The Cave
By Nathan Winter
As I snap the picture of the lively green forest, I let the energy of everything around me fill my body. Hi, I am Ben, I am 16 years old. I love to explore the forest and capture its beauty in photographs with my 1987 Nikon camera, which used to be my dad’s. Sometimes I get so deep into the forest, that I am gone for a week at a time. I live in a small village on a small unknown island. We live in grass covered huts that are built into a hill for warmth and protection. You are probably wondering how I got here on this island. In our village, there is a mysterious cave in the hill that is forbidden to go into. I haven’t witnessed it yet, but I was told every 6 months one to two people come out of it to start their new life on the island with no memory of their past life, except their name and age. Also with the new people there are necessary supplies to survive the next 6 months. That is how my mom and I got here. Today will be the 6th month that I have been here on the island, which means I need to get back to the village in time for the “new arrival”.
I just got back to the village and I saw everyone gathered around the mysterious cave. I dropped my backpack, grabbed my camera, and ran over to the crowd. I stood on my tippy toes with my camera ready. When the interior of the cave illuminated, I took a picture. The glow faded away a few seconds later. Then another few seconds passed and a man probably in his early 20’s stumbled out of the cave. We greeted him and explained to him what was going on and told him about the cave. He didn’t remember his name or age yet. Doc said it will take some time and rest before he remembered. We left him in the bed of his new house to get some rest.
The next day the new guy went around the village getting to know all 38 people who live here. When he came to me he said he remembered his name. He told me he was 23 and his name was Isic. Me and Isic talked for a couple minutes, then he went to go talk to my mom. When I was talking to him, something didn’t seem right. He seemed unusual, off, different, suspicious. When he was talking to my mom I watched him. The way he moved and talked to her, it almost seemed creepy.
The next day, I decided to trail him around and see what he was up to. Right now he is eating breakfast by himself. By today he should be starting up work and getting into a schedule. Once he finished breakfast at the dining hall, he went into his house. I couldn’t get in without him catching me, so I looked through the window. It was hard to make out, but it looked like he was studying a map of the island. Where did he get that map? Maps of this island are off limits to villagers. Chief Dan told us that the island is huge and we live right in the middle of it. He also said that it’s only safe in our area and if we try to escape, we won’t make it out alive. I know the truth. I have been all the way out to the beaches. Chief Dan is not a bad person for lying, he is just trying to protect us. Everyone believes him because he was the very first one that appeared on the island. That is also why he is our chief. Only my mom knows how I spend my mornings and afternoons. Even though she doesn’t want me to go out and always worries that I won’t come back, she still lets me go because she knows how much I love it and she believes it is my destiny to discover a way off the island.
Today is Wednesday and I still don’t know why Isic had those maps, but when he is at work today I’m going to sneak into his house and search it for clues. I get out of bed, walk into the kitchen and shout “Mom?”(No reply). She must have went to work early. I make myself some breakfast and as I am sitting down, I hear a ruckus outside. What is going on out there? I went to the front door and opened it to see what was going on. People were gathering out by the edge of the woods, and the guards/police were blocking them out. I slipped on my shoes and ran out to see what happened. When I got to the event, I looked into the woods over one of the guards shoulders. I can’t believe what I see….my mom lying dead with a bloody hole in her chest and a cut in her head. I ran right through the guards, ran to my mom’s cold body, and dropped to my knees crying. A few minutes later I heard footsteps closing in behind me, but I didn’t bother to look. Then I heard Chief Dan’s deep voice “We will find whoever did this. We just need time”. I don’t have time, I want justice! (I thought to myself). A few seconds later he said they needed to take the body in for examination to help figure out who did it. I know they can find who did it, but with a lack of modern technology, it will take at least 2 days. I can’t sit around and do nothing for that long, especially when I know who did it. I know who killed my mom, and I will have justice.
It is just starting to get dark now and I have my mom’s killer in sight. I know this is the only way. Even if the police figured out it was him, he wouldn’t get the justice that he deserves, death. As he is walking home from dinner, I jumped out of a bush, grabbed him, put a knife to his neck and drag him into the site of my mom’s death in the woods. “Why did you kill my mom?” I said aggressively.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t kill your mom!”
“Don’t be stupid, I know you did!”
“You’re crazy, why would I kill your mom?!?!”
“I don’t know, you tell me.”
“HELP!”
“Shut up or I will kill you right here right now!”
“HELP, SOMEBODY HELP!” He kept shouting
He wouldn’t shut up so I hit him in the head with the back of my knife to show him I mean business, he fell to the ground. I see flashlights closing in in me. All of a sudden I am blinded by lights in my face and tackled to the ground. It is the police and Chief Dan with some other villagers. “How did you find me?”
“Well a few of my top police and I were on our way to tell you that Fred Castaic turned himself in for killing your mom, when we heard shouts for help.” Said Chief
“What are you telling me?”
“Isic didn’t kill your mom, Fred did. You got the wrong person.”
I can’t believe this, I was so angry over my mom’s death that I blamed the first person I could think of. I was so frustrated that I almost killed an innocent man tonight, and what for? I almost became the person that I hated oh so much.
The next morning I woke up in a jail cell, soon let out by chief. He told me that Isic did not want to press charges and that he understood that I was angry and that caused me to act irrationally. He told me I was free to go. “I need to go fulfill my destiny in honor of my mom. I need to go find a way off this island. For all of us.” I said.
He nodded his head and said “I assume you have your own map.”
“How did you know?”
“Your mom wasn’t the best at making up cover stories.”
I laughed a little, then said “I’ll be back”
He replied “Be careful”, then I left to pack my backpack.
On my way out I apologized to Isic and told him I would find a way off the island and come back to save everyone and destroy the cave. Those were the last words I would be saying to another human for a while. Then on that day, May 18th 2011 I set off for a new journey, a new life.
