The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

From the Shadows

[Sophia]

The hole was wide enough for my wings to be completely spread without them scraping against the walls. Further and further down I went. Occasionally, I glanced back up to the surface to see the hole getting further and further away, the circle of light shrinking. Yet, somehow I was still illuminated. Looking back down, I could see a moving shadow. My own, as the bottom finally approached, the circle of light somehow managing to reach all the way down here. I slowed my descent, huffing my wings and kicking up all the dust and dirt around until I finally touched down softly. I folded my wings back in and looked up.

I held out my arm and made a circle with my fingers. The hole above me fit inside it.

I wasn't sure how far down I was, I couldn't make any sort of educated guess. Only judging from the hole above me, I had to be really, really far down. I wasn't sure how the light of the sun was able to get down this far, or how I wasn't able to see the bottom from up there, but I'm sure I'll figure that out another day.

There wasn't much to look at other than the carved walls of the hole. I looked closer at them, trying to see if this was man-made or natural, but it was hard to tell. I felt a breath of wind from behind me and I turned around. My chest sank a bit as I stared face to face with an open mouth of a tunnel. A very large and wide tunnel. I couldn't see anything within but darkness. A much deeper darkness that I've never seen before.

Despite my nervousness, my curiosity drew me forth. Slowly stepping just mere inches away from the entrance where the light couldn't reach. The shadows cast from the mouth of the tunnel was the threshold.

I could feel thoughts colliding in my mind.

What could be in there? How far did it go? Are there beasts and monsters awaiting for someone like me to fall victim to them? Maybe... just maybe... is there a treasure somewhere within just waiting to be found?

Most if not all reason and logic had left me as I pulled my satchel up and started digging around until I pulled out a tiny flashlight. I keep it here just in case, but I've hardly ever used it, so the battery should be just fine.

I clicked it on and began waving it around the tunnel, illuminating my path. I crossed the threshold of shadow and began making my way into the tunnel. I looked up and around and occasionally pointed the flashlight forward to see how far the tunnel went, but the light wasn't very strong and could only go so far. As I went further and further in, I began to hear my own footsteps echoing. I began to wonder how long this had been here. Not just the cave, but the mutant strawberry field too. And the clearing surrounding it. I had no answers as to how or why, but the only thing stuck in my mind was that all of this... it just seemed... off, somehow.

Another breath of cold air made my hair fly up and I stopped in my tracks. Something in my chest sank again and I held the flashlight still, pointed at my feet. I stared ahead in the darkness and waited. For some reason, I felt too afraid to look behind me to see how far I had walked into the tunnel. I was beginning to wonder how long I had been here. My eyes darted around the walls, but I saw nothing. I took a deep breath and started walking forward again, slowly putting one foot after the other. I shivered, noting the air in here was much colder. Much colder. When I pointed the light in front of me again, I noticed a spot of darkness where the light couldn't reach. I realized that this must've been the end of the tunnel was merely an entryway to the largest cavern I've ever seen. To the left and right of me, there were two other paths that led into two other tunnels. Above me was the ceiling carved in an arched formation. Pointing the flashlight in front of me, it could only go so far but I saw bits and pieces of the other side of the wall. Pointing the light downwards, again, it could only go so far, but from here it was nothing but a deep expanse continuing downwards into another stretch of darkness.

This place... it was huge. Almost impossibly huge...

I stood there at the edge of the path, just staring into the void. There was nothing else around me but silence. I could feel cold air rising from the depths of the cavern and I shivered again. I took a deep breath and tried to regain my senses. I pointed my flashlight around and decided to take the path to the left. I told myself I wouldn't go too far... I just wanted to see...

I continued forth in the darkness, unsure of what I would find. If there was anything to find at all...

The tunnel was smaller than the one I had entered from and I had the flashlight pointed at my feet as the path ahead of me wasn't entirely even.

I suddenly heard a sound and froze in my tracks. Until I realized I had just kicked up a pebble and it rolled in the distance. I exhaled slowly and began to consider turning back.

But before I could take another step, I heard a loud thud followed by footsteps and something jabbed me in the jaw. I stumbled and waved the flashlight around, but I was jabbed again in the nose, making me drop the flashlight and I ended up falling over. I saw the flashlight rolling on the ground and I tried to reach for it, but something smacked me in the face and my head collided on the ground.

I felt nothing but a throbbing pain.

I was blinded by darkness.

"Did you get it?" said a voice, somewhere around me.

"I... I think so," replied another voice.

"Did you kill it?"

"No..." the voice exhaled. "I don't think so... I'm just glad it didn't see us."

"What... what is it?"

"I... I don't know. But I think it's about time we find out."