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For February’s third story, Brian Francis Slattery brings us a world of mystery, danger, and revelation ~ Julian and Fran, February 18, 2024
The Ocean in the Valley
by Brian Francis Slattery
All we knew was that the ball fell in the hole, and Ava dove after it.
We were in the field over the river, and the hole hadn’t been there the day before. Sabina had kicked the ball to Marta. It slid across the grass and was gone.
“I’m sorry,” Sabina said. “I didn’t see the hole.”
“It must have opened during last night’s rain,” Ava said. The hole was a circle, lined with metal. Big enough for Ava to fit.
“Don’t go in there,” Marta said.
“It’s my favorite ball,” Ava said. She had made it from plastic, tape, and clothing scraps, and she wasn’t giving it up. She slid down the hole after it. We heard her shout.
“Ava?” Sabina called.
“I fell,” Ava called back. “I’m okay. I got my ball. But I can’t get out again. It’s dark down here. I—”
We heard other voices, keens and howls, rising from the hole. Ava shouted twice. Then silence.
“What was that?” Marta said.
Sabina got out her flashlight, which she carried everywhere with her when she was a kid. We always used to make fun of her for it. She turned it on.
“We can’t go in there,” Marta said.
“Well, I’m going,” Sabina said. She looked at me. “Coming with?”
I nodded. We slid down together.
The fall wasn’t far. We landed in a puddle of cool, musty water. Sabina waved the light around. The cave was high, with straight walls and a flat ceiling. Everything wet and dripping. Scraps of wood around, planks and branches. Sabina found two sticks and gave me one.
“Ava?” Sabina called.
A long howl from somewhere. Sabina pointed the light toward the sound. The cave kept going.
“Come on,” Sabina said. She was on an adventure, having fun. She kept my fear away. We clambered over fallen bricks and broken beams. I didn’t understand how Ava had gotten so far away from us so fast. She must have been running.
“Ava!” Sabina called.
We heard motion behind us, and my fear rose.
“What’s there?” I said. “Shine the light on it.”
“It’s just rats,” Sabina said. “There are always rats in caves.” She was so confident, and I believed her. She made me less afraid again.
We kept going. A bend in the cave, another. Sabina called Ava’s name again. We found a large chamber with a machine in the middle, as big as a house, with pipes running out the top into the ceiling. Light from somewhere else, now. Another way out.
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