Author: E. Verna Turner
Page 18
After a hearty Thanksgiving dinner, the whole clan decided to have a merry-making of a sing and dance, comedy act, Melinda and Joseph recited poems, and a declamation program by Jenna and Rosalee. The elders had at least a bottle of wine and grape juice for the teenagers and kids. Their happiness subsides at about 12 midnight. Good for the elders they can sleep tight and be peaceful for the rest of the night, actually dawn already and the teens were busy sorting out a plan. Loren passed a note to Mila ... she read the message and Mila handled the message clearly to the rest of her sisters and brothers, to their friends.
The next morning even before sunrise, they manage to get out of their temporary camp or call it their newfound home nestling on top of the trees. Looking at it from the ground, looking up to the trees from a different perspective there is no other reason why they cannot call it a HOME. A small village of bamboo houses, made from bamboo poles, twigs and vines from trees, walls made out of coconut palms. Surely it's a winner if there is such a contest for innovation and survival life skills to build a kind of home just like that in the jungle.
However they have to go search for a new route on how to get out from the island just in case. They cannot live there forever. They cannot be stranded there and grow old in such an island with only them living for years. There must be another way, a different way of conquering their own fears. On this day they have to find out their capability. So together with Loren and Mila who lead the hike-trail to search and find a better way to keep them busy and at the same time to find the best route and what that island is all about. Somehow they were fixated on what is in the cave. Curiousity has befallen them to follow the trails going to the cave instead. They passed by through the long rows of tall bamboo plants which is defined as the tallest grass in the world. Imagine bamboo plant is a giant grass. How could that happen? It can grow up to 300 to 350 ft. They reached the main entrance of the cave, at the left side of the cave are bigger trees, variety of trees: maple trees, aspen and birch. There are at least two oak trees and Loren tied the rope around the oak tree, the bigger tree. He's got two long ropes each measures 200 meters (x2=400 meters rope), Mila and Tamara brought their bungee cords. Loren told the teens and kids that they will hold on to that long rope while they enter the cave. They can only enter there up to 200 meters because they don't really know what's inside the cave and that's for their own safety not to prolong their stay inside. They are not supposedly be there for an hour. Less than an hour is what they assumed they can do to finish their search and research to that unknown cave, a mysterious cave. Mila told Melinda and Cade to stay close to the cave's entrance as their guard while they moved on to the depths of the cave holding on to the rope with knots for every 10 meters. They are only using one long rope measuring 200 meters remember...with knots every 10 meters. The group went to the right side of the cave. As they go further away from where Melinda and Cade, the air is suffocating to the point that Tamara almost vomit. Jolina, Joselito and Eric started coughing. The air is dry and stinky and who wont get suffocated even at the thought of it? But they were there inside trying not to be bothered by that foul , awful smell that can make them so sick to the bones.
"Oh no!" "I think we've better get out!" Mila asked Loren and the rest of the kids. But then the kids said they can continue the ordeal. So they went further up to 50 ft. and then they heard a noise. It's like somebody is crying. More noises and they all felt nervous about to run away of what they saw... a huge black hairy entity was moving on the right side of the cave. When Joselito raised the kerosene lamp and take an eyeview of the crying being, they saw a hairy monster carrying something on her chest, running away from them, it was so dark their lamp is not enough for them to see what kind of being who just run away They all screamed in fright but the unknown hairy being was even frightened when it see them coming. They laughed at the horrible situation.
"Oh my God! I'm gonna have a heart attack!" Mila told the guys. What else is this cave for? What's in this cave that we don't know about?" she started blabbing asking so many questions.
"I know nothing!" I don't have a clue." Joseph quickly answered trembling from what he had seen but not too frightened to show how nervous he is. Nobody wants to show how afraid they all are. It can boost down their morale. Besides they have weapons with them. They have rifles, shotgun, ax, hunting knives, crossbow and arrow. They are good in martial arts which they learned from martial arts school. They know survival skills. They learned those skills in school. How to survive and protect one's self is one of the best that they've learned from school and at home. Then all of a sudden Jenna stepped onto something and it has that "crackling sound" when they looked at it on the ground was a ------
skeleton!??? Eeeeehhhhhh!!!!!!!! All of them were screaming loudly. Joseph dropped the kerosene lamp on the ground and run as fast as he could but Loren stopped him. "Joseph come back here you----! It's just a skeleton of a dead buffalo okay?" Loren assured that it was a water buffalo's carcass. That's all.
They walked in through the middle of the cave this time reaching 110 meters. Suddenly loud noises was heard. The noise becomes very evident. Tamara and Rosalee just right through a downhill side when all of a sudden a rushing metal carts passed by through the dark alley. It was very fast and long before they could breathe in, " that's a train!" How could that there's a moving train in here?" Tamara asked them.
Loren and Mila and the rest of the guys held their lamp up high for them to see what's in the dark alley. Yes. There is a railway track inside that cave!
The kids couldn't help jumped up and down. "We are safe! We are in civilization." "There's a train here!" kids shouted on and on.
I have the right to revise, edit or change the plot story of my novel the way I want. The original novella was written by me, actually HANDWRITTEN in my own notebook> with real lined pad paper with the use of pen with ink of course. I have to transfer the novella to the "sticky note" thr. computer and by copy and paste process from the note to this platform. The drawings are mine and its my hand that I used to sketch them.
ReplyDeleteJust like other writers or author of books there are too many REVISION, lots of editing before a book is made no matter how professional or prolific veteran writer you are. For you know there are so many "perfectionist" in this world who are NOT really PERFECT but because they cannot see themselves as perfect they become critic and it makes them happy to find out that you are having problem with grammar just like them. So what comes around goes around again.
ReplyDeleteWREATH for X'mas is okay. LMAO!