Excerpt from “Not So Fun Fungi”

By: Olivia Migliorisi

“Sorry, Teacher!” I said, running deeper and deeper into the cave, still chasing the bat. How did I not lose it by now? Actually… I kind of did… the started chasing another one. “Jeez.” John said, looking at his watch. “We’ve been gone for almost four hours!” “Exactly! That is why we need to get back!” I heard Mrs. Mandel say, just as I thought we had lost her. Time to lose her for good. I backed down into a corner and grabbed John. Then I told him, “When I say ‘go’, we each go two different ways, ok? I went in a cave close by, and there were a bunch of tunnels, all starting at the same place. Hopefully that same kind of thing will happen here. I’m gonna turn off my headlight, ok? Mrs. Mandel’s is out, so you are going to keep yours on until I give the signal.” Then I heard Mrs. Mandel’s footsteps getting closer. “We have to keep running. There is no way I’m going back to that lame field trip.” So, we got up and continued running. Sure enough, there were multiple tunnels, just a few feet ahead. “Go!” I said. And me and John both ran two different ways. Then I see nothing. Just darkness. John shut his light off. And by the way Mrs. Mandel was screaming for us, I don’t think she knew where we went. After waiting an hour, I came out of the tunnel I was in. John… well John didn’t.

I ran right into the tunnel John had went into. I may hate summer school, but I don’t hate John. In fact, we had grown pretty close during the two weeks we were here.

I couldn’t see much, given that my headlamp had died and I had no batteries, so I just kept running. Soon, I came to a fork in the road. The crazy thing? I … I knew it. I SAW it! I looked around. Where was the light coming from? Then I saw it. A faint glow coming from the tunnel on my right. I ran in there, thinking it was John’s headlamp, but when I got to the end of the tunnel, there was a room. A room filled with something. And that something, I don’t know what it was. But it wasn’t John…

What is it? Why is it glowing? A million thoughts raced through my head. I went up to the wall next to the tunnel, and touched the glowing, blue… thing? The “thing” was glowing, but it wasn’t a steady glow. The light was pulsing, but when I touched it, it stopped. It was still for a while, just a dim light, but suddenly, it started getting brighter. And brighter. And brighter. Until all I could see was a blinding white light. The “thing” started to vibrate. More. And more. And more. Then it all went back to how it was before I touched it. The dim light, pulsing. My hand was blue, the same blue as the “thing.” I look to where I had touched the “thing”. The “thing” was gone, but it left in imprint that looked just like my hand.

Just then, I realized I would have to come back to this later. I needed to find John and—I can’t believe I’m saying this— Mrs. Mandel. We can’t get back without her. Now what?