For school, I had to write a one-to-two page paper with a flashback in it.

Anna glanced in the mirror one last time before she ran out the door to catch the bus to the International Museum of Geology. She held the box close to her chest in her hand as she turned the corner, briefcase flying loose in the cool October wind. After she had settled herself in the bus, she carefully opened the silk-cased box using the little silver handle that protruded to one side. Although she had seen the contents of the box many times, she gasped at the delicate beauty of the pieces of shimmering stone. She still couldn’t believe she had found them two years ago. She sat back to think about that wondrous day: she was at her grandma’s house in Kentucky. She had always loved that house. Well, I guess it wasn’t the house she loved so much, but the yard — 74 acres of land all for her to explore, and did she ever. She would pretend that she was an archeologist on some secret mission for NASA or Area 51. That was the time of her life! But the time she remembered the most was, of course, that night she found the stones. She could remember it well…

*****

I was texting my friend, while walking along in the my grandma’s woods to nowhere in particular when my phone got no reception.

“ Great, just great.”

I sat down on a fallen tree and took some sips from the water bottle I had brought along. It was then I realized, I was lost. I had no I idea where I was or where grandma’s house was. I sat there for a moment, almost expecting Dad or someone to come out of nowhere to tell me the way home. But no one came. I didn’t know what to do. I had never been lost before; well, I had gotten lost in the mall, lost in my friend’s neighborhood and lost in a hospital, but that didn’t really count.  The point now was  I didn’t know where to go, when to go, or if to go. I decided to go in the opposite direction that I was going, never a bad idea when you’re lost.

Thirty minutes later, I stopped for a water break. It was about 3:00pm, and I had been out since 1:00. It had been a hot and dry summer, but that day I was sure was the hottest day in history. I walked over to the shade of an oak tree and sat against its trunk. I drained the water bottle and tried to relax for a little while. As I was sitting there, I saw a chipmunk popped its head out from around a nearby tree. I watched it as it scampered around digging its nose in the leaves and undergrowth looking for something. I must have been there ten minutes just watching the chipmunk. After a while it ran up to a stump of a tree. But when he got to the top he disappeared.  Startled, I got up to investigate. As I was walking over, I saw that the stump had no top but was hollow. When I reached it, I looked down and again was startled to see that, in fact, there seemed to be no bottom to it. I knelt down and put my hand in it, but felt nothing. Deeper and deeper I put my hand down, and I never felt any soil, rock, or wood. The stump was a wide one, wide enough for my shoulders to fit in. I sat on the edge thinking; then, I remembered my cell phone. I had put it in my back pocket and now I reached to get it. I pressed the ON button and held it towards the hole. I turned  around and swung both feet over into the stump. I took a deep breath, and let it out. Slowly, very slowly I lowered myself into the hole. I found a foot hold, moved my hand down and using my cell as a light, I looked around. It looked pretty much like an average hole, except it went straight down, and there didn’t seem to be an end to it. I had never heard of a mole or fox digging a hole straight down. It looked pretty sturdy, and I thought I could make it all the way down, wherever that might be. My head was spinning, I was so excited I could hardly think. A real adventure, right before me. I maneuvered my way downwards, looking up every so often to see if the sky was still there.  I was glad for my phone light. It was quite claustrophobic in there. All of a sudden, I heard a noise. I froze. I was in a creepy, dark hole in the ground and unidentified noises was the last thing I needed. There it was again. I looked down, then up. Nothing.

Now, I can imagine the creepy music of a horror film.  I laugh over it, but then I – was – freaked.

I gripped the sides of my cell so hard it’s a wonder I didn’t squish the whole thing! Then, the chipmunk appeared. It ran up a little bit but looked at me funny, then ran down and turned into the wall. I went down to where he had gone and saw a tunnel, a tunnel going slowly down, with a very faint light at the end. Feet first, I turned into it. It was quite tall, and I was able to sit up in it. Using my feet and hand, I wormed my way down, down, towards the light. The tunnel turned a little to the right. I could no longer see the sky. I thought it odd that I wasn’t colder, but hotter than when I was on the surface. The farther down I got, the hotter I grew, and the brighter the light got. For a second the reason in me said, “Turn back! You are going to die in here!” But my curiosity got the better of me. I went on till finally the ground beneath me leveled out, and I blinked, for I found myself in an enormous cave of glowing stones. The beauty of the magnificent cave left me paralyzed with the wonder of it all. I looked, finally, down at my phone. The small amount of light it produced was nothing to the shining splendor of the cave. I pushed the ON/OFF button, and my cell phone turned off. Instantaneously, I found myself in darkness. Quickly, I turned it on, and the brilliant light of the rocks shone. I walked slowly around. Then my pace quickened. Before I knew it, I was running here and there whooping with excitement. When I was rudely interrupted by a buzzing in my hand, I looked surprisingly at my phone saying ‘one new text’. I slid the top half of my phone up and clicked ‘OK’ . It was my friend responding to my last text. I looked at the top right hand side and I had full bars. Hurriedly, I called my Mom.

*****

The bus came to a stop, and Anna got off and stepped up to the Museum. She had been waiting for this day too long.