This story was originally conceived as an infinity story. I wrote the story on a paper bag and taped the end to the beginning to create a literal story loop. As a result, the story can be started from any of the paragraph breaks.
Fortunately for Adam, the wind in the cave was not as strong, still, where he stood, the air was just as cold. Aside from the faint light from outside, everything was black. He could only slightly see his hands when he held them up in front of his face.
He was dressed in his business attire, a wardrobe for which he was grimly aware was not aptly suited for his predicament. He tried not to think about how he had gotten here, how he didn’t know where his wife and their 8-year-old daughter were, or if they’re even still alive. But at the moment, all that mattered was survival, that he live long enough to find them. And so he continued into the cave.
Soon enough, the icicles gave way to stalactites and the air warmed a little. His dress shoes squished in the muck of the cave. They had taken his cell-phone, but he was able to use his watch for some light. It helped him keep from walking into walls at least.
A sense of calm for the time being was settling in to his skin when he heard yelling from behind, someone else had entered the cave. He held his breath in the dark as he listened carefully, but suddenly, Adam felt a hand on his shoulder. His heart skipped a beat and he heard the words “come with me” whispered into his right ear.
In the pitch black, he made his way carefully forward until he rounded a corner.
The voice of the mysterious figure next to him whispered, “Down the stars.”
The hand left his shoulder as he cautiously took his first step, but as he descended he began to see the faint outline of a doorway, the muffled sounds of people talking behind it echoed up the stairwell. With the light, his eyes began to adjust, he looked around and up the stairs, he was alone now. He put his hand on the doorknob when something began buzzing in his pocket. He reached for it, his cell-phone! The mysterious person must have put it back. He answered the phone, “Hello?”
“What the hell, where in God’s name are you?” his boss shouted over the line.
“Sir, I, I don’t know, I can’t.” He replied, barely able to speak.
“It doesn’t matter, but you better figure it out and get your ass over here, we’re implementing your system right now, we just need the access codes to start the process.”
“Wait you mean it’s really happening? Well I can just tell you now.”
And so, he did, and once he hung up the phone he opened the door. His wife and two kids were sitting in a circle laughing. His daughter, Tara, saw him first and jumped up to greet him, but just then, a door on the other side of the room burst open.
Men in SWAT uniforms grabbed his daughter and the rest of his family and took them away. He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Adam turned, it must’ve been the man from the cave. But Adam had never met him before. The man took the cell-phone from him, saying, “Wrong choice Adam.”
Then, everything went black.
When he awoke he was in a helicopter, he could hear gunfire. The pilot shouted, they had to make an emergency landing. They landed roughly on a patch of ice.
The gunfire continued, but Adam snuck away. He ran for an hour until he found the opening to a cave. He wasn’t sure where he was, but the cave should provide a little warmth. He approached, but looked back before he entered. The helicopter was lost to the approaching snow storm.
Without a second thought, he continued inside the dark cave.
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This is part of a collection of short stories I wrote as a cashier.
