The tunnel

This week's words are: Phone, Stumbled, Windy. Read other 3WW here.

Sara walked inside with her dress blowing behind her, her red hair flapping around her face. As she walked closer into the darkness, she flicked her flashlight on but the battery was low, only showing a dim light. She stumbled on something small on the dark ground. She flashed the light in that direction to a small rock. The walls seem like new with the coat of white paint untarnished. Then the flashlight burnt out.

As she fumbled in her jeans' pocket for her cell phone, she heard something dropped onto the ground. Click. It was her cell phone. She bent down to pick it up but couldn't feel the silver metal. The wet ground felt cool and smooth. She searched her jeans' pocket for some tissue but found none. Adam had teased her for wearing jeans under her dresses but she didn't care. She liked it.

It got even darker, if that was possible, as she walked down farther. She turned around but could not see the opening now. She was too far away. Maybe she should turn back, she thought. She took a step forward, standing tiptoes, looking ahead but saw only darkness. Her sneakers hit something on the ground. It was her cell phone. She picked it up and opened it. Just her luck, the battery's about to die. She used the temporary light of the phone to walked farther.

A few moments later, the phone beeped and then it shut itself off. Back in darkness again, Sara cursed herself for forgetting to charge it this morning. Again she mustered the courage to go ahead. Still in the dark, still walking with uncertainty. She can hear the echoes that her sneakers made each time they touched the ground. Her breath a little steep now, almost in synch with her heartbeat which was beating like mad. Strange sounds were coming behind her. She turned around but saw nothing. Sara tried to keep her mind blank, driving the fear far into the back of her mind.

She can see a light ahead. She rushed toward it and hit a wall, realizing the light was only a crack in the wall. She peeped through it but saw nothing. She continued to walked hoping to reach the end soon.

Sara grew frustrated and started to run. She glazed her hand on the wall for guidance since it was still very dark. The tunnel was curvy and every few steps she took, she had to make u-turns. Round and round she walked like some circus carnival ride. She started to wondered why she took the dare to walk through this tunnel - a bridge tunnel which hasn't been used in years. Cool windy air seem to be coming from nowhere making Sara shivered. The sweater her mother told her to wear was outside of the tunnel with her friend, Adam.

Is that an opening or is that her imagination? YES! It's an opening! She ran toward the light and soon she was outside in the bright afternoon sunlight. There, sitting on the bench nodding off, was Adam with her sweater in hand. She pulled the sweater out of his hand and started to run. She heard him calling her name but she continued to run, giggling along the way. She knew Adam was right behind her. She can hear the squishy noise his sneakers make.