The Children of Hamelin by Lasko Danny

Author:Lasko, Danny [Lasko, Danny]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, Science Fiction, Pied Piper, Fairytales, Fantasy, Alice in Wonderland, Grimm, music, Woodwind, Peter Pan, Hunger Games
Publisher: StickyPitch Media
Published: 2012-06-06T04:00:00+00:00

“Now what?” asks Annie, wringing the rim of her shirt.

“Look for poppies.”

“You mean these?” I ask, pointing my light to a patch of white blossoms which have no business growing in a saltwater cave. Even at mid-day, there’s no way the sun hits them, let alone freshwater.

“Impossible,” I say. “This is impossible.”

“Perfect,” says Annie.

“Poppies,” says Linus. He pulls out note two. “Do you see a red one?”

“Here,” says Annie, pointing her light at a single red poppy amidst the sea of white. Linus sloshes over and picks it at the base of its stem.

“We have to go,” he says.

“Wait, so that’s it?” I ask. “That’s what we need?”

“The tide is rising. If we don’t leave now, we never will.”

I look down at my feet and realize I’m standing in water. We slosh our way back to the break in the wall, now completely under water. Not deep, but enough to force us to hold our breath as we pass through. It’s a new experience for me. My heart doesn’t like it and tells me so at about five hundred beats a minute.

The floor of the third cave is completely submerged. We slog through to the other side, but we can feel it rising as we move. Annie tries the opening first but ducks back just as a monstrous burst of water strong enough to take us all off our feet roars by. Again she tries, but another blast prevents her from coming through.

“What do we do?” she asks me. “They’re coming too fast.” Linus shrugs as well. I flash forward and watch the options swirl through my mind.

“Wait,” I say, just before another blast hits. “Wait. … Wait. … Now!” I push Annie through, who stumbles into waist-high water. Linus is next and doesn’t fare so well. I pull him up by his coat and push him along until we’re in the center of the second cave. He tries to keep moving, but I won’t let him.

“What are you doing?!” he yells at me.

I reach for Annie, grab the tail of her duster, and yank her back into my arms. I pull them both in tight to my chest, arms engulfing them.

“Hold on to the flower, Linus!”

I can see the light reflect in his glasses and watch the wave magnified within them. It blasts through the narrow opening and hits us straight on. I hold tight to Annie and Linus as we tumble back, twirling weightless and uncontrolled in the water, deep into the bowels of the cavern, until the wave relents for a few seconds. I feel my back sing out with pain. I’ve been cut by the coral climbing the nearby rocks. But I don’t let go.

“Deep breath!” I call just before we’re sucked back under. The current tows us through the narrow passage out into the black ocean. I let them go for a second and throw Annie, then Linus to my right as far as I’m able. I swim toward them, screaming for them to join me.

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