A Harmless Foray

 

The weather could not have been any more perfect. Standing at the edge of a small pond, he watched the koi swimming toward the surface, looking up at him with a certain familiarity. But he must have been reading the situation wrong, for he had never been here before. Looking out beyond the water, he could see patches of trees and the occasional animal.

              “Hey honey, you found the pond, huh?” a woman’s voice called from behind him.

              “Oh, hey, yeah,” he answered. “And these fish are really cool. Have you been here before?”

              “I have,” she answered. “Early this morning, just as the sun was coming up. I didn’t see the fish though. I guess they were sleeping. Fish sleep, don’t they?”

              “Ha, I would think so,” he said. “Every animal that we’ve seen so far seems to sleep at nighttime. This is the furthest out I’ve been. I’m thinking we should probably try to see all of the garden as soon as possible. We are supposed to be taking care of it. Come on, let’s head out that way.”

              The young couple moved around the pond and out toward a deep forest that seemed to be a long way off.

              “I’m guessing where the endless trees start is where the garden ends,” he said. “Let’s start with that boundary and work our way around. Honestly, I don’t even know how big this place is.”

              Passing by manicured flower beds and shaped hedges, the two made slow progress. “I feel like we’re moving so slow,” she said. “At this rate, it could take us weeks to get all the way around.”

              “Well, beings that we don’t know how big it is, who knows?”

              Rounding a corner, they both stopped and stood in awe. “Wow, would you look at that,” she said. “Have you ever seen something like that before? I mean, man, that is a really weird hole in the ground. What do you think it’s for?”

              “I have no idea,” he answered. “But let’s not look too deeply into anything. I want to make a full pass, once around. We can always come back another day and take a longer look.”

              “No, no, come on,” she said, pulling his hand. “I want to look at this now. Look, the ground just slowly slopes downward. It would be super easy to walk in a bit and see what’s in there. It’ll only take a minute, come on.”

              It was the look in her eyes and the little pout she used when she wanted something that got him every time. He hesitated for a moment but then gave in.

              “You are way too adorable to say no to,” he said. “I sure am glad that we’re working together on this. You are irresistible.” Allowing himself to be pulled along behind her, he gazed at her curves and flawless skin. “Okay, just for a minute.”

              Slipping into the mouth of the cave, the air immediately became much cooler. “Wow, it is almost cold down here,” he said “I didn’t expect that. It’s getting hard to see too.”

              “Oh, we’ll be fine,” she said. “Come on, follow me. The ground is level. We’ll be alright.”

              Distracted by her beautiful shape and face, he continued to follow her down into the cave. The path became somewhat rocky and the further they slid in, the darker it became. Crouching slightly, she warned him to duck his head. As they continued downward, they were soon on their hands and knees. “Oh, wow, look at this,” she said.

              The two of them squeezed through a small opening at the very back of the cave and they stood up in a massive cavern, dimly lit from a hole in the very top of the room, far, far above their heads. Still holding her hand and following her lead, the two walked the perimeter of the massive cavern, overwhelmed by the glittering of something within the rocks of the walls and the stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

              Stopping at the point they believed they had entered, they dropped to their hands and knees and started into the small crawl space. “Oh, hold up,” he said, as he took the lead. “This isn’t the right crawlspace. Back up.”

              After six or seven tries through different tunnels, they always bumped into a dead end. Returning to the cavern, she sat down and pulled her knees up under her chin. “I’m getting kind of scared,” she said. “I don’t think we were supposed to come in here. There’s no garden here to tend. What are we going to do?”

              “Well, it’s starting to get dark. See, the light from that hole in the ceiling has really dimmed. I guess we’re going to have to sleep here for the night. When it gets light again, I think I can figure our way out of here.”

              Huddling together, they backed up against the edge of the cave and tried to sleep. Days and weeks came and went and eventually they consigned themselves to the fact that they would never leave.

              “It’s so dark and gloomy here,” she complained. “Why don’t you get us out of here?”

              “I’m trying, I’m trying,” he answered, with a bitter edge to his voice. “If you wouldn’t have led us down here, we’d still be out there enjoying the warm sunshine. This is all your fault.”

              “Oh sure, blame me,” she said. “You’re supposed to be the one in charge. Now we’re stuck in here. What are you going to do?”

              Years passed and they began to feel at home in the gloom. Children were born and they somehow found enough food and light to maintain something resembling a life. Lying huddled together in the darkness of the dead of night, they heard a voice call out, “Hello?”

              “What? Did you hear that?” he said. Jumping up, he responded with a yell.

              As he ran around the edge of the cave, he saw a head pop out of one of the tunnels. “Oh, hey, yeah, over here,” he said. “Don’t lose your place there. That was the mistake we made.”

              “Oh, don’t worry about that,” the man said. “I was involved in the design of this park. I know this place like the back of my hand. Here take hold. I’ll lead you out. Get your family, too. Getting through the first part of this little tunnel is the hard part, but after that it’s easy.”

              Crawling on their hands and knees, the man could see his wife struggling. As he was behind her, he could hear her complaints about the jagged rocks and the cold. “Keep going, honey,” he said, “you can do it.”

              “Oh, look, the tunnel is getting bigger,” she said, with a glimmer of hope in her voice. Lifting herself up to her feet, yet still in a crouched position, she struggled forward, urging her small children ahead of her to keep going.

              Blinking heavily and shielding their eyes, they finally stood to full height and started walking faster toward the light at the opposite end. “I don’t remember this cave being so curvy,” she said. “I thought we just walked straight in.”

              “You did walk straight in,” the man in the front said. “But things have a way of changing and our memories tend to get foggy. But keep following me and I’ll get you out of here.”

              It was then that a blast of warm air hit them, and they stepped into the full sunshine.

              “Oh honey, kids, look, it’s the garden. We made it,” she said. They all stood, basking in the sunshine and the beauty. “You kids won’t remember this, but your father and I used to live here.”