Passage of Time

Author's Note: This story is my take on the next part of Donna Fox's new challenge that is a take on choose-your-own-adventure stories. For more information about the prompt and how you can participate check out the link below.

"I'm so glad we've been put together, Lana. I'd settle for Stodgy Sage as a chaperone if it meant I avoid that bitch, Allison," I whispered as we followed behind the school's living relic. "When will you two bury the hatchet, Leah?" Lana replied, rolling her eyes. "When it's firmly and squarely in her skull", I giggled.

I really appreciated that Lana got me. She knew my humour and knew as much as I hated Allison, I would never resort to that level of revenge. Murder's never an option, is it?

Leah and I had been friends for five years since she came to St. Martha's. She was kinder than I deserved as a friend and had the prettiest blonde hair and blue eyes. We were the same age, but I always felt envious of how youthful she looked. Envious may have been the wrong word, but I felt like even at 17, I was losing my youthful face. I was very protective of her, and she always worried about me.

"If I had your auburn hair, I'd feel like a superstar" she would say. I was never sure whether she really believed that or was just being kind.

As we made our way through the entrance of the Temple, I noticed a small passageway to the left and nudged Lana, "Wanna ditch Stodgy and do some exploring on our own?"

I knew the other girls wouldn’t notice and if they did, they wouldn’t say anything to Stodgy. I also knew Lana would go with me, no matter how much she protested.

I often wonder if that made me a bad person. "Just for a few minutes, okay, Leah? This place gives me the creeps," she whispered as we quickly made our way down the narrow, poorly lit passageway that branched off from the main entrance inside the temple. I took my phone out and, taking the same approach I took to everything in life, I slowly marched on like I knew what I was doing, with the torch from the phone as a guide.

Leah was often easily spooked, but I hated to admit to her out loud, but the place did have a very unnerving feel. I had the feeling that there were eyes on me at all times as if the ancient sandstone walls were watching me. That seemed to push me into the darkness even more. I don't really know what had come over me recently, but my attitude had definitely changed. Dad says I'm just testing limits and yearning for adventure, while Mum doesn't say much, but whenever she looks at me, there is this sense of despair behind her eyes...knowing despair.

It may have been the early scare she had when I nearly died of meningitis as a baby. I’ve read a lot about the effect such an event can have on parents, but lately, it’s felt like there’s something Mum hasn’t been telling me.

While walking, and with my mind wandering, worrying about Mum who seemed to be worrying about me, I didn’t notice that Leah was no longer beside me. She is just playing a prank, I told myself as I used the phone to look around the passageway. I would have stopped and given some pause to the fact that the ancient sandstone walls had now changed and were steel-like structures if it wasn’t for the fact that there was a doorway at the end of the passageway.

My breathing and heartbeat both quickened. The sound of both was deafening as all around me was far too quiet. A cold shiver worked its way through me.

“Leah?” I called out. I was reluctant to scream and shout the place down because I didn’t want either of us to get into trouble, and besides, she was definitely pranking me. I walked nervously towards the doorway and pointed the phone forward into the opening, as my heartbeat and breathing soundtracked my slow footsteps.

“What the” is all I could muster as my phone stopped working, and for a moment, there was nothing but darkness all around. Then a flash of light came from behind me, and I saw, just briefly, Leah trapped inside a cage, but several decades older. Then the room went dark again before a spray of daylight came through a skylight, illuminating a wooden rocking chair...

*Thanks for reading!