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Darkness-cold - churning water - roaring, like a thousand lions - spinning around and around - bashing into rocks - ars to ainst a clurab hold - slippery - the wet roots feel like dead fingers clutching at me - a space between the water and the roof of the tunnel - I draw quick gasps of breath - current takes hold again - try fighting it - roots break off inover and over - hit le to keep head up - spit water out ofhalf the streaainst a wall - sharp rocks cut deeply into -cold water numbs the pain - stops the flow of blood - a sudden drop - plummet into a deep pool - down, down, down - held under by force of the falling water - panicking - can’t find- if I don’t break free soon, I’ll

My feet strike a wall and propel me forward - drift slowly up and away froentle here - lots of space betater and the top of the tunnel - able to bob along and breathe - air’s cold, and it stings ulp it down thankfully

The streae cave Roars froain there I letthe drop I need to rest and fill s with air As I tread water near the wall in the dark, sorab at thes - they’re bones!

Too exhausted to be scared, I grasp the bones as though they were part of a life buoy Taking long, deep breaths, I explore the bones with ers They connect to a wrist, an arm, a body, and a head: a full skeleton This stream was used to dispose of dead vampires in the past This one must have washed up here and rotted away over the decades I search blindly for other skeletons but find none I wonder who the va he’s been here It must be horrible, trapped in a cave like this, no proper burial, no final resting place

I shake the skeleton, hoping to free it The cave erupts with high-pitched screeches and flapping sounds Wings! Dozens or hundreds of pairs of wings! So crashes into my face and catches on my left ear It scratches and bites I yelp, tear it loose, and slap it away

I can’t see anything, but I sense a flurry of objects flying over and around me Another collides with me This time I hold on and feel around it - a bat! The cave’s full of bats Theythe skeleton disturbed theht

I don’t panic They won’t attack htened and will settle down soon I release the one I’ve caught and let it join the rush above me The noise dies down after a few minutes, and the bats return to their perches Silence

I wonder how they get in and out of the cave There must be a crack in the roof For a few seconds I dreaers and toes quickly put an end to thoughts like that I couldn’t clih forabout the skeleton again I don’t want to leave it here I tug at it, careful this tie at first - it’s wedged firain It co ushes down my throat Now I panic! The skeleton is heavy on top ofto drown! I’ Use my brain I wrap my arms around the skeleton and slowly roll over It works! Now the skeleton’s underneath and I’ A few of the bats are circling again, but uide it out toward theone I hang on to the wall, treading water, giving the skeleton ti while I wait: was it a good idea to free the skeleton? A nice gesture, but if the bones catch on a rock further along and block my way

Too late to worry now Should have thought of that before

My situation’s as desperate as ever Crazy to think I et out of this alive But I force myself to think positively: I’ve made it this far, and the stream must open up sooner or later Who’s to say I can’t make it to the end? Believe, Darren, believe

I’d like to hang here forever - easier to cling on and die of the cold - but I have to try for freedoo of the bank I drift out into the middle of the strea up - the exit - roaring grows furiously - flowing fast - angling sharply doard - gone