The cave monster
The three of us didn’t move an inch. We just stared at the end of the tunnel where something was looking back at us. It was still too dark for us to see what it was.
“It’s gonna eat us,” whispered Paulie.
It seemed like we were just staring at each other for hours, but it was really only a few minutes.
“What are we going to do?” asked Alex in a very quiet voice.
I decided that it was time to act. “We’re going to see the monster.”
Both Paulie and Alex looked at me like I was crazy. But what else could we do? We couldn’t stay here forever. We needed to move forward. I started swimming forward slowly.
“Eartha, don’t!” shouted Paulie, covering his mouth after realizing he’d said that very loudly.
From the end of the tunnel came a deep, low, monstrous voice, “Eartha.”
I stopped, a little scared for the first time. Paulie panicked, “It knows your name!” he screamed. “You’re on his lunch menu! We gotta get out of here.” He swam in circles. Up and down, left and right. In somersaults, and figure eights. “I’m gonna be an appetizer!” he shouted. He continued to swim like a crazy fish, then smacked his head on the cave wall and knocked himself out.
I caught Paulie and held him in my flipper as I peered down the cave tunnel. The dark figure at the end of the tunnel was now moving toward us.
“We should go,” whispered Alex.
I turned to him and asked, “Go where? The entrance is blocked.”
“Eartha?” the voice said again. This time it sounded like it was asking a question.
I took a chance and replied, “Yes?”
“Ha, Ha, Ha,” laughed the approaching dark shadow.
As the shadowy figure got closed, Alex hid behind me. The figure was only a few feet away now, and I was able to see it more clearly.
“It’s good to see you again, youngin.”
It was then that I recognized that voice. “Roger?” I asked. “Jolly Roger?”
This was no monster. This was an old friend. The sea turtle I knew as Jolly Roger came into clear view.
I had met Roger when I was being cared for at the turtle hospital. He was also a patient there. I had never thought that I would see him again. He was very kind to me and explained the whole process of being treated and released back into the ocean.
“What are you doing in this cave?” I asked.
“This is my home,” he said.
I looked around at the cave walls. “This?”
“No. Follow me,” he said, turning to guide us down the tunnel to the light ahead.
I cradled Paulie in my flipper, and Alex and I followed Roger.
We exited the tunnel into a huge, open cave.
“This is my home,” he said.
I looked up and all around. All I could say was “Wow!”
Tags: loggerhead, monster, parrotfish, sea turtle, story
Posted by Dan under From Eartha | Permalink