There was a bright spot where the sun cut down through the trees. Other than that, it was a world of shadows and leaves and moss.
It had been weeks since it had rained. But the ground under the trees and weeds were still wet and soggy. The only dry spot was in direct sun.
Circling around from the sun-soaked area, he found the entrance, hidden from view by the moss and greenery that cover the entire mound. It was cooler in the shade, but when he stepped closer to the opening, the temperature dropped another ten degrees. This was it.
He had heard legends about the “The Hole of No Return” for decades. People had talked about it. Someone they knew who had dared to investigate the hole and were never quite the same again. Those that entered it never came back.
He stood at the entrance staring into the blackness. The chill that ran up and down his spine told him not to enter.
But he had to.
It was calling.
The coolness engulfed him as he stepped into the blackness. Inside, he turned to look behind him to see daylight through the entrance. As he watched, the light retracted until, within seconds, it was gone. Blackness surrounded him, but his eyes adjusted, and he could see a tunnel in front of him.
As he made his way down the tunnel, out of habit, he pulled out his phone to use the flashlight. It was dead. He pressed on the touch screen but no response. Funny, it had a 100 percent charge a few minutes ago when he pulled it from the charger in the car. He stuck in back in his pocket, useless.
After walking for what felt like an eternity, but actually only a few minutes, he found himself in a cavern. Standing very still, he listened, and off in the distance, he heard something, drifting over the soft whistle of a breeze blowing through the tunnel. It sounded like voices or talking in an unfamiliar language.
He looked behind him and felt disoriented. It all looked the same. He had no idea which way was back to the entrance. No wonder people got lost in here and never came out.
He was about to discover getting lost wasn’t the reason people never came back.
It was quiet. Too quiet. The voices were gone, as was the breeze.
“You came.”
He was aware of the words, but he didn’t hear them with his ears. There was no echoing of a voice through the tunnel. It just appeared in his mind as a thought.
“I was beginning to think you never would.” More thoughts materialized in his mind. He spun around where he stood,
“Who are you? What—where are you?” He yelled into the darkness. His words echoing off the walls into the distance.
“Calm down,” came from the response this time from echoes in the tunnel.
“Calm Down?” He heard his own voice in his head.
“Yes, You’re fine. But you won’t be if you don’t shut up.”
He shut up and stopped asking questions.
A vision flashed into his mind.
That of an old man, dressed in an old robe or blanket that hung from his shoulders covering him completely. His beard was long, and hair flowed to his shoulders. The old man seemed to be carrying or holding something. He could not make it out.
“Who are you?” Once again, he asked without speaking.
“I am you…” Came the response in his head.
“Me?”
“Yes, in several hundred years.”
“I’m barely twenty years old now.”
“We know. We’ve been waiting for you for centuries.”
“Centuries? Waiting for me?”
“Yes. we need your help to save the world.”
He looked around. There had to be someone in the cavern with him, but there was no one. He was talking to someone, but he was alone.
“Save the world.? How…? Why—me?”
“You’ll know what to do when the time comes…” with the voice in his mind faded off into nothingness.
***
He opened his eyes and, without moving, looked around the room. The ceiling was the same. Shifting his eyes, what he could see of his bedroom was the same. He turned his head to the side, thankful to find his wife lying safely beside him.
She shifted slightly, and he could feel her breath on his face. He mentally checked all his parts to see that they were still intact. Hands worked—fingers, toes, legs. Check. Check. All here. Relieved, his mind started questioning what had happened.
He vividly remembered the entire scene. He had gotten out of the car near the woods. The phone. He glanced over the side table. It was there, and he tapped on it. Fully charged. He tapped on the screen. The phone was working perfectly. It had not worked in the cavern.
He remembered the voices in his mind and decided they could not have been real. It had to be a dream
He replayed the entire sequence of events in his mind. It had seemed real, but it couldn’t have been. There had been no one in the tunnel with him. No one. The last thing he remembered was the vision of the old man. The voice said it was a future him. Sitting up effortlessly in bed, he was definitely not an old man yet. His beard was neatly trimmed, and his hair far from long and flowing.
His wife stirred. He watched her get up and head for the bathroom. As she returned, she leaned against the doorframe, looking at him.
“You all right?”
