The Bottomless Pit is a short fiction story based on a chapter in the Bible, Revelation Chapter nine (King James Version) This story describes a set of events as told by Paul, the main character, who finds himself lost and confused over a series of events that transpire out of his control over a period of roughly two years. It is set in current times or perhaps a few years into the future. The setting is on or near a national forest somewhere in the northwestern United States. This story illustrates the short-sightedness of man and his inability to change his nature regardless of events that occur in his surroundings. A few are deeply impacted, but the majority of people continue with life as usual.

THE BOTTOMLESS PIT

By Jon Gee Ruez

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Jon Gee Ruez
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-8778-8

Chapter One

THE HIKE

[March~April]

A distant sound of rain gently infiltrated like little streams into the deep recesses of his unconscious mind, waking it slowly, cautiously, tactfully. His eyes opened sluggishly, his vision imperceptibly focused in the dim light, attempting to distinguish the familiar from the unrecognizable. He could sense something on his body, on his arms, on his torso, and all around him. He was seized with a fearful sensation of something watching him closely. He could smell a foul malodorous smoke. His mind in a haze, his eyes half opened, he struggled with his hands to remove whatever was on his face. It smelled like burnt rubber. As his eyes focused, he could make out a shadowy shape. It was a giant grasshopper sitting on his face! A sense of panic and terror seized him like a vice grip, holding him tight, unable to move a single muscle in his body. He was forcing his arms and hands to move, but nothing moved. He could not move a single muscle, his eyes frozen half opened. He could feel this creature moving about his face. Its legs and claws firmly planted, gripping the skin on his face, moving its head, studying him. Then he felt the sting like a sharp scalpel penetrating his chin, deep into the jawbone. It burned deep and he felt the pain travel through his face deeper and deeper into the core of his brain until he could not endure anymore and he faded into darkness. Then there was a sudden rush as his lungs filled with air and he woke, shaking and alarmed.

The details were the same, very vivid and terrifying. Before this, he had never even had dreams, at least none that he could remember, but this nightmare was continuing to recur, three times over the past two months. He couldn't fathom any reason for its recurrence or why it had started. He mulled over ideas as to what it might mean.

His close friend, Tim had convinced him to join him on this weekend climb. As he hiked along the trail to the rock face, his mind was deep in thought about the dream.

The worn path ended at the tree line and in front lay a green grassy field as wide as a football field, bounded by low trees and shrubs on one side and a drop off on the other. The field was covered, not by grass alone, but by an abundance of yellow, purple, and blue flowers, the rich colors intensified by the bright sun. The path ahead led downhill into more trees and beyond that, a rocky hill. The massive rock face stood a mile distant, staring at him in the bright light, looming high into the sky. A few white and gray thunderclouds gave the distant blue a deeper color. He felt a strong cool breeze blowing from the open side of the field. He stopped and looked around. Behind him, the path was hiding in the shade of the trees. Ahead, he could see the tracks Tim was making through the grass and wild plants. He stood, took in a deep breath, and let the cool air refresh him as the sweat evaporated from his eyebrows and face. Then, without warning, Tim disappeared at the other side of the field obscured by a swarm of locust that rose suddenly from the grassy field. Such was the multitude that the colors of the field quickly faded to gray in the shadow of the swarm. The breeze soon carried the locusts off into the trees and the swarm vanished like vapor. The colors returned to the field and he could barely see Tim's hat as he descended on the other side. He trotted across the field following Tim's tracks, his backpack impeding his pace.

Tim sat down on a smooth round rock shaded by a small evergreen. There was no path, not that one was needed for the rock face was dead ahead. Paul was twenty yards behind, sweating heavily, and breathing steadily in a paced rhythm.

"Need a break?" Paul called out to Tim as he got near.

"Something shifted inside my backpack and it's rubbing against my back. I need to adjust whatever it is. It'll just take a few minutes. Go ahead, I'll catch up in a few," Tim shouted back. Tim started opening his backpack and had removed his hat. Paul walked up and stopped to catch his breath.

Tim looked up at Paul, "It looks like you can use the break!"

"Yes," Paul replied as he stopped and also removed his backpack. He stood for a minute letting his lungs and body recover from the short jot. "Did you see the swarm of locusts?" he asked Tim.

"What swarm?"

"Just as you crossed the open grassy field behind us, a swarm of locusts rose and flew off into the woods," Paul told him.

"Are you sure?" Tim replied, "I doubt seriously there are any locusts this high up in the Rockies."

"I'm sure of what I saw, but they vanished as quickly as they appeared. I was hoping you had noticed the swarm too."

"That sounds strange," Tim injected, "Locusts in this area is an anomaly of nature, maybe a sign of the changing times. Weather patterns are changing and nature is responding in sync with the environment." Then he turned and faced the rock ahead, "It looks beautiful. The beige and white colors with shadows set against that deep blue sky! I can't wait to start the climb!"

Paul was still acclimatizing to the altitude, his body trying to adjust after a year of neglect. He reflected on Tim's remark about the locusts representing a sign of the changing times. A sign, he grappled with the idea. Could it be a sign of something besides the changing weather? He was bothered by the fact that the locust had momentarily obscured Tim and that the locusts had disappeared so quickly. What was the significance? He looked up at the rock face.

"It is beautiful," he agreed with Tim after a minute. "Do you dream?"

"Yes, I've had a few dreams, nothing spectacular, just ordinary little stuff. You know, every day kind of things," Tim replied as he stood up and picked up his backpack.

"What's on your mind?" he asked Paul.

"It's strange," Paul started, "like the locusts I just saw. Just minutes before that I was thinking about this recurring nightmare I've been having lately." Paul told Tim the details of his recurring nightmare as they started up the rocky hill towards the cliff ahead.

"Now that's very unusual," Tim said, "A nightmare about giant grasshoppers and now you saw a swarm of locusts. It's like a sign. What I really think though, is that you may be under a lot of stress. Stress ... that I do understand. Let me think about what you told me, maybe I can come up with ideas on how real life situations might be contributing to your nightmare."

"Well, I have been thinking about work and I guess I have been stressing over some of the contracts I have pending," Paul replied.

"When we get up on the rock face, we can sit and talk." Tim said, "Maybe by then I'll have some ideas. I can think better when I'm high on a cliff. You know how that is. That's why I had to come and climb this weekend."

"Yes, me too," replied Paul. They continued silently on to the base of the rock face.

Chapter Two

THE FALL

[April]

As the cool Spring breeze swayed the bright yellow Jonquils, he stood silent on the hill looking down the gentle slope. He could see the pallbearers begin to lower the casket. Using colorful ropes, six of Tim's friends were belaying the casket gently down into the grave. He looked at his uncle and his uncle lifted his violin to play. As the first notes hit the air and were carried towards the funeral canopy, the crowd looked...