The Bone Yard

Word Count: 6,612

I truly loved to spend time reveling in the magnificent beauty of nature. Being social was a skill I possessed in very small quantities, and for me making friends was far from being an effortless task. Sequestering myself in the wilderness to go fishing, hiking or camping were the things that gave my otherwise hollow life meaning. 

Since I worked four days at ten hours a day, I almost always had a three-day weekend. This gave me a lot of time to spend engaging in the things I so loved. On this particular occasion I decided to go for a hike in a rather familiar area of the Smoky Mountains 

I brought my fishing rod and reel along with a small tackle box containing the basic items I may need. Along the path I chose on which I was going to take my hike, I knew I would pass several streams. The streams meandered around the forest, and I knew where I would pass several of the crystal-clear waterways. Because of the way the streams twisted around the terrain; I would pass some of them multiple times. I planned to visit some places of which I knew that were great fishing holes. 

Waiting until late morning to leave on my hike, I knew the sun would likely be down by the time I was ready to return home. I brought with me a flashlight and a large lamplight. I also had a smaller back-up flashlight that stayed in my tackle box. My familiarity with the terrain was not an issue. I knew my trails well enough to navigate them under the dim moonlight. The function of the large flashlight was to watch for snakes and other wild animals native to the area. 

I reached a bend in the closest stream and was dismayed to find nothing but a small trickle in an otherwise empty waterway. Dead fish lay scattered in the mucky stream bed which indicated the water-flow stopped abruptly. The poor fish did not have time to escape downstream with the last of the water. Since the fish were not fully dry, I knew it also happened recently. Hopefully, it was nothing more than a dam of logs, sticks and leaves I could possibly dislodge on my own. 

There was obviously no point in stopping here, so I continued my walk. I hoped to find the clog in the stream and jar it loose. I reached the second elbow along my path, and the stream was empty here as well. I wondered how far up the way the clog occurred. At the end of a trail branching from the main path was another stream in which I liked to sit underneath the cool shade of the large trees to fish. 

I decided to head down this path and go to fish in that stream. Even though I still could not yet see this stream because of the trees and a slight hill, I was able to hear the rushing water. The closer I got, the louder the churning water grew. What I heard sounded much more like a river than it did a stream. I was shocked when I finally saw my auxiliary fishing spot. 

Normally, the stream was twelve or so feet wide and ran in a three-foot rut the water dug into the ground over the years. Now this stream filled the rut, overflowed from there and now spread thirty to forty feet wide, so much water forced its way down-stream, it looked more like something for rough river rafting. Fishing here was pointless. 

It became quite obvious to me the clog in the first stream diverted the flow of water to this one. If I wanted to find a place to fish, I had to continue on until I was above whatever caused the dam. I would not find any water deep or tame enough in which to enjoy one of my favorite outdoor activities here. 

It was a beautiful day. The walk was scenic, but I was still in the mood for some fishing. I hoped I would not have to hike too much further before I found stiller water. I could not fish in an empty stream like the first or in a torrential river like the second. 

An hour later I finally saw what stopped one stream and directed the water to the second. I was not near enough to see the clog yet, but I could see the cause. An incredible mass of rock and dirt fell from the almost mountainous hillside. The mudslide covered one stream for hundreds of feet. 

A moderately sized pond formed where the slowing water shifted to merge with the torrential stream. There was no way I would ever unclog it; the course and speed of these two streams changed forever. I hoped the newly formed pond would make a good fishing spot. Walking for an hour and a half to get here each time might get tedious after a while though. 

Getting myself across the flume turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated. My feet sank in the thick dark-red mud, and some sections still shifted when disturbed. Several times I fell and almost broke the rod and reel in my hand. I slipped on the loose mud at one point and dropped my tackle box. The latch holding the box closed unsnapped, and the contents spilled out all over the soft dirt. This was obviously a very recent mudslide as the debris appeared not to have settled at all yet. Disappointed, I decided my best course of action was to pick up the spilled contents of my tackle box and turn back. 

