Tunnel of Dreams

Sixth-graders Robert and Melissa are trapped in the collapse of an old drainage tunnel. When they open their eyes expecting to be dead--

Chapter Two: Ochoa

When Robert opened his eyes, he saw blue.

So, he thought, this is Heaven.

“Robert?”

“Hmm?” He answered, his voice dreamlike.

“Robert, I can’t move.” He heard panic in Melissa’s voice.

“Of course not. You’re buried in several tons of dirt.”

“I can see the sky.”

“I know. So can I.”

“Then we can’t be buried.”

Robert didn’t quite know how to answer that, so he tried to move and found--.

“Melissa, I can’t move either.”

“Why?”

“How should I know?”

“Oh.” Her voice lost its panic, but now sounded almost confused.

Robert tried to lift his head and felt something tighten around his neck. If he kept it up, he’d choke. He lay back and tried instead to move a hand or a leg.

He couldn’t.

Then he twisted his head to the side. It was slow and painful; even his hair seemed to be held, somehow. His effort was enough for he saw Melissa on the ground beside him. Hundreds of fine cords held Melissa in place. Robert thought the cords looked pegged into the ground just like staking down a tent.

This situation seemed familiar.

After a moment’s thought, he remembered and wasn’t amused.

“My name is not Gulliver,” he declared.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re tied to the ground just like Gulliver was.”

“Gulliver?”

“Yes,” he replied shortly, “Gulliver. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver’s Travels. Surely you’ve read it?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Robert didn’t know what to say. Just like a girl not to read one of the great classic books ever written, he thought. Everyone should have to read Gulliver’s Travels. Since Melissa obviously hasn’t--.

“Gulliver,” Robert said, his voice full of disgust at having to explain it to her, “was a sailor. He was shipwrecked during a storm, washed up on the shore of a land called Lilliput. The people there were little. They tied him down with lots of strings until he couldn’t move.”

“You mean--like we’re tied down?”

“Exactly right the first guess,” Robert answered her.

“Well,” Melissa replied, her temper bristling, “you don’t have to be snotty about it!”

“Who? Me? Snotty?”

“Yes! You!”

“Well, I didn’t start the cave-in that got us here in the first place!”

“Neither did I!”

“Yes, you did!”

Their voices grew louder with each statement, and now they were shouting at each other. Tied so firmly to the ground that they could barely turn their heads, the first thing they did was pick a fight.

“Didn’t!”

“Did!”

“Didn’t!”

“DID!”

“Enough already!” A tiny voice shouted into Robert’s ear, making him twist his head around sharply, a motion he regretted at once because it caused him great pain. He felt as if he’d pulled out half of his hair.

“You’re shaking the ground! Scaring the animals! And the people!” The voice concluded.

No matter how he tried, Robert couldn’t see the person speaking. Whoever it was stood behind his ear.

“Who...who are you? I...I can’t see you.” Robert said in a normal voice.

“Shh!” The voice told him. “You’re still as loud as thunder!”

“Sorry!” Robert whispered. “Is this better?”

“Much!” The voice told him. “We can talk civilly, now.”  Robert heard the rustle of grass; something...someone was moving near his head.

“What’s going on?” Melissa asked, her voice loud in the silence.

Robert gently turned his head toward her, careful not to pull his hair again; he already had a headache from the first incautious turn.

“Someone’s screaming in my ear,” he told her softly.

“I can’t hear him,” Melissa replied, her tone of voice indicating that she didn’t believe him.

“He isn’t screaming in your ear.”

“Robert...!”