Thursday, July 10, 2008

DIG by Douglas Waltz

Awakening he disoovered that his head was throbbing, he was in a crouched position and in some sort of crude tunnel. A nearby lantern with a candle flickered and kept the darkness at bay.
A quick glance showed a tunnel that extended behind him and one that went a little ways in front of him. There was some sort of crude digging implement near his left hand. A touch to the back of his hand came back with blood. A nearby rock with blood on it confirmed that he had been struck by it.
So, he had been struck by a rock while digging a tunnel. Now, he had no idea why or even who he was. How did he get here and, more importantly, why was he here?
Was he breaking out from jail? Did he have some bizarre reason to be in this tunnel? And where did the other end of it lead to? Too many questions and it made his head throb.
Then he heard the scuttling off in the darkness. Way off down the tunnel there came an unearthly sound. He strained his ears to listen, to see if he could discern what it was. Did he have a partner in this tunnel? It would explain the absence of dirt from digging, but something made the hairs on the back of his head prickle with fear.
In a panic he began to dig.