They walked over to where they had heard the noise and felt
the ground shake. They each used their
feet like “ground ears” to see if they could feel any more shaking. The shaking had stopped. **** leaned over and whispered to
Colordo.
[**** --- whispering] “Now I think that we should spread out
and not be too close together, just in case-.”
[Colordo whispered back] “Who do you think your kidding
pal? We’re going to be like meat and
potatoes. Separate their good but
together they’re great. Let’s go!”
So they inched their way into the big hole, ever so
slowly, where the roots had been. The dirt was very loose so they had to hold
onto the root parts that were left dangling out of the ground. The rocks and roots in the loose dirt fell
into the hole as the boys moved their feet.
Then the bottom of the hole
started to cave in. It almost
looked like a whirlpool, swirling round and round. The swirling grew larger and larger. In an instant it became clear to the boys that they had better
get out of there.
[****] “This is not
good!”
[Colordo] “Tell me
something that I don’t know!”
They both tried to turn and grab the strongest roots and
rocks that they could so that they could pull themselves out. ****’s foot slipped and he lost his footing
completely. Colordo was a bit higher up
in the hole and tried to grab **** but he couldn’t.
[Colordo] “GRAB MY FOOT – GRAB MY FOOT”, he yelled.
**** reached over to grab
Colordo’s foot and then his hand lost it’s grip on the root. He slid down --- and the only thing keeping
him from dropping all the way into the hole was ---- Colordo’s pants leg. **** turned over and grabbed Colordo’s leg with his other hand and started to pull
himself up. By this time Colordo’s hands were cramping from holding onto the dirty
root so hard. The dirt on the root was
making it very hard for him to keep holding on.
[Colordo] "I’M SLIPPING!”
[****] "TRY TO HOLD ON!” **** yelled back but it was
too late.
Colordo’s grip just couldn’t last. The dirt on that root was like sandpaper and the extra weight was
too much for him to hold.
They fell into the loose dirt that was flowing down into the
earth. Moving round and round, they
grabbed at the sides of the hole and tried to scoop their way out but the more
they moved the more they went down. Franticly they moved their hands side to
side trying in vain to get a grasp of something that could stop them from going
any further down. They spun toward the
middle, where the dirt, roots and stones were being pulled down. Before they
knew it they were deep in that flowing dirt being dragged down under the
surface. The dirt covered their
stomachs, chests and shoulders. In a
matter of seconds they were in the center of the earthen whirlpool and pulled
under the surface. The flowing dirt had covered them entirely. **** held his
breath and tried to move his arms but the dirt was holding them too
closely. He knew that Colordo must feel
the same. It seemed like forever that
he was under that dirt and then...------ SPLAT ...----- he landed right on top of
Colordo. The dirt was still falling all
around them from the hole that was in the top of the cave.
[Colordo] “MOVE IT!!” Colordo yelled, “BEFORE WE’RE BURRIED
AGAIN!”