to start with, but I think it widens.”
Rachel squished closer. “We can make it. We don’t have a choice.”
Mollie pressed her cheek to mine, looking at our unfortunate climb.
