Chapter 13: The Cavern

“What the heck!” I spat and wiped away a clump of dirt that just hit me in the face.

I sat up in bed and looked around the room for the funny guy who threw it. But I wasn’t in my bed. I was in a little cot. And more importantly, I wasn’t even in my room, but in some kind of huge underground cavern. 

What— How—  Did I walk in my sleep, like Uncle Teppy said kids do? But no. Because then I should be in a lake, not a cavern. And besides, those stories were all made up. Maybe the funny guy—whoever it was—had carried me off here as a prank? Or… Could it be? Would mom have brought me here to do a walkabout?

“But I don’t want to do a walkabout!” I wailed. “I’m not twelve. I’m not big or smart. This isn’t Australia a hundred years ago. We don’t do walkabouts in America! 

“MOM? 

“Fun’s fun! 

“Mom?!” I yelled.

But the only answer I heard was the echo of my own voice, along with the shrieks of the thousands of creatures surrounding me.