“Well… I suppose it can’t be helped,” Lizzy stated, as she looked down the elevator shaft of the mine with her flashlight that was beginning to flicker.

            I shoved my hands into my gloves and adjusting the harness around my waist. “Yes, it can be, we can turn around and walk away like we know nothing.”

            At, that moment a loud moan somewhere between a pained whine and a growl echoed up the shaft. Lizzy waved her hand over the shaft. “We can’t just leave it; it sounds like it’s hurt and needs help.”

            “Exactly, IT, we don’t even know what IT is?” I stated, as I stepped forward and clicked the rope onto my harness.

            “Oh… Stop being so insensitive, Alex.” Lizzy swatted my arm.

            “It’s not like you’re the one going down there,” I argued, as I peered down into the coal dust filled shaft one more time.

            Lizzy shoved the flashlight into my arms and pushed me into the shaft. “Get to it!”

            I fumbled in the air as my feet were no longer connected to solid ground, and I dropped the flashlight spinning down into the shaft. It landed at the bottom of the hole with a large crack, and one last flicker plunged the surrounding air into darkness. A skitter of something sharp on the stone below echoed through the darkness and another whine pierced the air.

            Righting myself back upright on the rope, I tugged at it. “Nope, Nope, NOPE, not doing this!”

            However, instead of being pulled back up I continued to be lowered down. “Lizzy! Pull me up, not down!”

            “Oh, don’t be such a scaredy cat,” she huffed out, her shadow being cast against the wall. “What have you been eating? You’re heavy.”

            Another roar came rolling up to us. “Lizzy, I mean it, pull me back up!”

            She didn’t listen as she continued to lower me down to where the very unhappy sounds were coming from as they grew louder, and the sounds of scratching continued to swirl around under my dangling feet. I gulped as I reached the bottom of the shaft, and I was forced to place my feet on the ground. The skittering of tiny claws rushed away to my right and out of sight, sending me stumbling back. Falling with a hard thud, I crawled on my hands backwards away from the sound, my hands landed on the round cylinder of the flashlight. Picking it up, I slapped the end against my hand until it flickered again. Shinning the light into the old mining tunnel, I could see where old tools and mining helmets had collected in a cart on the rails off to the side of a boarded off path. Shinning the light in front of me, it cast an image of a large dragon-like creatures with its wings flared out, head raised, and mouth opened with a ferocious roar and all its teeth bared.

            “Ahh!” I dropped the flashlight and yanked on the rope. “Pull me up, PULL ME UP!”

**********

            As the terrified boy was pulled up the shaft, a little palm sized dragon came scurrying out from behind the pile of old mining tools. He scurried over to the abandoned flashlight and used his wing to click the light on and off. The tiny dragon gave it a little sniff, before taking it in his mouth and carrying it into his little hidden space.

            He adjusted the light to shine on the small pile of shiny scraps, watches, missing earrings, and jewelry left behind by past explorers causing specks of light to shine around the walls of the mine tunnel. The little red dragon pranced over to the cone of an old megaphone and gave the largest roar he could muster, making it bounce up the shaft louder that it really was. He lifted his head to make sure the two frantic teens were moving away from his home. Licking his lips, he chittered in contentment as he slithered back up onto his pile of shiny things and fell asleep.

©All writing property of R. M. McDermott LLC