residuum
\ ri-ZIJ-oo-uhm \ , noun;
1. the residue, remainder, or rest of something.
2. Also, residue. Chemistry. a quantity or body of matter remaining after evaporation, combustion, distillation, etc.
3. any residual product.
4. Law. the residue of an estate.
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“Think we’ve gone far enough?” Jill asked as the two of them
continued their running bounce through the cave.
“I guess
so. It didn’t look like it was
interested in us at any rate.” Kyle
said, looking behind him for any signs of the large creature.
“Thank
god for small miracles.” Jill said as
she came to a stop. Kyle nodded as he
came to rest next to her.
“Yeah,
but now I’m wishing one of us brought something other than a pocket knife to
defend ourselves with.”
“Can’t
be helped. It’s not like we knew this
was going to happen.”
The two
sat down on the soft, springy moss to rest, each looking around them. As she looked at one of the colonies of
glowing butterflies, a random thought crossed Jill’s mind.
“What do
you think they eat?”
“What?”
Kyle asked, looking confused.
“The
butterflies. They hang out on those
rocks, so what do they eat?”
“No
idea. Maybe there’s something growing
on, or even in, the rocks. Why?”
“No
reason. Just kind of wondering, you
know. I mean, so far, we’ve seen two
animals eating something. But there’s
two others that we don’t know anything about.
The butterflies are just more common, so I guess I was just thinking
about them more.”
“I
see. Are you sure it’s not something
else you’re thinking about?” Kyle
asked. He was figuring she was hungry
herself. He had to admit, he was
starting to feel some hunger pangs himself.
They hadn’t brought much to eat, so they would soon have to find
something edible.
“Er,
maybe.” Jill admitted. “Guess it has been awhile since we ate, hasn’t
it?”
“Yeah. Hopefully what we have will last until
someone comes to find us.” He was
already taking his bag of trail mix from his backpack.
He had intended it as a snack, but
since it was about to become his only meal, he would have to ration it out
carefully, as would Jill with her bag of the same mix. The two carefully nibbled on the nuts and
raisins while keeping an eye open for more of the carnivorous creatures. When they both agreed that they had enough to
keep them going, they got up and resumed their aimless journey through the
cavern.
“Do you smell something?” Kyle asked suddenly. Jill took a deep breath before replying in
agreement. There was an odd smell in the
air. Something like paint residue left
out in the sun. It wasn’t a strong
smell, but it was there.
They followed it as best they
could, and soon found themselves at the wall of the cavern. There, about two feet off the ground was what
looked like some kind of crude painting.
It was a small spiral with a single vertical line through it, painted in
the same color as the butterflies, although not as bright. The mark was faded, like it had been painted
a long time ago. Probably the remnants
of some kind of long forgotten civilization.
Kyle knelt down to take another look at the simple painting.
“What do you think it mean?” He asked.
“No idea, but there’s more of them.” Jill said.
Kyle looked. There were indeed
several more of the simple paintings scattered along the wall, each one
slightly different. All were the same
color, but the patterns varied. Most had
a spiral incorporated in them somewhere, and for most it was the main
aspect. They were also nearly level with
each other, forming a ring around the cavern wall.
They followed the rows of paintings,
trying to find some kind of pattern or purpose to them. Neither was able to figure anything out
though. There was something about them
though that nagged at both their minds.
When they started, the paintings were faded and dull. Mere remnants of something else. But as they went, they became brighter, and
seemed to have been done more recently.
They looked at each other, both coming to the same realization.
“Are you thinking what I’m
thinking?” Jill said nervously.
“Yeah, I think I am. There’s something intelligent down here.”
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Hm, what could it be? Sorry, but you'll have to wait to find that out.
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