The Tale of the Haunted Caverns

WARNING: This story may give you nightmares.

There once was a group of four friends.  Kasen was eleven years old, Kathrine was ten, Andrew was twelve, and Emma was six.  One day, they went on a walk down by a small cliff about twenty feet high.  When they got to it, they noticed a faint hole in the cliff with signs of broken rails leading into it.

Little did they know, it was haunted by an undead miner named Ol’ Diggy.  Ironically, his given name was Diggy.  When he was a young boy, he learned how to whistle, and was fascinated with it ever since.  One day when he was mining, he was distracted by a group of kids trespassing.  He tried to chase them out, but he tripped and fell off of some scaffolding and died! BUM! BUM! BUUUUUUUMMMM!!!  Ever since, he has been longing for revenge on kids.

But anyway, back to the four friends.  As they entered the tunnel, they heard a loud thud.

“What was that?” Kasen whispered.

“I don’t know.  It could be an explosion,” replied Andrew.

“I think we should go back,” said Kathrine.

“Good idea,” Emma agreed.

When they turned around the cave had collapsed!  They felt a breeze rushing through the tunnels and knew that was the only way out.  As they were walking towards the other exit, they heard a whistle, and it wasn’t from the tunnels!

“Did you hear that?” asked Andrew.

“Yeah,” replied Emma.

“Maybe it has just the wind through the tunnels,” said Kathrine.

“Yeah, and it was the wind that blew up our way out, too,” said Kasen in sarcasm.

As they looked down through the dusty mine shaft, they came upon a dark, shadowy figure with red, glowing, fiery eyes, and a blinding beam coming from his hard hat.

At that instant, rocks came crashing down from the ceiling.  When the dust cleared up, he was gone.  All he had left behind was a letter that said:

I am coming for you.

~Ol’ Diggy~

“Well that’s not creepy at all,” Andrew commented.

“Yeah, it was,” Emma replied.

“He was being sarcastic.  Don’t you guys know what sarcasm is?” asked Kasen.

“No, I absolutely believe that the wind can blow up a tunnel.  OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT SARCASM IS!  You think I-”

Just then, Kathrine was cut off by the sound of rocks cracking.

“RUN!” yelled Emma.

As they ran, (because Emma said they should) they eventually came upon an open area that had been used as a sort of mining headquarters.  With mine shafts leading away in all directions, Andrew located where the wind was coming out and directed the group that way.

“Come guys, this way” said Andrew,  gesturing the rest of the kids that way.

“Come on, Emma,” said Kathrine, “Emma?”

“Ugh,” Kasen said in frustration.

“LOOK!” Kathrine yelled.

“What is it?” Andrew asked eagerly.

“Footprints,” she replied.

“They’re too big to be Emma’s,” Kasen noted.

“THEY’RE OL’ DIGGY’S FOOTPRINTS!” Kathrine gasped.

“Surprise, surprise, it’s Emma getting into all the messes,” Andrew said tiredly. “WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED!?”

As they walked, they noticed that the torches were still lit.

“That’s funny,” said Kathrine, “after all these years, the torches are still burning.”

“Hello, have you not been with us these past five minutes?” Kasen said, again, in sarcasm.

“Now’s not the time to be a wiseguy, wiseguy,” Andrew snapped.

“Fine, fine,” replied Kasen.”I’ll stop.”

“Thank you,” Andrew said back.

“UGH!!!”

The three remaining kids all heard a grunt come from the tunnel.  Then, they heard someone say;

“Who the heck are you? Bruce Lee?”

Then, they heard a voice identical to Emma’s say;

“Uh….. My name’s Jeff.”

“Is Emma beating up Ol’ Diggy?” Kathrine asked in astonishment.

“Sounds like it,” Kasen replied.

“Is Emma really that strong?  Or is an undead miner dude that weak?” Andrew asked.

Once they entered the room that Emma was being held up in, they saw her run past them.  Just before they started running, they saw Ol’ Diggy lying on the floor, almost unconscious.

“Run!” Emma yelled, “We don’t have much time!”

Just before they entered the ‘mining headquarters’, they found Ol’ Diggy staring at them with those red, fiery, demon-like eyes.

“I see your friend Jeff is quite the kicker,” Diggy snared.

“Her name is Emma,” Kathrine corrected.

“Hey,” Emma snapped “I had an alias!”

“Sorry,” Kathrine replied.

“You are never leaving this cave again,” Ol’ Diggy interrupted.

“Think again!” Andrew snapped.

Just then, with his mind, Ol’ Diggy lifted rocks out of the ground, and hurled them straight at the foursome.

“DUCK!” Kasen yelled.

“Where?” Emma asked.

“OTHER KIND!”

“Oh, AH!!!” Emma exclaimed as she hunkered down still looking for the duck.

Several rocks smashed against the wall behind them as they darted for the exit.  When they looked back, he was gone!  Then, when they turned back to escape the tunnels, there he was with a burning pickax.

“Okay, where did he get that?” Kasen asked himself.

“I still have my secrets,” Diggy replied.

“Uh…Does anyone else have any surprising and also very lethal weapons that they may be hiding?  Because now would be a good time to exploit them,” Kasen asked.

“Sarcasm,” Andrew reminded.

“I wasn’t joking,” Kasen replied.

“You guys think you’re all that because you’re young!  Kids are what caused me to be stuck down here for eternity!  Now, you will pay!” Ol’ Diggy snapped.

Right after that, he sunk into the ground and became one with the rocks. The kids ran for the exit.  When they got out, the ground rose up, and started floating after them.  Right then, Andrew noticed a small pond.

“Look!”  Andrew yelled.

“What?” asked Kathrine.

“The lake!  What do you bet it would sink the rocks?”  replied Andrew.

“It’s worth a shot!” Kasen yelled.

The four leaped into the lake and the flying rocks after them.  They were pushed to land by a massive wave from the sinking rocks.  Ol’ Diggy, who was once trapped inside of a mine, was now stuck submerged in the lake for all of eternity.  Or at least until the lake dries up…

“Well, sinking and breaking stuff is all rocks are good for, I guess,” said Emma.

“I’ll bet I can speak for all when I say I am NEVER going into a cave again,” Kathrine vowed.

The End