As I gathered my scattered tackle, I glanced up to see the mudslide exposed a rocky opening to what appeared to be a cavern. I lived my whole life here and explored virtually all of the terrain within a day or two’s walk from my house. I knew of some small cavern networks, but I knew of none near my current location. I wondered as to where, if anywhere, the open aperture might lead. 

Once I finished gathering my tackle, I very carefully made my way off of the mudslide and back to solid ground. It took me longer to get back than it did for me to get where I took my spill as I was now being very cautious. I did not want to fall again and dump out my tackle, or even worse break my expensive fishing rod. 

I found a good spot to stash my fishing gear, made sure I had my flashlights and two large spools of fishing line, then began to climb my way up the mountain. Living in the mountains my entire life and spending so much time exploring the wilderness, I became a rather skilled climber. As long as I was not trying to scale a cliff, if the slope was seventy degrees or less, I could make it without the use of climbing gear. 

I chose a climbing spot several hundred feet from the obvious edge of the mudslide. The earthen cavity was not too high up the small mountain, and it only took me about twenty-five minutes to reach it. Scattered stones rose from the grass and moss covering much of the hill which made the climbing much easier. 

When I peeked my head into the cavern and gave my eyes a moment to adjust to the dark, I thought I could make out a very dim glow emanating from inside. I thought it might simply be the sunlight illuminating a cloud of mist or dust. Perhaps it was a bio-luminescent mold or bacterial growth in the damp cave walls. 

I checked my flashlights to make sure I did not damage them when I fell. The bulbs shined brightly in each one, so I felt confident I would be fine. Turning the lights back off, I stepped a little deeper into the cave and further away from the warming rays of the sun. As my eyes progressively adjusted to the dimmer light, I steadily made my way in a bit deeper. 

I did indeed see a dim yellowish glow coming from deeper inside the cavern. The tunnel was natural, and very irregular in shape, so it was not possible for me to see the source of the strange light. I heard of luminescent plants, fungi and even some deep-sea animals producing their own light, but this appeared much too bright for something like that. 

Before I lost sight of the daylight, I tied the end of my fishing line to a small rock outcropping. If my lights failed, or if I got turned around the wrong way, I could use the line to find my way back out of the ground. I learned this life saving lesson the first time I went into a small cavern with so many branches, twists and turns I found myself lost. Luckily that time I found my exit before the battery in my flashlight was exhausted. 

I slid the red filter over the bulb of the lamplight, adjusted the dial to the dimmest possible setting then closing my eyes tightly, I turned on the lamplight. Confident I had it on the lowest setting, I slowly opened my eyes. I was cautious not to blind myself before exploring any deeper, and with the light on dim the batteries would last longer. The red filter would allow my eyes to stay adjusted to the very low level of light. 

Some places in this crude passageway were tall and wide enough so as not to cause me any problems. Most of it though was short and narrow. In these places I had to crawl or even shuffle forward on my stomach to get through. I felt relieved any time I found a larger opening. In these places I knew I could turn myself around. It was very comforting to know, if I hit a dead end, I would not have to back myself up all the way to the surface. 

Progress was slow, but that was to be expected. In such small passages of jagged rocks and rugged ground, I needed to take a lot of care to avoid seriously injuring myself. Almost half an hour into my trek, I stopped to rest for a moment. In order to preserve my light’s battery, I turned it off as I set there to rest. 

It was not so obvious with the light on, but with my light off that slightly green tinted, yellow glow appeared to be getting brighter. I was not sure if it was because I was in absolute darkness or if it was brighter than it was when I was still near the entrance. I sat there for five or ten minutes. Glancing further into the cave, I tried to find a source. Too many twists and turns remained ahead of me to get a clear look. 

After climbing, walking and crawling through the bowels of the earth for nearly two hours, the small capillary in which I traveled spread into a larger cave. Unfortunately, a fifteen-foot rock facing separated me from the opening. I had to climb up the damp rock to continue my journey. 

