Word: phosphoresce

 

phosphoresce

\ fos-fuh-RES \  , verb;

1. to be luminous without sensible heat, as phosphorus.

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                Kyle and Jill made their way slowly and carefully down the pitch black corridor, the beams of their flashlights showing no end to the rough hewn passage.  They had been walking for hours with no signs of an end, nor had the cavern sloped upwards any amount.  The soft, bouncy purple moss they were walking on cushioned their steps, lending an eerie silence to their passage, broken only by their own breath. 

                “How long do you think we’ve been walking?”  Jill asked finally.

                “No idea.”  Kyle said, “But I’d say it’s been at least an hour.  Why?”

                “Well, I’ve just been thinking.  There’s something, I don’t know, off about this place.”

                “Just one thing?  I can think of at least four or five off the top of my head.”

                “I’m sure you can.  But I’m thinking of something specific here.”

                “Ok, what?”

                “The air.  It doesn’t smell or feel like cave air, especially since there’s all this moss stuff growing.”  She said.  The air around them was cool but still.  It was also oddly fresh, like they were still on the surface.  There was also a distinct lack of normal cave smells.  There was a scent in the air, but it was nothing that could be identified.

                “Huh.  Come to think of it, you’re right.  I guess I was just paying attention to other stuff and didn’t notice.”  Kyle said, taking a deep breath.  “What do you think it means?”

                “Well, I for one am hoping it means that there’s at least one way back to the surface, but it could mean any number of things.”

                “If there was an exit nearby there’d be a breeze though.  There might be some kind of enclosed ecosystem down here though.”

                “Maybe, but there’s no sunlight down here.  How could anything survive without that?”

                “There’s animals at the bottom of the ocean.  There’s no light down there either.”

                “True…But still.  It just seems weird is all.”  She said, shining her light on Kyle, who nodded his agreement in response.  They continued walking in silence, both of them thinking about what might be waiting for them as they went along the tunnel.

                “Hey!”  Kyle shouted after another hour or so of walking, “Look, there’s something up ahead!”  He pointed excitedly.  There was a small dot of light coming from the distance.  It was hard to tell how far away it was, or how big, but it was something.

                “Maybe it’s a way out!”  Jill said.  She tried to run towards the light, but lost her balance on the springy moss and wound up on her face instead.  “Oh, right.”  She said, picking herself up off the ground.  Kyle chuckled at her fall, which earned him a razor sharp glair, which was lost on him in the darkness.

                “Easy there.  I’m excited too, but we still have to be careful on this moss stuff.”  He said.

                “Yeah, yeah.”  She responded wearily, as she got to her feet and found her footing again.  “Ok, let’s go.”  She said, moving at as quick a pace as she dared on the unstable ground.  Kyle followed behind, moving behind her just fast enough so as not to fall but still keep her from getting too far away.

                As they went, the light grew in size and clarity.  It soon became clear that it was not an exit.  The light was a blue-green color, and no breeze accompanied it.  It was bright enough that they soon no longer needed their flashlights though, and so shut them off to conserve the batteries. 

                The tunnel opened up into a brightly shining cavern of impressive size.  The place was at least twenty feet tall, and extended well past what they could see into the distance.  The ground as walls were covered with the bouncy purple moss they were walking on, with no apparent breaks in the cover.  The only exception was the source of the phosphorescent light that permeated the cavern.  The light was coming from large stalagmites that rose like pillars from the ground.  Stalactites hung from the ceiling like great stone chandeliers, also having the blue-green glow to them.  Nothing moved in the place save for the two spelunkers. 

                “Amazing.”  Jill said, looking around in awe at the place.  Kyle nodded as he took in the sights.  Jill looked at one of the towering rock formations with childlike curiosity.  “What do you think these things are made out of?  I’ve never seen rock that glows like this before.”

                “No idea.  Maybe we should chip some off and have someone take a look at it when we finally get out.”  He went up to one of the pillars to do just that.

He took out a small chisel and mallet he had brought along for just such an occasion.  He placed the tip of the sharp tool to the rock surface and got ready to break off a piece of the glowing rock.  Then something caught his eye and he stopped.  He looked carefully at the pillar and soon a broad smile crossed his face.

“Hey, Jill.  Want to see something cool?”  He asked.

“Sure.”  She said curiously. 

Kyle stepped back a bit and clapped his hands loudly.  As the sound echoed through the large cavern, the air was filled with light as the countless gossamer wings of glowing butterflies filled the air.  They fluttered around them, moving like a shimmering whirlpool as they began settling back onto the pillars of stone.  Some of them even alighted on Jill and Kyle, who stood as still as possible as they tiny insects crawled slowly across their bodies. 

“Wow.”  Jill said with wide eyed enthusiasm.  “Let’s do that again.” 

“Might not be a good idea.  We don’t know what else is down here after all.”  Even as he spoke, he was sorely tempted to clap again.

“I guess so.”  She was a bit disappointed, but she knew he was right.  “Still, do you think we should get a few of these little guys for when we get out?”

“Not it this case.  Or at least not yet.  We should wait till we have a way out first before taking any animal life.” 

“True.”  She looked down, and this time it was her turn to notice something.  “Speaking of which, don’t move.”  She said.

“Why?”  He looked down.  It was hard to see, but as he looked closer there was something on the ground that was not moss.

Both of them slowly knelt down to get a better look at the small creature.  It looked to be reptilian, and its hide was the exact same color and patterning of the moss it was standing on, giving it almost perfect camouflage.  Its body was small, squat, and flat with a short head with a narrow, dolphin like beak coming out of it.  Two black eyes looked around at its surrounding, moving about like those of a chameleon. 

“You almost stepped on it.”  Jill said.

“Yeah.  Think it’s dangerous?”

“No idea, but it’s probably best not to find out.”

“Right.”

“Well, I guess you were right.”  She said as she stood back up.  “There really is a whole ecosystem down here.”

“Yeah.  It even comes with its own light source.”  He said, pointing at the glowing butterfly colonies. 

“Which also doubles as part of the food chain.”  She said jokingly.  “Come on, let’s see what else is down here.”  She said, moving through to cavern slowly and carefully, both to avoid falling and to keep from stepping on something.

“Right.  You know, once we get out here, the boys at the biology department are going to have a field day with this place.”

“Yeah, really.  Oh, by the way, I call the butterflies.  You can have the lizard.”  She said.  It took a moment for Kyle to figure out she was talking about what to name the animals.

“Hey now, that’s not right.  It should be the other way around.  I found the butterflies, so I should name them, and you found the lizard, so that one’s yours.”

“Oh poo on you.”  She said, sticking out her tongue playfully.  “Ok, fine.  In that case, I bet I can find more new species before someone comes to find us.”

“Oh you’re on.”  Kyle said through his laughter.  With that, the two of them went in separate directions, carefully looking up and down for anything new in the blue-green light of the cavern.

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What's this?  A continuation of a story two weeks in a row?  My goodness, what is the world coming too?  Don't get used to it though, this probably isn't going to happen very often.  We'll just have to see what next week brings, won't we?