Thing-a-Day Jan 23 #21 - Sash {Part 3: Dark}

Sash

Part 3: Dark

February 16th, 1847. Clancy had returned to the Lucky Mine with Dr. Parrish and Elliot Lee Sash in tow. Harold Crimson, however, was nowhere to be found, but the hole that Clancy punched into the soft, pale stone had crumbled open due to the pressure from the air rushing through it.

"Roses, indeed," Dr. Parrish commented. "I thought you may have spoken metaphorically, but it seems that I'm smelling roses. How utterly odd!"

"Smell's foul," Elliot Sash interjected curtly. "Like the scent rising from a dry well three weeks after a coyote has fallen in."

Ignoring this banter, Clancy examined the opening more closely. It was about large enough to shimmy through, but not much more, and there was a small scrap of blue denim hanging limply from a jagged point in the rock. He must have gone in, Clancy thought, and without a second thought, Clancy dropped his all of his gear except for the Sash candlestick and three of the accompanying candles and positioned himself to enter this small hollow, fearing for his boss's safety.

As soon as Clancy put his head through, his shoulders met resistance. He was just a hair too wide. However, he heard Harold say something, but it was so muffled that he couldn't make it out. This motivated Clancy to squeeze himself together just a little tighter to shimmy through into the pitch blackness. His arms were seized against his sides, his chest was being pushed into the jagged edges of the stone, and his mind was assaulted by the sheer darkness of this space.

Clancy was no stranger to mines, but he'd never set foot in a natural cavity before. More motivation as the excitement mixed with the adrenaline to fuel an almost reckless abandon for his own personal safety as he exhaled all of the air from his lungs and made a breathless, shimmying effort to get through... and get through, he did. Light poured in from the hole to the outside. As Clancy's eyes adjusted to the sudden mixture of light and dark, he saw that he had landed on a large, smooth-topped boulder. Sprawling forward and plunging into the sheer darkness below him, the darkness revealed that this boulder sat wedged between two walls of an underground chasm. He whispered a chanting prayer that his father had taught him during his childhood:

"Darkness of eternity, strength of the stone, spirit of Gaia, guide my hand to strike true. Light of the sun, grace of the cloud, spirit of Mahpiya, guide my mind to be without fear."

Clancy's excitement subsided. His breathing returned to normal. He still detected a strong scent of roses. A voice from the edge of the boulder called out to Clancy, "Hey. Glad you could join me." Looking to his left, Clancy saw Mr. Crimson seated in a hollow of the wall, feet dangling over the edge as if he was contemplating simply plunging himself into the darkness below... a fall of unknown depth. Mr. Crimson was lighting a pipe and, with a cough, spoke to Clancy, "Just imagine what lies beyond that darkness. We must find a way down. Quickly, pick the stone around the entrance. Elliot would want to see this."

Clancy, being the ever-dutiful worker, called out to Dr. Parrish to hand his pick through. Once in his possession, the pick made easy work of the pale stone.