I turned my light off and sure enough I found the strange glow to be even brighter here. It was even bright enough to allow me to climb without the use of my flashlight. First, I tugged and shook on the stones of the wall to make sure they were good and stable before I began my ascent. 

At the top of the rock face, the ground leveled out into a large grotto. I crawled into the large space and quickly brought myself to my feet. Finally, I found the astounding source of the strange light. I could not wrap my mind around what I saw. The grotto was only a niche in a much-much larger cave. 

Covering the walls and ceiling were hundreds of thousands of insects twice the size of a man. The creatures crawled about, and the whole place seemed to sparkle as the giant bugs turned on and off luminescent bulbs at the end of their abdomen. They produced a yellow light, but occasionally and very briefly some of their wings flashed a bright green. 

Fear wrapped its strangling fingers around my throat for a moment. I could not breathe. Seeing such massive insects shook me and left me unable to move. I did not know what these things ate, but I certainly did not want to be on their menu.  The giant insects clung to the ceiling and walls, crawling around the stone and over each other. When I finally decided it appeared the massive bugs had no interest in me, I continued to move forward. 

The grotto in which I stood was far above the floor of the giant cavern, so I was unable to see what was below. I slowly moved forward until I could see what was at the bottom. I was most assuredly afraid, but I believed I made an astonishing discovery. In the luminous cave, I found something no other human in recorded history ever set eyes on. 

Illuminated by the swarm of insects above I saw mushrooms the size of trees covering much of the cavern floor, and giant stalagmites rose into the air. I heard of fossils of mushrooms this size being found, but no reports in modern times of any live fungi this large were ever made. None of the insects appeared to be on the ground. Apparently, they stayed on the walls and ceiling. I thought perhaps they consumed the mushrooms, and I wanted to get down there so I could take a better look. 

Something of a ramp ran along the wall connecting the grotto to the lower level. Some of the bugs crawled on and around the ramp, but this appeared to be the only way down. If I wanted to explore the bottom, I had to get through the giant beetles. This was something I definitely did not want to do, but I had no choice if I wanted to see more. 

Very slowly, I began to take one tiny step after another. To my relief, the enormous insects stayed safely away from me. Whenever I approached one, it would slowly scurry out of my way. They seemed to be leery of me, but not afraid. 

The ramp was long, and moving as slowly as I did, it took me nearly an hour before I could better see what was below. Here and there I saw the beetles feeding on the top of the mushrooms. An amazingly large variety of mushrooms grew in this strange place, but the creatures appeared to be particular in what they ate. Displaying none of their bioluminescence, the beetles chewed the tops off what look like morels. 

The bugs quietly descended from the walls or ceiling landing on these thirty-foot-tall mushrooms. They did not fly down; it was more like they were gliding as if to make no sound. For only minutes at a time the giant insects fed. As they abandoned their eating spot, they ascended quickly into the air. Fluttering about for several minutes, the beetles then found a landing place on the ceiling or walls. 

A ridge varying in height from a foot to fifteen feet tall stood between me and what was beyond in the cave. Initially I thought it was some natural rock formation. Upon closer inspection, I found the ridge to be composed of feces. The massive lightening bugs crawled on the walls and released their droppings from there. I started to worry a massive dropping from one of the huge things from that height might kill me. I found the shortest place and as quickly as I possibly could I jumped across. 

I still landed at the edge of the fecal ridge and almost lost my balance. When my feet shifted slightly under me, I came close to falling backward into the pile of insect dung. It did not stink that much at even a short distance, but the discards held a deeply pungent odor up close. I nearly vomited at the thought of almost falling into it. 

My first spool of fishing line exhausted shortly after I reached the grotto. I looked for a good place to tie off my second spool, but I changed my mind. With the yellow lights crawling about, the ramp was obvious and visible. I decided to hang on to it for later use. 

The fungi forest was comprised of mushrooms varying from an inch to thirty feet in height. Feeling the stalks, I found them to be at least as hard as wood. Some mushrooms grew in tight clusters, reaching a height of only six feet or so with much smaller caps and tender stalks. 

