The Hole

“It looks really deep.”

Billy kept his hands on the wall of the cave behind him. Jake peered over the edge of the hole.

It spread from one side of the cave to the other. The opening of the black hole like an inky lake before them.

From where Billy stood, he could not see the bottom of it. The sides of the hole disappeared into the darkness. Vines crept down the sides of the cave and into the hole. Slithering over and between each other like black snakes.

“Kevin Anderson said it’s really deep,” said Billy. “Him and his brother —”

“Kevin Anderson says a lot of things,” said Jake.

And that was the end of that conversation.

The two boys stared into the hole. Billy stayed in his safe vantage point, careful not to get too close.

But Jake stood right near the edge.

The vines glistened with dew and looked slippery.

One wrong foot on one of the vines and Billy imagined Jake tumbling into the deep black abyss.

And what was at the bottom?

Not even Kevin Anderson could answer that question.

Kevin was the first to discover the big hole. Inside a cave, underneath a high ridge in Blake’s Wood.

By lunchtime, the big black hole was the major topic of conversation in the entire school.

Jake got down on his hands and knees and peered over the edge of the hole.

“What’re you doing?” said Billy.

“Just getting a better look,” said Jake.

Billy stared back towards the entrance of the cave. A small triangle of light appeared too far away.

“Maybe we should get going —”

“I think I can see something down there,” said Jake.

Billy turned to see what his friend could see. Jake was now lying on the ground of the long corridor. His head over the edge of the hole, facing down.

“Jake, let’s get out of here,” said Billy.

“In a bit. Look at this.”

Billy clung to the rock of the cave walls. There was a strange feeling about the hole. Like a magnet pulling at his body.

Jake turned his head to face Billy.

“Get down here and take a look. There’s something down there.”

Billy wanted to yell out no. He wanted to just turn and walk away. Run out of the dirty old cave. Out into the warmth of the day and hear birds chirping in the trees.

Some other kids were down by the river. Enjoying the first days of summer and outside in the sun.

Jake’s eyes stayed on Billy.

Billy knew that if he chickened out, if he said no, the word would be all over school by lunchtime on Monday. It was the universal law of the playground. And no one broke it.

He crouched down on all fours and spread his feet back behind him, making sure not to get too close over the edge of the dark space in front of him.

“Look,” said Jake in a whisper.

Billy focused his eyes on the great expanse of blackness that fell below. He couldn’t see anything. Just a great shimmering black surface in front of him.

Then something — he wasn’t sure what.

A flicker. Like a tiny fragment of light reflecting off something.

“See it?” gasped Jake. He nudged Billy with his elbow, which made Billy jump.

“No,” said Billy, lying. “I didn’t see anything.”

He glanced at Jake and saw a look in his eyes, a smile of mesmerised glee on his face.

Billy edged slightly away from Jake.

A smell rose up from the hole. An unearthly smell. Something that smelled like it was buried deep underground. Something forgotten years ago. Something that had not seen the light of day for a very long time.

Not an altogether unpleasant smell, but not something Billy wanted in his face for too long.

Jake’s eyes stared unblinking into the dark mass below them. His lips parted slightly and his breath shallow.

He stared into the hole, transfixed by it.

This didn’t seem like just a dare to Jake anymore. It seemed like something much more.

Their initial plan had been simple…

Go down to Blake’s Wood, sneak into the cave underneath the ridge, take a look at the big hole.

Now Jake had a look on his face that said he wanted much more than that.

“Let’s go down and have a look,” he said.

Billy heard every word. Clear like crystal. There were just the two of them there.

But he blinked and stared back at Jake like he had understood nothing he said.

Jake turned to face him. His eyes looked menacing now. Like something had a grip on him.

“Okay?”

Billy shook his head and swallowed away the dryness in his throat.

“No,” he said.

“No?”

Billy shuffled further away from Jake.

“I’m not going down there,” he said. “It’s too dangerous. And no one knows we’re here. If we get trapped down there —”

Jake curled his top lip in disgust and turned away.

“Well, I’m going down there,” he said.

He pushed himself into an upright position and swivelled his legs around. Both his feet hung over the dark hole.

Jake eased himself closer to the edge of the hole and leaned over. He cleared his throat and spat down into the darkness.

“It can’t be that deep,” he said. “Just a few metres.”

“Jake, let’s get out of here,” said Billy. “We can come back another time. With a rope. Or a ladder.”

Jake glanced over at Billy.

“Yeah, why not Billy? We’ll bring your dad’s ladder. And maybe your mum can pack us some sandwiches. We can have a picnic at the bottom.”

He let out a single laugh at Billy.

Billy no longer cared about being ridiculed at school on Monday. It no longer seemed important to follow the rules anymore.

This was stupid. This was dangerous.

“Well, looks like it’s just me,” said Jake.

He pulled himself closer to the very edge of the hole.

Billy reached out a hand. “Jake, stop it. Let’s get out of here. I don’t want you to do this.”

“What you want and what I want are two different things,” said Jake.

And without another sound, he pulled his weight off the edge of the hole and leapt into the blackness.

Billy jerked his hand back. He watched as Jake’s body disappeared from view into the darkness.

Watched as the top of his head, his crop of short blonde hair just cut out of view like he ceased to exist.

“Jake,” said Billy in a loud whisper. “Jake. Are you okay?”

He couldn’t hear a sound.

“Jake!”

He edged forward and stared down into the hole.

Not a single sound came up from the abyss. Not one fragment of light.

It was like Jake had never existed at all.