“All right, yeah, what? Don’t I look all right?”
“No, you don’t. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She was right. He didn’t feel quite right, and he couldn’t put his finger on it.
It crossed his mind he’d like a cup of coffee. He was about to suggest that she go make a pot. Just as he started to open his mouth to ask her. He smelled something. Coffee! Turning in his bed, it was there in his favorite cup, A perfect cup of coffee. She stared at it too.
“What the…? They uttered the words together.
They both knew neither of them had moved. He knew he didn’t ask for it. But there it was.
A perfect cup of coffee.
He reached over and gently touched the cup. Afraid if he touched it, it would disappear. It didn’t. It was real. Picking it up, the ceramic cup was warm in his hands. He could smell the aroma of fresh coffee as he got closer to it. Tasting it. It was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. And it was good. Not bitter or over-extracted. In fact, he hated to admit it but was a perfect cup of coffee. Better than he or his wife ever made. He handed it to her. She tried it. Not only was it real. It was good. She said as much.
They ran to the kitchen. Nothing had changed from last night. The coffee pot sat untouched. The only thing missing was his cup. The cup was in his hand.
The stared at each other.
Back in the bedroom. He recounted the entire story of the tunnel and cavern. Telling her everything he could remember.
“You heard voices in your mind?”
“Yes, I was thinking. Just like with the coffee, and someone answered. But it was in my mind. No voices, no people, only thoughts in my head.”
“They didn’t tell you how you were to save the world?”
“No. Nothing. The next thing I knew, I was here this morning. “
“Nothing about new powers?”
“I told you, they didn’t say anything.!” He started breathing hard, fist clenched.
“Calm down. Take it easy. It’s okay,”
She pulled him close.
“Relax and clear your mind.’’
“I’m sorry, I’m just scared is all.”
“I don’t blame you.” They kissed, and he allowed his mind and body to enjoy the feeling of her next to him. For a second, he imaged her in a black slinky negligee.
She pulled away from him shock on her face as she looked down.
“What the heck?!”
She was wearing exactly what he had imagined. It was black spaghetti string cut low in the center and very sheer, revealing all of her under the material.
They sat, stunned.
“Damn, you look nice…” was all he could say.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything, wait …” He thought for a minute.
“When you hugged me, I had a thought for a second. “Wonder what you’d look like in a black nightie? Is all. I barely even thought it. Just like the coffee. I barely even had it in my mind for a second…”
***
Over the next few weeks, he experimented with his new powers. At first, little stuff like the coffee cups, and clothes, and eventually bigger stuff. They had a lot of accidents as it took immense will power to control his new powers. Over time he became accustomed to having to harness his abilities. Several accidents had happened in public. Fortunately, his accidents injured no one and seemed to go unnoticed.
A few months later, he found he was having difficulty getting out of bed. He felt old. His body seemed to not respond as it always had. He was getting tired sooner, and not responding to stimulus as it always had. And took longer to recover even from a simple cold. In short, he was feeling older than his years.
One day as he was shaving, he noticed he looked older. He had lines and wrinkles he hadn’t had months before. By now, he rarely used his power, having harnessed it enough that the accidents were few and far between.
At his yearly doctor’s check-up. His doctor came back with an unusual comment. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have the body of an old man.” After running more blood tests and EKGs and a cat scan. The doctor confirmed his theory.
In the last six months or so, his body had aged at least 50 years. He now had the body of a seventy-year-old man. He wasn’t stabilizing and had all the classic signs of a failing body. His memory failed, his tolerance of cold and extreme temperature had long ago disappeared, and his fine motor skills were gone.
It didn’t take long for it to dawn on him. It was six months ago when he had been in the “hole of no return” and gotten his new powers. It was clear to him that the price for this new power was his body rapidly aging. He couldn’t exactly tell the doctors what had happened and explain it to them. They wouldn’t believe it. And he knew what the authorities would try to do with him if they found out.
But now, looking into the mirror, there was no denying what was happening. Staring back at him was the old man in the vision from the cave. Only one thought entered his mind.
Now what?
This story and many other fine stories based on the monthly picture prompt put up in the Writers United Facebook page and on their sister site.