Because of the size of the mushrooms and their caps, seeing into the fungal forest was nearly impossible. Only specks of light from above found its way between the caps and onto the cavern floor. Given the near absolute darkness of the forest, I found a narrow, five-foot-tall stalk to which I could attach my fishing line. 

I had to use my flashlight if I was going to go any further. I made sure I still had the red filter in my powerful lamplight. Keeping the power adjusted to the dimmest setting, I turned it on and allowed my eyes to acclimate to the darkness. Using a bright white light would keep me blinded to everything on which I was not shining it. 

An amazing number of different mushrooms filled the area. Some of them resembled mushrooms with which I was familiar, but many more were much stranger. In this subterranean world, plants did not have the necessary sunlight to develop. The fungus here was allowed to evolve and grew much more so than on the surface. 

I tied off my line, and after scanning the area for a good five minutes, I slowly and cautiously began to enter the mushroom forest. Fecal material from the insects dripped off the caps here and there, but not too frequently. When I looked at some of the shorter stalks, I saw many of the round caps were concave and not convex. It appeared these mushrooms evolved to absorb nutrients from the top rather than what was on the ground and below the slick, thin soil. 

Slowly I scanned the area with my flashlight and then began cautiously moving into the fungi forest. Thus far I saw no forms of animal life beside myself with the obvious exception of the giant insects. I was sure I would see rodents and possibly common insects, but there was nothing but the colossal mushrooms. 

I had to be careful to watch my step. The cave was probably at one-hundred percent humidity, and although the ground was mostly rocky, it was very slick. I did not know if it was fungi, a sort of algae or simply the dampness, but I almost slipped on the slimy surface several times. The last thing I needed was to injure myself and be unable to get back out. 

At one point, the ground began to slope. It only dropped gradually at first, but the floor became steeper and steeper. I tried to find a way around it, but the slope seemed to cover the whole ground area. With the rocks so slippery, I almost turned back. Right before I turned to go, I noticed the sloping ground turned into what appeared to be another ramp leading even deeper into the earth. 

I decided to proceed and see where this new ramp led. Something suddenly dawned on me and left my head spinning. It became obvious to me this was not a natural ramp. Clear tool marks scoured the wall and floor. I would think perhaps it was carved by primitive man a long time ago, but there was a dry trail leading right through the middle. Something used this ramp often enough and maintain a worn path. 

I would think the narrow trail worn through the slime on the floor to be made by some animal, but the tool marks proved otherwise. At this point I really thought about turning around and running back to the exit. This was quite terrifying, but it was also exhilarating. I was probably about to discover an intelligent species no human ever encountered. I could only hope they were a benevolent race. 

They did seem to be completely isolated from the rest of the world, so it was very possible they never encountered someone from the human race in the past. There was a possibility that could make me seem very frightening to them. 

I carefully made my way to the ramp. With the steady drop of the slope, I still feared the danger of slipping and falling. I made it about twenty feet down the ramp when I heard a loud hissing sort of screech far behind me. I could hear the frantic fluttering of wings. It suddenly occurred to me, the reason the giant insects descended quietly, fed for only a few minutes, then fluttered loudly back to the upper section of the chamber. They were avoiding and warning the others of a predator. 

Now I did not know what to do. I wondered if I walked past or right under whatever just attacked that giant bug. If I did encounter something, I had no idea what to expect. If I did pass one, why did it not attack me? 

Then it dawned on me. The reason I saw no other animal life here on the ground was because everything was overhunted to the point of extinction. There was nothing at the ground level for these predators to eat except for the occasional unfortunate insect. Terror washed over me as I realized I may be their next meal. 

Horror coursed through every nerve in my body making me shiver with fright. Standing there at the top of this ramp, I realized I would assuredly become food if one of those predators found me. I was not sure if I would be safer in a clearing so I could better see something coming, or if I should go back into the forest of mushrooms. There I may be more concealed, but so would anything out there hunting me. I now deeply regretted my decision to explore this wondrous world on my own. 

