The Caterpillar King by Noah Pearlstone

Author:Noah Pearlstone
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi

I cut through one rope and freed my left hand. Amanti was busy with the cocoon. She got tired of playing patty cake pretty quick. Now she was really smashing it. Ned would be lucky to come out alive. The light pulsed bright and quick. Amanti hammered down again and again. But nothing budged. This was a tough case to crack. Ha.

“What’re you laughing about?” said Amanti. She wiped sweat from her forehead.

“Ever see a stupid kid try to open a bag of chips? They’ll pull and push and bite. But if they just took a second to read, they’d see a little arrow pointing to a “Tear Here,” sign.”

“So you told me the wrong way to do this?”

“Nah,” I said. “I just didn’t tell you the right way.”

Amanti looked sick. But she started using her brain. She crouched down by the cocoon. She looked for a seam. She didn’t see one. It kept her very occupied. In the mean time, I cut through the last of my ropes. But I kept the ropes covering my hands. Then I hid the knife underneath my palm. I waited. Ned might not be free, but I was.

Soon enough it dawned on Amanti. Put a dumb mouse in a maze and it will find the cheese eventually. She rolled the cocoon over. On the underside, there was a dark line from top to bottom, like a vein. With each pulse, it revealed itself.

“I hit this line in the middle?” she asked.

“You already hit everything else,” I said.

She pulled the shovel over her head. It came screaming down with the force of the gods. The metal clanged against the shell, sending shockwaves through the air. On the next pulse, I saw a crack forming along the line. She hit it again, lighter this time. The shell split open like a broken piñata. There was no candy inside, though. Life is full of little disappointments.

Amanti dropped the shovel and took out her phone. She flicked it on, as if it were a torch. The cave glowed blue-white. A shape came out of the shell. It stood up and found its balance against a wall.

“Ned?” said Amanti. “Hey.”

The boy leaned over, spit a little. His hair had been flattened. His body looked spent.

He puked against the wall. I felt for him. This world was enough to make you sick.

“Are you OK?” said Amanti. “Ned?”

Ned saw her coming toward him. He scared quick. He backed into the corner of the cave. In the blue-white light, I saw an animal gleam in his eyes.

“Who are you?” he said. “Who’s Ned?”

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