Writers United! can be found at this site, Please take the time to visit and read the many takes on a the same picture prompt.
https://writersuniteweb.wordpress.com/write-the-story/
It had been weeks since it had rained. But the ground under the trees and weeds were still wet and soggy. The only dry spot was in direct sun.
Circling around from the sun-soaked area, he found the entrance, hidden from view by the moss and greenery that cover the entire mound. It was cooler in the shade, but when he stepped closer to the opening, the temperature dropped another ten degrees. This was it.
He had heard legends about the “The Hole of No Return” for decades. People had talked about it. Someone they knew who had dared to investigate the hole and were never quite the same again. Those that entered it never came back.
He stood at the entrance staring into the blackness. The chill that ran up and down his spine told him not to enter.
But he had to.
It was calling.
The coolness engulfed him as he stepped into the blackness. Inside, he turned to look behind him to see daylight through the entrance. As he watched, the light retracted until, within seconds, it was gone. Blackness surrounded him, but his eyes adjusted, and he could see a tunnel in front of him.
As he made his way down the tunnel, out of habit, he pulled out his phone to use the flashlight. It was dead. He pressed on the touch screen but no response. Funny, it had a 100 percent charge a few minutes ago when he pulled it from the charger in the car. He stuck in back in his pocket, useless.
After walking for what felt like an eternity, but actually only a few minutes, he found himself in a cavern. Standing very still, he listened, and off in the distance, he heard something, drifting over the soft whistle of a breeze blowing through the tunnel. It sounded like voices or talking in an unfamiliar language.
He looked behind him and felt disoriented. It all looked the same. He had no idea which way was back to the entrance. No wonder people got lost in here and never came out.
He was about to discover getting lost wasn’t the reason people never came back.
It was quiet. Too quiet. The voices were gone, as was the breeze.
“You came.”
He was aware of the words, but he didn’t hear them with his ears. There was no echoing of a voice through the tunnel. It just appeared in his mind as a thought.
“I was beginning to think you never would.” More thoughts materialized in his mind. He spun around where he stood,
“Who are you? What—where are you?” He yelled into the darkness. His words echoing off the walls into the distance.
“Calm down,” came from the response this time from echoes in the tunnel.
“Calm Down?” He heard his own voice in his head.
“Yes, You’re fine. But you won’t be if you don’t shut up.”
He shut up and stopped asking questions.
A vision flashed into his mind.
That of an old man, dressed in an old robe or blanket that hung from his shoulders covering him completely. His beard was long, and hair flowed to his shoulders. The old man seemed to be carrying or holding something. He could not make it out.
“Who are you?” Once again, he asked without speaking.
“I am you…” Came the response in his head.
“Me?”
“Yes, in several hundred years.”
“I’m barely twenty years old now.”
“We know. We’ve been waiting for you for centuries.”
“Centuries? Waiting for me?”
“Yes. we need your help to save the world.”
He looked around. There had to be someone in the cavern with him, but there was no one. He was talking to someone, but he was alone.
“Save the world.? How…? Why—me?”
“You’ll know what to do when the time comes…” with the voice in his mind faded off into nothingness.
***
He opened his eyes and, without moving, looked around the room. The ceiling was the same. Shifting his eyes, what he could see of his bedroom was the same. He turned his head to the side, thankful to find his wife lying safely beside him.
She shifted slightly, and he could feel her breath on his face. He mentally checked all his parts to see that they were still intact. Hands worked—fingers, toes, legs. Check. Check. All here. Relieved, his mind started questioning what had happened.
He vividly remembered the entire scene. He had gotten out of the car near the woods. The phone. He glanced over the side table. It was there, and he tapped on it. Fully charged. He tapped on the screen. The phone was working perfectly. It had not worked in the cavern.
He remembered the voices in his mind and decided they could not have been real. It had to be a dream
He replayed the entire sequence of events in his mind. It had seemed real, but it couldn’t have been. There had been no one in the tunnel with him. No one. The last thing he remembered was the vision of the old man. The voice said it was a future him. Sitting up effortlessly in bed, he was definitely not an old man yet. His beard was neatly trimmed, and his hair far from long and flowing.
His wife stirred. He watched her get up and head for the bathroom. As she returned, she leaned against the doorframe, looking at him.
“You all right?”
“All right, yeah, what? Don’t I look all right?”
