Fear: A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.I'll never need a definition for the word fear again, not after the event I've been through today. I'll tell you what I've got through, so if you decide to do the same thing I did, you'd at least know what to expect and be prepared for it.A couple of friends and I went on a hike in the countryside by night. Needless to say we had packed everything we'd need; a couple of torches, some coffee, some sandwiches and woolen jumpers, in case we felt cold. We were having a very good time, that is, until we fell through an opening of a cave. We tried to climb up, but it was all in vain. The opening was too high up and the walls were too steep and slippery. We had got everything we needed, except what we needed most right then: a cell phone to call for help. Maybe, in the morning, someone might hear us calling for help, but right then the only thing that we had was our voices, echoing back, as if they were mocking us in a cruel sort of way. A shiver went down my spine. We needed to get out, and fast. Colin had the brilliant idea of exploring the cave to see if we could find another way out.I also had an idea; we could tie something, like one end of a ball of string so that we may find our way back if we couldn't find another way out or, worse, if we got lost. We obviously didn't have a ball of string with us so, one of the jumpers had to go. We drew lots and I lost, or won, it really depends on how you look at it. In a couple of minutes we had a ball of string, ready to be tied to something and mark our way.We made our way through the cave, each step bringing us closer to, what we hoped was, the way out.
Our torches shone through rows and rows of stalagmites and stalactites. They were beautiful, but time was a critical factor, so we didn't waste it by looking at them.Then, I stumbled upon a skeleton. Ted, the biology guy, said that it was that of a female dog, probably two, three years old at the most. I didn't care what or how old it was, I only hoped that we wouldn't be in that state, if we were ever found. I stuttered at that thought. Then, our torches went out. I had seen the lights growing dim, but I just assumed that it was getting darker. I guess not. Now we were really in the dark and to make things worse, we didn't even think of packing spare batteries beforehand. But I doubt that we'd have been able to find them in such pitch darkness. Luckily we had left a trail of string, so we followed it back. Unluckily it had snapped in two and the other part was nowhere to be felt.We stumbled through the darkness for hours after that and by sheer luck (and between a slip or two), managed to find another opening. By then it was already dawn and the sun was peeking through the horizon. I knew the area that we were in very well, so it was easy to find our way back towards our homes. It was a good thing that we didn't have the bright idea of splitting up, and I refuse to think what might have happened to us if we did.

-Friday 13th of January 2006

-Ivan Xuereb