Explorations into the Unknown

By Kelsey Robbins

          When I asked my father about the scariest event that had happened in his life, I got a reaction that I did not expect.  Silence, and then he began his tale.

          On a breeze  Saturday afternoon  in the 1960’s, two curious children set out on an expedition.  Their mother was attending to her garden in the front yard. She was not keeping an eye on the siblings, who were bored in the  confines of their yard. They decided to take advantage of their mother’s inattention. They slowly crept  out through the front gate and started their descent into the aqueduct. They had always wondered what that great tunnel across from their house was. Today they were going to find out what mysteries it held.
          Joyce, the younger of the two, wanted to go first. Johnny, her older brother, did not agree since they were not sure what was in the tunnel but he eventually gave in. She reasoned that  the tunnel  did not lead to anything and judging from what she could see  had flat, even ground. Johnny did not feel like arguing her point and simply decided to let her take the lead for once.  They begin their exploration of the tunnel; they walked for quite a while without finding much of anything. Then they were walking in complete darkness; Johnny could just make out his sister’s silhouette.
          Suddenly  Johnny looked up and saw  Joyce plummet, as if the ground just dropped off. He lunged forward just in time to grab her wrist. Luckily their mother had noticed they were missing and heard them scream. Together they were able to pull Joyce back to safety. Turns out they had been wondering through an aqueduct  that had various drop offs, like the 20-foot one they encountered.

          After he finished his tale, I asked him what was so terrifying about this experience. He answered “well ,one moment my sister was there and the next she just disappeared!  I did not know what was going on.”