Moving very slowly, controlling my breathing, and otherwise trying to remain silent, I used my fishing line to lead me back to my original location. I maybe made it a hundred feet when I felt a forceful tug pull on the plastic line. Nothing else happened for a few minutes, then I felt the fishing line begin to twitch and vibrate. 

Whatever the thing was, it was following the line and could be making its way to me. Now I was faced with one of the greatest challenges yet. I could keep following my line and hope whatever held it would let it go, or I could move deeper into the haunting, fungi forest and take the chance of becoming hopelessly lost. 

I could hear nothing. Whatever was following my line made no sound I could hear. The tugging on the string told me whatever it was, it was getting closer. I resolved to the fact I had to let go and hide amongst the giant fungal stalks. 

It was not possible for me to turn off my light. Without it, I would do nothing but stumble around in the darkness. I kept it dim and left the red filter in place. I hoped, since whatever this was lived in a subterranean world, it would have very poor eyesight at the least. 

If this thing did have poor or no eyesight, it had to rely on other senses. At that moment I noticed how loud my breathing seemed to be in the silence of the cap covered forest. Each step I took now sounded to me like a bolder hitting the ground. 

I tried to calm myself and ease my breath and took great care in keeping my footfalls silent. Slowly I moved away from my lifeline and stepped further into the fungi forest. I did not know what was coming toward me, but this was its world. If I did not keep quiet, this thing was sure to follow me. 

If one of these creatures was near, it only made sense to reason that more of them would be stalking about. I could be surrounded by these predators and not even know it. I truly wished I never came to this subterrainian world, especially not alone. No one else knew I was here. If something was to happen to me, my body would probably never be recovered. 

I stood with my back against one of the giant fungi stalks and watched for whatever followed my line. Finally, something came into view. It was like no creature I ever saw or heard of. It appeared somewhat human, but its features were grotesquely distorted. Its arms and legs stretched a foot or two longer than a normal person. It crawled on all fours, plucking at the line as it went. The torso was short, and its neck was afixed to the back of its head instead of below the jaw, making it face straight forward in a terrifyingly distorted way. 

Suddenly it stopped at the point where I let go of the line and stepped deeper into the forest. Sniffing the ground, it began to follow my scent toward my current position. With it coming toward me, I got a better look at the hideous face. Its eyes appeared a milky white giving it the appearance of a corpse. Its nose was long and sharp, which it used to track me. The ears were massively oversized, which told me it could hear very well. 

I tried stepping backwards, but I could not watch it and where I was going at the same time. I turned and began to walk away, but it obviously heard me. It scuttled along the ground with rapid motions and would be upon me very soon. I tried getting away as fast as I could, but my feet were not made for this terrain. This thing obviously was. It was on me in no time. 

The creature sprung through the air from twenty feet away to crash down right on top of me. I felt its talons dig into my skin as it knocked me to the ground. The pain was absolutely excruciating. I did not know if it had venom in its talons or if it was simply the bacteria and grime under its nails. Whatever it was, it stung immensely, like lye poured into a wound. 

I wrestled with the beast as it tried to pin me solidly against the ground. The creature evolved for this underground world, but it was not built for fighting something like me. It had a very poor range of motion in its neck, and it could barely lower its head toward me, which put me at somewhat of an advantage. I struggled against this thing, then I managed to reach my shin and remove the fishing knife I kept tucked in my boot. 

In our struggle, I almost dropped the knife several times. Finally, I obtained a solid grip on the handle and plunged the blade straight into its chest. When the metal pierced its sickly pale flesh, it let out a piercing scream. It squealed so loudly, the volume caused my ears to throb. With it distracted from the pain, I managed to free myself from its grasp, and I plunged the knife into it over and over. Ichor so dark red it was almost black spilled out of its wounds. It covered my shirt, arms and face. The stench was so intense I almost began to vomit. 

