Not-So-Fun Fungi

By: Olivia Migliorisi

Not-So-Fun Fungi is a science fiction book about a group of kids who get lost in a cave and make an incredibly dangerous discovery. This book is not yet finished so be sure to check back often for new chapters!

Chapter 1: Mrs. Mandel

It was July 27th, 2026. The date of a discovery. The day of which doom would come. 

“Come on, guys!” Said one student, Ollie. The rest of the summer school group groaned, but stopped when Mrs. Mandel said “Ollie is right. We have to keep moving.” Mrs. Mandel was in charge of summer school for the kids at Stonebrook Middle school. In summer school were five kids, Charlie Evans, Emily Baker, John Clark,  Maximus Robinson, and Ollie Miller. 

The thing that set Ollie apart from the rest of  the summer school kids was that she wanted to go to summer school. On the last day of school, she went up to the principal and said, “I want to go to summer school.” The principal was confused. Then he decided that she said that she did not want to go and he just misheard her. “Don’t worry” the principal told Ollie. “You’re not going.” Ollie looked at him. Then, in a much sterner voice, said, “I want to go to summer school.” So, she went. 

Now, on July 27th, she is in a cave with the kids who needed to go to summer school and Mrs. Mandel. 

Suddenly, Mrs. Mandel stopped and turned around, just as the darkness swallowed the last bit of sunlight from the entrance of the cave. “Ow!” Emily exclaimed after bumping her head into a stalactite. Maximus walked by her, ducking. “Oh be quiet!” He said. “You’re wearing a helmet. Don’t be such a baby!” And rolled his eyes. “Why are we stopping? I just want to get this over with so I can go back to the dormitory and play video games!” He said. Mrs. Mandel looked at him and said, “Well, we stopped originally for one thing, but now, two. Everyone except Ollie groaned. “Alright then!” She said, ignoring the groans and whispers. “First, who can tell me what the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?” Ollie was the only one who raised her hand. “Stalagmites,” she said “are on the ground. Stalactites on the other hand, are on the roof of the cave. Therefore, what Emily just bumped into was a…” She didn’t get to finish her sentence, because at that time, Maximus ran off with Charlie. They were chasing a bat, heading deeper and deeper into the cave. “Maximus! Charlie!” Mrs. Mandel yelled, chasing after them. “Girls, stay there. I’ll be back!”

Chapter 2: Ollie

“We’re going to die!” Screamed Emily. This time, Ollie was the one to roll her eyes. Again, Emily screamed, and again, Ollie rolled her eyes. “Emily, really.” She said. “It’s only been five minutes. We aren’t going to die. Besides, we could do without the boys, right?” Emily just ignored her and carried on. 

Thirty minutes passed. Even Ollie was starting to get a little anxious. What was taking Mrs. Mandel and the boys so long? Did they get lost, or fall into a hole, or something? A million thoughts raced through her head. 

Three hours later, Emily was hysterical. Ollie knew it was time for her to do something, but what? For a minute, she decided that her and Emily should just leave, so that their parents wouldn’t get worried, but then she remembered that for the full six weeks of summer school, they were in a college dormitory in Iowa. So, that got rid of one problem, but her and Emily were still running low on food and water. Just then, her headlamp went out and it wouldn’t turn back on. The battery was dead, and Emily’s had broken when she hit it into the stalactite. They were thrown in to darkness, and with no spare flashlights or batteries, that is how it would stay.

Emily’s shriek was ear piercing. Then Ollie heard a fluttering of wings. Emily screamed again as a group of bats flew towards them. 

As the group of bats cleared, I could see Emily on the ground. “Emily!” I cried. “I’m fine, I’m fine.” She said. I examined her. She was completely fine, except for a scrape on her right knee. I went to my bag to take out my first aid kit, but then remembered it had fallen out. I did not have the time to fetch it out of the crevice it had fallen in as the group was walking to the cave. The rest of the group was continuing on without her, so she just left it. The only thing in Olli’s small bag was a tattered old diary of hers. “Now what?” She thought

Chapter Three: Maximus

“Sorry, Teacher!” He said, running deeper and deeper into the cave, still chasing the bat. 

“Jeez.” John said, looking at his watch. “We’ve been gone for almost four hours!” “Exactly! That is why we need to get back!” Maximus  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…

Chapter Four: Maximus

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?

Chapter Five: Mrs. Mandel

“Where are the boys?” Was all I could think about. The parents trusted me with their lives. And what did I do? I lost four out of the four kids at summer school, which is all of them. The parents trusted me with their kids’ lives, and what did I do? I lost all the kids in an unexplored cave. Now what?

Chapter Six: Emily

Great. Now I am lost in a cave with no food, no first aid, and Ollie. Ollie is our only hope of staying alive. I mean, she’s like a walking Encyclopedia, but what if she doesn't know something? You see, this is why we are definitely going to die. 

I want to tell Ollie that we need to go after the boys, but she is a super genius, and I don’t know anything. Suddenly I hear her calling me. I look up in an attempt to find her. Then I see her standing by a tunnel. “The boys and Mrs. Mandel should have been back a while ago, but they aren’t. We have to go find them.” She says. I got up and walked over to her. “How are we going to do anything without light?” I asked. For once, Ollie looked genuinely puzzled. Then she sighed. “I…I don’t know.” 

I looked around. “Is there anything in here we could use?” I asked her. Ollie sighed again. “Well…” She began, but was interrupted by a large crash. Every tunnel entrance around us collapsed, except one. And that one slowly began to glow. I looked at Ollie and pointed to the tunnel entrance.

“I think we go that way”