Lost — a short story for English reading and speaking

“I can’t see nothing.”

Carl felt in front of his body with his hands. He had never experienced dark like this before.

There was not one fragment of light anywhere. It made him open his eyes wider, as if that would access some hidden source of light and a beam of it would shine in front of him.

“Hang on, I’ve got the flashlight working again.”

Dan was the only one of them with a torch.

Carl had cursed himself for not bringing one from when they first broke into the mineshaft an hour ago. Since then, Dan had held on to the only source of light and the way out.

“Well, turn the stupid thing on then,” he said.

He stayed stock still, his sense of hearing ultra sharp but no sound at all apart from Dan fiddling with the torch in his hands.

Then a brilliant beam of light lit the space up.

Around them, the misshapen rock walls of the mine. A tunnel leading further into the darkness.

“It feels like there’s no air down here,” said Carl. “I can’t get my breath.”

“There is less air,” said Dan. “We’re quite a way down.”

He turned and walked forward. The tunnel was barely big enough for one person to walk. The top of the tunnel had sharp protruding rocks. Carl had already whacked his head on one or two of them.

“How much further?” he asked Dan.

“I don’t know,” said Dan. “But it can’t be too far.”

Carl had long regretted coming down the mine with his friend Dan.

I’ve found a way in, said Dan. We should go this Sunday.

At first, it sounded like a great idea. Going into some place that was forbidden.

But he now realised that he was more interested in the adulation he would receive in school, telling people about going to the mine, rather than the actual act itself.

They had been traipsing around this place for ages now and it had just turned into hard work.

Dan stopped just in front of Carl, and Carl bumped into the back of him.

It was the hundredth time he had done this. No warning of stopping.

Carl gritted his teeth to prevent himself from swearing out loud.

“Let’s go back,” he said. “I’m sick of this now.”

“We can’t go back,” said Dan. “We’ve come this far. We have to get to the end.”

“But that could be miles away. These mines go on and on for ages.”

He looked behind him but just saw pitch black.

Why had he agreed to come down here with Dan?

No other kids at school liked Dan. He was the odd one out.

The kid that all the other kids didn't seem to like. He wasn’t bullied by anyone.

But the other kids didn't let him in their inner circles.

Dan shuffled ahead.

“Come on, let’s keep going.”

Carl followed, hoping that they would come to a dead end and have to turn back.

They moved forward for what felt like an hour or more. But in reality, just a few minutes.

Carl's body was covered in sweat and his back ached from walking hunched over along the tight funnel.

Then Dan let out a gasp.

“We’re here.”

The space opened up into a huge cavern.

Dan shone the light against the walls and above.

It was like being inside a huge cathedral. A vast space.

“What is this place?” said Carl. His voice echoed off the walls and reverberated back and forth.

“This is what I was talking about,” said Dan. “The miners found this big cave as they were digging years ago. I think some of them died.”

“What is it, though? Just a big hole in the ground?” said Carl.

“It’s a sinkhole.” Dan beamed the light around the huge space. “It fills with water every few weeks. Then it drains off somewhere.”

“Shine the light to the top,” said Carl.

Dan raised the beam to the top. But the torch was not bright enough to reach. It petered out into a greyish fog.

“When the miners found this, they hacked away at the wall and it filled the mine shaft with water. Everyone drowned, and they closed the mine.”

The other kids were right about Dan. He was weird.

Carl wondered what he did in his spare time.

He had told Carl that he liked to read about local history and especially about the mines.

“Let’s go down there,” said Dan. He shone the light down a ledge that led to a large crevice in the rock.

“It looks too dangerous,” said Carl. “We should go back.”

But Dan had already started moving forward.

Carl stayed put. He crouched down and found a piece of rock to sit on. It jabbed into his backside, but it was much more comfortable than walking through the tunnel.

He tried not to think of the long walk back.

He could just make out Dan scrambling down the ledge, the light bouncing off the walls of the huge cave, and the sound of small rocks and pebbles reverberating off the sides.

Carl saw the light beam as Dan shone it down the crevice of the rock.

“You should come down here,” he called back to Carl. He sounded like he was miles away. “This goes a long way down.”

“I don’t think you should go near there,” said Carl. “It could be dangerous.”

Dan shone the light from under his chin and made a ghost sound.

Ooooo-oooo….

Carl tried to laugh, but he just wanted to get out of this place now.

“I’m just going to get down this bit here,” said Dan.

“Dan. Come on. Let’s go back.” Carl tried to keep the tension out of his voice.

“Just a couple more minutes,” said Dan.

Carl watched as the light disappeared as Dan went lower down.

Then he heard a scuffling sound and a short cry, followed by the sound of small rocks and stones sliding down.

The light disappeared completely.

“Dan!” he called out.

The huge cave was pitch black.

“Dan, where are you?”