Finally, the thing stopped its screaming and struggling and fell limp on top of me. As I fought to roll the beast off of me, I heard the screams of others in the distance. Others heard its piercing screech and were no doubt coming to its aid. 

It was difficult in this mushroom forest for me to determine the direction from which the other screams came. I could not tell if it was an echo effect or if the things were surrounding me. I put the deceased creature to my back and began to run as fast as the slick ground allowed. In our struggle, I lost my sense of direction and could only pray I was not running back to the ramp descending deeper into the earth. If I was to survive this ordeal, I needed to find a way back to the sunlit world. Going further down would surely mean my demise. 

Here and there I could see a bit of light coming from the ceiling crawling insects. I looked for some sign as to which direction my exit might be, but I could only make out small portions of the ceiling at a time. I could not see the walls of the giant cavern at all. My only hope was to keep in the direction I was headed. 

I heard these things screeching softly and knew they were closing in on me quick. I picked up my pace and made no more effort trying to be quiet. These encroaching creatures followed my scent, so noise really did not matter at this point. Even as adept as these creatures were to this terrain, I could hear their taloned digits scuffling toward me. 

I turned back as I was running in an attempt to see my pursuers. I only turned for a very brief moment, but that was far too long. I should not have looked back, because as soon as I did, I slid on a cone of insect dung and plunged face first into a six-foot-tall pile of guano fallen between some of the giant mushroom caps. What came next was the last thing I would expect. The grotesque abomination ran right past me. It continued another fifty feet or so, and then screeched so loudly, it echoed through the forest. 

Four more of these abominations of what might have once been humans arrived at my location. They screeched back and forth, talking I guess. Fanning out, they sniffed the ground and mushroom stalks in the immediate area. On two occasions, the creatures moved right around me. 

It was the dung. Apparently, these things relied mostly on their sense of smell. As disgusting as it was, sinking into the pile of insect feces saved my life. The smell of the guano was much stronger than my own scent, so I was now invisible to them. 

They continued to scan the area, following the scent of my trail which led me here. I could not really say how long they searched for me as time felt meaningless. Eventually, they gave up and all five ran off in the direction I believed the descending ramp to be. I waited for a long time. I waited to see if I could hear any of them before I moved. 

I tried to clean the lens of my flashlight, but I could not get it to produce enough illumination to be useful. Feces smeared on the lens blinded the glow. There was one option available to me, I could remove the dung smeared filter and shine it in its normal brightness. I was entirely certain these creatures were blind, so I did not worry about the glow of my electric lamp drawing any of their attention. 

Now I could see the slick ground and the large stalks clearly. It was an amazing sight, were I not terrified beyond comprehension. All that mattered now was getting out of here. 

Slowly and quietly I rose to a standing position. I tucked my pants into my boots and filled my jeans with the dung. I filled my pants pockets. I tucked my shirt into my pants and filled that as well. I caked it on the outside of my jeans. The smell was ghastly and the fumes stung my nose and caused my eyes to burn. Struggling not to vomit, I caked as much of the material on my body as would stick. 

Once I felt comfortable my scent was sufficiently masked, I began to walk toe to heel very slowly. Very quietly I moved forward scanning the area with my large flashlight. It was hard to say how long I walked, but my heart raced with excitement when my lamp shined upon a wall of stone. I reached the side of the cavern. 

I moved along the wall watching the lightening bugs above. I was trying to find some indication as to where my ramp to the outside was. I thought it would be easy to locate, but from this angle, it was really difficult to tell. Eventually I reached a rather large patch devoid of the massive mushrooms. 

Scanning the walls, I finally located the ramp by which I entered. It was on the far side of the cavern. I went the wrong direction and was now the furthest from my exit as I could possibly be.  Tears ran from my eyes, not from the horribly pungent odor covering my body, but because of the fact I knew I would never leave this place. 

My lips began to tremble as I fell to my knees. As hard as I was trying to escape this dungeon, all I did was get myself even deeper into the nightmare. It seemed all hope was lost until I looked upward. A light shined into the cavern from above. I thought it no more than an illusion, a figment of my terrified mind desperate for escape, but after a few moments I was sure it was real. 

