I was eager and in complete mood to visit this cave after hearing about it from elderly people in my neighborhood. As much as I researched and learned to know about the secret of this cave, I knew that the risk of life was high on this adventurous journey, but too little to achieve.
This memorable incident happened a couple of years ago. Then I had just begun scouring the forests and mountains of my area in search of ancient frescoes and some other antique objects.
I would leave home in the morning and returned in the evening with some amazing new scenes and different stories written in the language of pictures on stones. I would always carry a diary, maps, a Handycam, a still camera, a water bottle, an iron rod, and a knife as my tools.
I knew the dangers of attacks by wild animals in the forests, but my adventurous nature kept me on my toes. Then I heard about that hidden treasure inside a cave of the hill right under the temple. They said this temple was just a cover for that mysterious treasure, which was kept in huge rooms inside the mountain. These huge rooms, which were built inside the mountain, had various guards in various forms.
If you found a way into this mountain and reached the gate of the cave, you would find two stone soldiers standing with swords in their hands. The door remains closed and you will have to pass through a particular mark. If you step in the right place, the door will open. But if you stepped on the wrong mark, the sword of the gatekeepers would fall directly on your neck, and your head would immediately separate from your body.
I tightened my shoes, and reached to the mountain for an adventure journey. There stood that old temple on the top of the hill. I talked to the head priest, but I didn’t want anyone to know about my purpose. There was a long discussion on the past and present of the temple with the elderly keeper of the temple. He accepted, "There was something inside this mountain, but we never tried to find it out."
I bid him farewell and set out to find out how I could reach inside the cave. After three rounds of the hill about 400 meters high, I saw a very narrow, tunnel-like place... I said in my mind, "That's it." My first attempt to reach inside was about to begin. I took the bag off my shoulder.
With a handy cam in one hand and a knife in the other, seeing my preparation, the gentleman standing next to me was astonished. He said, "What are you going to do? Where are you going? " I took his hand in mine and said, "I’m going inside. As long as you hear me speak, you can stay outside. But if my voice stops reaching you, then please convey the information about my being inside of this cave. Here is my address." Saying this, I put a piece of paper in his hand. It had my home address and phone number on it.
The tunnel was so narrow in the beginning that it was not possible to enter, even sitting. I took off the jacket and, almost lying down, started entering. When I reached about five meters inside, there was only a place to sit and it was too dark. It was so dark I could see nothing. I tried my handycam in night mode. Then, I could only see the screen of the camera. Initially, the path was going downhill. Then, when I reached about 20 meters inside the mountain and looked at the screen of the camera, my eyes lit up.
A long, corridor-like path was visible in front of us. It was so wide and high that it could stand comfortably and move forward. The only problem was that, with the help of my eyes, I could see anything only when I looked through the LCD screen of my camera.
The voice of that gentleman who was waiting outside, worrying about my life, had stopped reaching for me now. I was trying to figure out how far I had arrived and which way I should go. I was keeping a close watch on the rocks through my camera so that no snakes attacked me.
I felt a little scared, but there was nothing that stopped me from moving forward. I kept on and now I was standing on the path right inside the tunnel, at the end of which was my destination. Suddenly, I felt something in front of me, as if there was a movement going on there. I was a bit startled, but alert.
The knife immediately came out of my pocket, and I was ready to fight with a leopard. In fact, during the winter, tigers and leopards live inside such tunnels or caves and hunt for prey throughout the day and night. The Bears have a similar system, but it is their own.
I saw a white ball-like object inside. Then I felt it was an encounter with a giant python.
When I heard the sound, I thought there must be some leopards. Looking at the screen, however, there was only a bright white, large round object instead of two shining eyes. It was shining like an LED bulb.
What looked like only a bright white big pearl ball, as if it was placed on a black object. That was at least 20 to 30 meters away from me. I started thinking about what was in this white circle and what sound was that? Then I again heard a hissing sound. Oh, I thought it must be a giant dragon,
I suddenly caught a glimpse of his movement with my camera, but only for a few seconds. I thought the dragon had probably lost patience and was trying to move towards me. In such a situation, I immediately gave up the idea of moving forward and came out sliding just as I had entered.
I had to return without reaching for that treasure chest with a heavy heart. But this audacity told me that there was indeed something inside, perhaps that dragon, the unknown keeper of that dark tunnel.
I could see that shining white pearl ball and try to understand what it was after all. I wanted to believe the story of a yogi engaged in penance for thousands of years inside a mountain, that I had heard from the priest. Or was there any treasure still hidden inside the cave?
I am still trying to find the mysteries of this tunnel in that mountain range. Although people say that I should not lose my life in a misadventure, the secret of this tunnel remains a secret until now, but I will try again.
This story is based on The Ink Well Prompt #50: See this post for prompt and rules