there's an ocean in my body
there's a river in my soul
Cam began their story and swiftly it became an engrossing, involved tale; Sam had not expected people to be quite so prepared, and leaned his chin on his hand as he listened with a smile. The horror of the ending lowered the corners of his lips, but he still clapped at the end, nodding appreciatively. "Thank you, Cameron. That was chilling."
Leaning forwards to turn the bottle again, Sam sat back to find it was pointing at himself. Well then - he opened the book before him and took out from it a page with neat handwriting covering the surface from edge to edge. He had not been confident enough in his improvisation abilities to think he could work without something written down. "Alright, my turn." He announced, sitting up straight and giving a glance to everyone around before starting to tell the story.
"They say in the Climb there's great cave networks that span the whole area underground. That there's hundreds of tunnels and valleys and huge halls of stone. Once, before there was so much lava and heat there, people used to explore in these caves. Some of the tunnels were so tight that you would have stone pressing here-" Sam touched his chest. "And here-" He touched his back.
That idea was enough to terrify him, honestly, but caving just by itself wasn't much of a horror story. "Two sisters went exploring in the caves. There was a point where the tunnel dipped down into water then up on the other side - a dangerous dive; often cave divers surface too soon and hit their heads on the rock, so you have to stay in the dark water for a very long time and not stop, or you won't make it." Maybe he should have drawn diagrams, but Sam hoped they'd understand what he meant anyway.
"The oldest sister dived first and told the younger to dive in after her. The swim started okay at first - she could feel the ceiling above them with her hand and occasionally she could feel her sister tap her foot to say she was still following. So they kept swimming, and swimming, and finally the oldest sister thought it might be time to surface." Sam raised his head as if he himself were reaching up for breath. "She found that they had swum far enough, and she had surfaced at the other side, so she waited for her sister. ...And waited, and waited, and she did not surface too."
Given his own bad luck with disappearing sisters, this was a little ironic, but leaving that to the side he continued: "Just as the older sister was about to dive again and try to find her, she heard a call from further up the tunnel - her younger sister, telling her to hurry up and calling her name. Not sure how she'd gotten ahead but glad to hear from her, the older sister headed towards the voice. It lead her to another thin, tight tunnel. Desperate to see her sister safe, she climbed in without hesitation."
This was the climax, so he took a breath to try and pace himself for delivering the last part. "Her sisters voice kept calling her forwards. So she kept going, even as the rock grew tighter around her. Eventually she was dragging herself along by her fingertips, scraping the clothes and skin off her back and front as she tried to fit between the cracks. The only thing that kept her going was her sister's voice, calling again and again - until suddenly, it stopped. The only thing she could hear was the silence of the cave."
Solemn, he looked between them all. "The thing is, the little sister was the one to give the beginning of this story - because she left the caves alone that day. When she'd dived, she had been too scared to continue and had resurfaced back at the beginning, thinking her sister would realise and return. To this day, no one has seen the older sister in the flesh again, but they say if you go back to the cave you can hear her calling for her sister to tell her where she is."
It wasn't the best story ever, but hey, he was proud of it. With the tale over, Sam laughed a quiet, embarrassed huff and put the paper down. "Well, now only Nikolai is left."
--
Sorry for delay!
This has been Sam's turn, then it's Nikolai! You can react to Sam's story and tell your own in the same post if you'd like : )
Leaning forwards to turn the bottle again, Sam sat back to find it was pointing at himself. Well then - he opened the book before him and took out from it a page with neat handwriting covering the surface from edge to edge. He had not been confident enough in his improvisation abilities to think he could work without something written down. "Alright, my turn." He announced, sitting up straight and giving a glance to everyone around before starting to tell the story.
"They say in the Climb there's great cave networks that span the whole area underground. That there's hundreds of tunnels and valleys and huge halls of stone. Once, before there was so much lava and heat there, people used to explore in these caves. Some of the tunnels were so tight that you would have stone pressing here-" Sam touched his chest. "And here-" He touched his back.
That idea was enough to terrify him, honestly, but caving just by itself wasn't much of a horror story. "Two sisters went exploring in the caves. There was a point where the tunnel dipped down into water then up on the other side - a dangerous dive; often cave divers surface too soon and hit their heads on the rock, so you have to stay in the dark water for a very long time and not stop, or you won't make it." Maybe he should have drawn diagrams, but Sam hoped they'd understand what he meant anyway.
"The oldest sister dived first and told the younger to dive in after her. The swim started okay at first - she could feel the ceiling above them with her hand and occasionally she could feel her sister tap her foot to say she was still following. So they kept swimming, and swimming, and finally the oldest sister thought it might be time to surface." Sam raised his head as if he himself were reaching up for breath. "She found that they had swum far enough, and she had surfaced at the other side, so she waited for her sister. ...And waited, and waited, and she did not surface too."
Given his own bad luck with disappearing sisters, this was a little ironic, but leaving that to the side he continued: "Just as the older sister was about to dive again and try to find her, she heard a call from further up the tunnel - her younger sister, telling her to hurry up and calling her name. Not sure how she'd gotten ahead but glad to hear from her, the older sister headed towards the voice. It lead her to another thin, tight tunnel. Desperate to see her sister safe, she climbed in without hesitation."
This was the climax, so he took a breath to try and pace himself for delivering the last part. "Her sisters voice kept calling her forwards. So she kept going, even as the rock grew tighter around her. Eventually she was dragging herself along by her fingertips, scraping the clothes and skin off her back and front as she tried to fit between the cracks. The only thing that kept her going was her sister's voice, calling again and again - until suddenly, it stopped. The only thing she could hear was the silence of the cave."
Solemn, he looked between them all. "The thing is, the little sister was the one to give the beginning of this story - because she left the caves alone that day. When she'd dived, she had been too scared to continue and had resurfaced back at the beginning, thinking her sister would realise and return. To this day, no one has seen the older sister in the flesh again, but they say if you go back to the cave you can hear her calling for her sister to tell her where she is."
It wasn't the best story ever, but hey, he was proud of it. With the tale over, Sam laughed a quiet, embarrassed huff and put the paper down. "Well, now only Nikolai is left."
--
Sorry for delay!
This has been Sam's turn, then it's Nikolai! You can react to Sam's story and tell your own in the same post if you'd like : )
if I see a sign in the sky tonight
No one's gonna tell me it's a trick of the light
SAMuEL