It was probably one hundred feet or so up a steep incline. Regaining my composure, I rose to my feet and started making my way along the base of the wall. The wall was steep, but it was also very craggy. The rocks provided plenty of hand and footholds. It was well within my ability to climb. I just had to make sure I did not let myself slip on the slick rocks at the bottom. 

I wiped the drying dung from my hands. I could not hold onto my flashlight and climb at the same time, so I undid part of my belt, slipped it through the handle then re-buckled it. I would not be able to direct my light very well at all, but it did allow me to see the stone wall immediately in front of me. 

Carefully and quietly, I began my ascent. The craggy wall was slick at the bottom but became drier and coarser as I moved upward. It was a long climb. I wanted to go as fast as I could, but I had to continue to be as quiet as I could be. I was very careful to make sure each stone was firmly in place before putting any weight on it. I did not want to kick a rock loose or anything else to alert the abominations in the fungi forest as to my current location. 

When I was almost two thirds of the way to my escape, my left foot slipped underneath me. I managed to keep my grip, but I smashed my leg against the stone. My shin scraped against the rock, and from sheer instinct I almost cried out in pain. I was able to restrain myself and did not shout as my instincts told me to do. 

Planting my feet once again on the stone jutting out below me, I continued my climb to the glorious light of the sun shining through the small hole. As I approached the exit, I saw the carapace of some of the lightening bugs here and there. It looked like perhaps the insects died, fell down the wall and wedged into the rocks. 

My heart raced and my ears rang as my blood pressure increased. Anxiety, fear and joy caused my head and knees to shake. I had to be careful. I was too close to my escape, and I was not going to let this opportunity slip away from me. It was a blessing to find this opening after I journeyed so far from my original entrance. 

Determining the size of the opening when I was at the floor of the cavern was difficult, but as I got closer and closer, I could see the opening was plenty large enough for me to crawl out. It was fortunate for me as I worried I may have to jar stones loose to widen the opening. 

An unbelievable sense of relief washed over me when the warm light began to shine on my face. The rays of the sun never looked so beautiful. I grabbed onto the outer edge of the hole and pulled myself out. I nearly let loose when I saw what covered the slope outside. 

Spread across the ground I saw hundreds or possibly thousands of the chitinous shells of lightening bugs. That was not what terrified me so much. When I looked around, I saw the bones of cattle, deer and all sorts of wild animals. That meant either the poor animals somehow wandered into the cavern, which seemed unlikely, or the more logical answer was these monsters hunted outside of their subterranean world. 

A wave of nausea, numbness and horror washed over me when I saw the skulls and bones around me. Among all the animal bones and insect carapace, I saw the skulls of several human beings. I did not know how they ended up being a part of this field of bones. Perhaps these creatures were responsible for the occasional unfortunate missing hiker in the mountains over the years. 

As I started to pull myself the rest of the way out of the darkness, I felt something grab hold of my legs. I screamed in agony as something sharp pierced my flesh. The pain was so intense I could not breathe, and it burned, like lye. 

My heart was still beating as I felt those subterranean terrors rip the flesh from my legs. Here I was so close to escaping back into my world, and the underground humanoids located me. Their sharp talons tore into my abdomen, and I could no longer hold myself out of the hole. 

I did not realize my excitement to reach the surface increased my blood pressure which caused the abrasion on my shin to bleed. I covered myself in guano to hide from them, and they located me over the scent of the blood from a small scrape on my leg. 

The deformed beasts pulled me into the hole as they ripped the organs from my body. Right there, they feasted on my flesh. Helplessly I watched them tearing me apart; then suddenly everything got cold. The darkness of death finally took me. 

I was so close. I reached the warm, welcoming sunlight and thought I was safe. I was dead wrong, literally. I was momentarily back in my world and those abominations drug me back into theirs. Soon, after they were done feasting on my soft flesh, I would return to the surface take my place as part of the bone yard. 

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