The summer of 2021 was hard for all of us, Covid was a wildfire. Staying inside was tough on me and my family. Needing a break from constantly being around yelling children and a bickering wife I decided to take a solo camping trip in an underground cave a good amount away from my town. Grandpa had always warned me about going into this particular cave. You see, my dads side of my family had a thing for cave camping. I had gone once when I was seven in a much smaller cave which wasn’t much of an adventure had I got bored fast. But this underground cave seemed like an adventure worthwhile.
Planning to only be away for the weekend i packed a Helmet with a headlamp,an alternate light source being a heavy duty flashlight. Knee pads Extra shirt and pants,Boots, and Gloves. A little extra padding never hurt anyone.And You’ve got some extra clothes in case something goes wrong. Lastly, a sleeping bag and of course some sandwich fixings. Now looking back I definitely needed a lot more resources and tools.
Leaving for the cave things had been going great. I had made good time on the road and the arrival for my destination seemed relatively close. As it turned out though, my journey was far from over. After filling up the car with fuel, I headed back on the road only to find that I was now further away than when I started. The next course of hours consisted of more driving and retracing my steps. I finally arrived at my destination much later than anticipated. The sun had already begun to set. Saving the little daylight I had left, I opened the passenger side door and retrieved my pack out of my car, putting the straps onto my back then making the short hike to the entrance.I felt a reduced sense of security while moving the brush around to clear my way. Turning on my headlamp before I entered the tiny and short crawl space through the ground landing into the underground cavern.the cavern was larger than the cave i had went in when i was 7 it stood about thirteen feet tall and separated into 6 hallways i planned to explore in the morning. settling down to unroll my sleeping bag right below the exit so I will be able to see the morning sunlight and to begin exploring. no longer seeing any light from the exit I decided to turn in for the night.
letting my mind race i undertook the thought of this being a huge mistake, i can’t remember when i was ever this bold. Usually I’m too scared to even try to go inside a haunted house for Halloween, let alone into a dark cave full of god knows what. However, I knew there were no monsters here so I figured it was alright to fall asleep. Oh how naive I was.
Waking up to the unsettling sounds that laid inside the dark of the cave I felt an unknown chill creep up my spine, something didn’t feel right there I had a feeling of being watched, something was watching me from the black abyss feeling it come close. What I saw paralyzed me with fear, whatever it was,was about 6 to 7 feet tall, with a face that looked like a cross between an ape and an octopus, eyes that seemed as if they could see right through me and a mouth that made me think of a shark. Their bodies, however, were very much like ours. Their arms were the longest, most muscular arms I have ever seen, covered in long scales, which I think was the most unusual part of their body. Grabbing me with such force it dragged my being across the cold stone ground. If only I had packed a weapon, or a way to defend myself, I might have had the chance to escape. I turned my head up at him with a blank face full of terror. I would never have the courage to attack, because he somehow knew that there is nothing I can do or could do even with a weapon. That soon I would become a prisoner of his environment, of nature itself. looking at me as though I were a bug. The scales are more prominent from a closer view, there is a slight bend in the middle of each arm and a small ridge on their chest.
Being carried by this great stranger. I had no will to try to escape his grasp. I couldn’t see where I was being taken. All I knew was that I was much deeper into the earth.the air there began to feel thin and damp. Soon after noticing this I felt a gust of wind before the pain of a sharp stone against my body. Trying to overcome the sudden bolt of pain through my body the ground beneath me shook rising stone bars in an oval caging around me. Now trapped without any of my gear I lost all hope for returning home anytime soon. Accepting this fate as my own, a voice from the dark echoed in my ears
“What is the true weight of a human life?” blurted with a male tone. Hesitant to respond, I utter “who? who’s asking?”
“Oh my apologies, the name seth” replies the man who claims the name of seth sitting up in more aggravated pain i stinginly say “im Fynn and to the answer of your question well quite frankly, after what i just endured. Life weighs nothing”
“Flynn, I have been here in the same situation as you for what feels like months yet I haven’t given up on a hunt for freedom. You just got here and you hadn’t made an effort to even shake those bars” i had no words he was correct after all i hadn’t even tried to fight back. Disturbing my thoughts Seth spoke “don’t you have a family to get back to? People must care for ya , man if i had a chance to see my girl again..id instantly propose”
Hearing him talk almost emotionally had made me rethink my whole first impression on Seth. “I have a wife and three children”i whispered
Closing my eyes I could feel a single tear roll down my face. Remembering the summers of water gun fights, the fall leaf piles my children would jump in and the cold winter night by the fireplace holding a hot cup of coco in my right hand. Occupying my left was my Wife’s warm hand. Opening my eyes, wiping my cheek, I took to my feet. “Were getting out of here Seth.” i had no authority over my mouth
“How the hell will you manage that? I tried everything, these stone bars aren’t going nowhere” he said while shaking the stone. “And even if he did get out Balthazar.
Will kill us first” i quickly respond “Balthazar?”
“Oh yeah, the big one that brought you here. That’s what iv named him” Balthazar was one of those three wise men in the Bible who visited the infant Jesus. His name meant god protect the king “so he’s like the main guard” i questioned
“From what I’ve seen I’m pretty sure.” Seth answered Feeling around the floor of my containment, I find a somewhat sharp stone I remember falling on. I start to grind it against one of the thinner feeling bars.
I continue this still my hand blisters and I hear a crack of the bar feeling confident enough it would break with a charge. Stepping all the way back I charged with my whole body hitting the bar. It breaks enough for me to get through. Calling out for seth in the dark to find his cage i began repeating my method till i break him free as well
“Where getting the absolute fuck out of here.” seth words confidently
I ramble with “I believe my pack was to the left of the cave passage. If we can get there we can find a way out “ Seth nods in agreement.
Moving inside the pitch blackness of the cave leading the way for Seth I feel the space getting more opened meaning we’re getting close to the cavern where I had been unwillingly adopted into being a prisoner. hearing movement on the path ahead i stop in my tracks the sudden stop in the dark had made seth run into me. What Seth calls Balthazar was going through my items. I knew this because the reptile creature was turning my flashlight on and off again. “New plan” I said turning to seth ” use the light to find the exit” walk with our hand on the cold rock wall we quietly searched for an opening. While feeling around i finally find a tunnel higher up in the cave wall i climb up the steep rock wall into the light of day.
Standing up remembering Seth, I put a hand through the skinny tunnel gesturing for Seth to come up.i peek inside looking for seth he’s nowhere to be seen till i look at the flash light below lighting up Seth being yanked and thrown by the scaly thing. I had been too infatuated with getting home. I hadn’t realized he was being a human fishbait. “GO HOME FYNN” he shouts echoing off the walls of the still cavern. I do as he says i couldn’t let his sacrifice be for nothing. Running to my car I trip over an uplifted tree root.
Holding back tears for Seth, I got back up and rushed to my car seeing the keys still in the passenger side door where I had last used them to unlock it for my pack. Feeling stupid for leaving them there yet grateful I pulled them out getting onto my driver’s seat. I set off for home. Like the trip to the cave it went smoothly except for the traumatic thoughts and images I couldn’t get to leave my mind. Arriving at my driveway, not bothering to turn the car off, I face my wife in shambles. Multiple therapy sessions and medications later it’s now early 2023 i had to write this to remind myself the weight of a human life does not have a direct single answer.Its an ever growing future. The decisions we make every day are a reflection of our values that impact our individual lives Weight.