I walked through the ravine amid the towering rock slopes that held both sides of “no man’s land” at bay. “I knew this was coming.” I adjusted my earbuds so I could hear Brody better.
“I wish I was there.” He sighed and paused our conversation. “I’m here and I promised to always be your eyes.” I panned my camera around, holding it still so he could get a good look at the amber colored sky before the earth dipped and spun around on its axis, leaving us in the dark.
Brody fell from a thirty-foot balcony last year during an astronomy lecture. He’s now paralyzed from the waist down, prognosis: unknown.
“Show me the floor!” He wanted revelation of the glassy, black smut that covered the once boat traveled river.
The weeklong heat funnels that escaped the walls of the treacherous, calenture causing gardens brought forth a phenomenon unexplainable by anyone, except, maybe Brody. His studies disclosed that once this magnificent temperature change reversed, it would bring forth a hades type underworld.
“Brody, you know I can’t do that. You theorized the irreversible damage to one’s soul should he view what’s beneath.” He pretended to cry. “I was wrong. We must witness it!” He begged.
I retrieved a small mirror from my backpack, placing it so my device could record the reflection of the underworld. I filmed for about three minutes; our eyes remained shut.
“Let’s watch the footage!” We spoke simultaneously.
Featureless gray colored human shapes swam to the brink of the black liquid filled abyss. Their five fingered mitts pressed and beat against the clear cover, trying to push their way out of the void. Oblong mouths covered the largest portion of their faces, white egg-shaped circles appeared where eyes should’ve been, there was nothing else.
Imaginary screams pierced my ears as they bellowed from below. The creatures gurgled incoherently, responding to the horror they now lived in. I spoke my visions to Brody as I watched them unfold.
“Run! The valley of death is against you!” He screamed.
Once I was out of the tunnel, he began to laugh. “What?” I yelled into the phone, breathless and confused. “All I could see was dark colored ground. You are suffering from optical illusions, thanks to the gases brought on by atmospheric change.” He pulled out his composition book and jotted a few things down. “Put on the mask I sent with you. Your troubles will diminish.”
Leesa Writes 