“No, you don’t. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She was right. He didn’t feel quite right, and he couldn’t put his finger on it.
It crossed his mind he’d like a cup of coffee. He was about to suggest that she go make a pot. Just as he started to open his mouth to ask her. He smelled something. Coffee! Turning in his bed, it was there in his favorite cup, A perfect cup of coffee. She stared at it too.
“What the…? They uttered the words together.
They both knew neither of them had moved. He knew he didn’t ask for it. But there it was.
A perfect cup of coffee.
He reached over and gently touched the cup. Afraid if he touched it, it would disappear. It didn’t. It was real. Picking it up, the ceramic cup was warm in his hands. He could smell the aroma of fresh coffee as he got closer to it. Tasting it. It was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. And it was good. Not bitter or over-extracted. In fact, he hated to admit it but was a perfect cup of coffee. Better than he or his wife ever made. He handed it to her. She tried it. Not only was it real. It was good. She said as much.
They ran to the kitchen. Nothing had changed from last night. The coffee pot sat untouched. The only thing missing was his cup. The cup was in his hand.
The stared at each other.
Back in the bedroom. He recounted the entire story of the tunnel and cavern. Telling her everything he could remember.
“You heard voices in your mind?”
“Yes, I was thinking. Just like with the coffee, and someone answered. But it was in my mind. No voices, no people, only thoughts in my head.”
“They didn’t tell you how you were to save the world?”
“No. Nothing. The next thing I knew, I was here this morning. “
“Nothing about new powers?”
“I told you, they didn’t say anything.!” He started breathing hard, fist clenched.
“Calm down. Take it easy. It’s okay,”
She pulled him close.
“Relax and clear your mind.’’
“I’m sorry, I’m just scared is all.”
“I don’t blame you.” They kissed, and he allowed his mind and body to enjoy the feeling of her next to him. For a second, he imaged her in a black slinky negligee.
She pulled away from him shock on her face as she looked down.
“What the heck?!”
She was wearing exactly what he had imagined. It was black spaghetti string cut low in the center and very sheer, revealing all of her under the material.
They sat, stunned.
“Damn, you look nice…” was all he could say.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything, wait …” He thought for a minute.
“When you hugged me, I had a thought for a second. “Wonder what you’d look like in a black nightie? Is all. I barely even thought it. Just like the coffee. I barely even had it in my mind for a second…”
***
Over the next few weeks, he experimented with his new powers. At first, little stuff like the coffee cups, and clothes, and eventually bigger stuff. They had a lot of accidents as it took immense will power to control his new powers. Over time he became accustomed to having to harness his abilities. Several accidents had happened in public. Fortunately, his accidents injured no one and seemed to go unnoticed.
A few months later, he found he was having difficulty getting out of bed. He felt old. His body seemed to not respond as it always had. He was getting tired sooner, and not responding to stimulus as it always had. And took longer to recover even from a simple cold. In short, he was feeling older than his years.
One day as he was shaving, he noticed he looked older. He had lines and wrinkles he hadn’t had months before. By now, he rarely used his power, having harnessed it enough that the accidents were few and far between.
At his yearly doctor’s check-up. His doctor came back with an unusual comment. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have the body of an old man.” After running more blood tests and EKGs and a cat scan. The doctor confirmed his theory.
In the last six months or so, his body had aged at least 50 years. He now had the body of a seventy-year-old man. He wasn’t stabilizing and had all the classic signs of a failing body. His memory failed, his tolerance of cold and extreme temperature had long ago disappeared, and his fine motor skills were gone.
It didn’t take long for it to dawn on him. It was six months ago when he had been in the “hole of no return” and gotten his new powers. It was clear to him that the price for this new power was his body rapidly aging. He couldn’t exactly tell the doctors what had happened and explain it to them. They wouldn’t believe it. And he knew what the authorities would try to do with him if they found out.
But now, looking into the mirror, there was no denying what was happening. Staring back at him was the old man in the vision from the cave. Only one thought entered his mind.
Now what?
This story and many other fine stories based on the monthly picture prompt put up in the Writers United Facebook page and on their sister site.
Writers United! can be found at this site, Please take the time to visit and read the many takes on a the same picture prompt.
https://writersuniteweb.wordpress.com/write-the-story/
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