The Grotto Of Grottos (part 1)

My eyes flew open. The speed of my heart thumping increased as I realized I was in a dark, seemingly empty place. I heard nothing, except the tip-tap of trickling water. Breathing heavily, I sat up and looked around. My hands waved around as I tried to find my way through the dark.

As I took one step, I felt my foot set down on something hard. Tap tap. Not long later, it became clear to me that I was standing on something wooden. I felt around, and I realized that I was in a boat.

Then, it all came to me. I remembered playing with my brother, Alvin, at the riverbank near our home just a while ago. It was a bright, sunny day, and perfect to spend time outdoors. After chasing pigeons and climbing trees, we became tired and decided to rest under a tree.

That was when Alvin spotted a shape at the river. When we moved towards it, we found out that it was a wooden boat. It seemed big enough to fit in at least two people. Since the owner of the boat was not in sight, I bravely climbed into the boat and lay there. For some reason, it was cosy inside. I closed my eyes and stretched, enjoying the sun’s warmth.

"Hey, Ed, are you sure you can do that?" Alvin asked. "I mean...that's not ours. If we get caught we might go to jail!"

"Impossible." I said lazily. "I'm just ten, and you're gonna be six next month. No way we'll go to jail."

There was a short pause. Until -

"Well, Ed, I'm kinda hungry." Alvin voiced out. "I'm going to get some apples."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I responded, not bothering to look back.

I heard the sound of his footsteps upon the grass, fading away not long after. Minutes later, he didn’t return, and I wondered why. I wanted to get out of the boat and find him, but at that moment, I felt drained of energy and my eyelids felt terribly heavy.

Alvin can wait, I thought. I yawned, and closed my eyes for the last time.

It was not long before sleep had me in its hold.

Glancing around the dark, I guessed that while I was asleep, the boat had somehow drifted into the river’s current and brought me here. I climbed out of the boat and wondered where I was. Then, a thought seeped into my mind.

Did Alvin push the boat?

However, I decided not to think too much about it. There’s still plenty of time. I can get back at him later on. Looking around wouldn’t be too bad, wouldn’t it?

For the next few minutes, I begin walking slowly, feeling the way through my hands. The darkness seemed eternal; there was no sign of light. However, for some reason, my feet chose to go on and on.

Then, I heard something. At first, I thought it was water dripping, but as I strained my ears, I heard a tinkling noise. It sounded like a musical box.

Musical boxes were supposed to be calming, but in my situation, it wasn’t. The tinkling was getting louder, and I felt the hairs on my skin stand straight up. A part of me wanted to go back to the boat, but another part wanted me to carry on with exploring.

After a few seconds, I decided to continue.

Suddenly, the tinkling stopped, and multi-coloured lights flashed before me. I shut my eyes tight and turned away. As the lights started dimming, I opened them once more.

I expected flying balls of fire, or UFOs, something like that. But it wasn’t.

To my astonishment, it was a large collection of grottos. They were everywhere; left, right, top, bottom. But the astounding part was that you could see sceneries and landscapes in the grottos; I could see green forests, sunset skies, and even the universe! They seemed like portals to different worlds. My mouth was agape, eyes lit with curiosity and awe as I considered one more thought:

Should I turn back?