The Magical Tunnel Home

Date finished: November 18, 2021

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“I think we are flying over Antarctica now, look!” 13-year-old Rollan pointed out to Yolanda, his 11-year-old sister. It was one of their normal flights to the boarding school they attended. His sister, however, was not even listening to what he was saying as she had her face buried in a book. Yolanda’s face was pale, but her eyes were transfixed on the pages, not missing a word. Rollan knew she was trying to calm the effects of airsickness. He sighed as he looked out of the window of the plane. Another year away from their family, he realized. During that time, they only had each other to rely on. There were times when he wanted their parents to be with them, instead of……. His thought was interrupted by a violent shake in the plane, causing cups to spill. Yolanda’s book came flying out of her hands, landing up-side down on the passage beside her. Being even paler than before, her knuckles turned white of the railing of the seat. Her teeth were gritted, trying to fight down the nausea.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Came the voice of the pilot, barely audible above the sound of the violent rocking of the aircraft and the chaos of the passengers within it, “We are experiencing severe turbulence. Parts of the plane might be damaged. We would be trying for an emergency landing. Please grip the hand railing and keep your seatbelts fastened. Thank you.”

“Are we going to crash?” Yolanda panicked, relaxing her hand from the railing and instead gripping her brother’s arm.

“I don’t know,” Rollan answered honestly. He seemed calm, but his breathing was rapid, and his face was paler than usual, enough to show that he too was afraid. He knew that if the plane were to break down and they have to land, chances are that they would not survive.

As suddenly as it came, the rocking stopped. The whole craft were silent, except the humming of the engines. Just as the people were about to hope that all was well again, silence engulfed them, nothing, including the engine……. Screams were everywhere, terrified people crying, and this time, no one tried to stop them.

Rollan shielded his body protectively in front of his sister, wrapping his arms around her, fearing it would be their last. Yolanda’s mouth was open, trying to scream, but no sound came out. Rollan closed his eyes, thinking about everything, his family, the school, his friends. Would he ever see them again?

The plane was almost vertical now, falling towards the ground. Rollan didn’t dare look out of the window. He squeezed his eyes shut, clearing his mind of everything. At the last second, he heard glass of the windows exploding, and then……nothing.

Rollan and Yolanda woke with a start, Rollan with his arm still on top of Yolanda. They looked around themselves, at their surroundings, not knowing how they got there, then memories started to come back, of the flight, and the crash.

Smoke were everywhere, and pieces of the plane, lying broken and scattered around them. They found themselves still scrapped to what remained of their seats. Everything was quiet, except the occasional pop of a piece of the plane breaking up further. There were no visible passengers in sight, being either buried under the wreckage or having escaped earlier. The sun was shining and hot above them, heating up the ground. By the look of the sun, it was mid-afternoon.

“We survived,” Yolanda commented weakly, looking at her brother lying beside her.

“Yeah, we did.” The meaning of it hits them then, as they realized how lucky they were to have survived. They might be the only ones to do so. They came out with only a couple of cuts and grazes.

“Where are we and are we ever going to get out of here?” Yolanda asked as Rollan helped her up.

“I don’t know,” Rollan admitted, “Let’s get out of here first,” He decided.

“Shouldn’t we be waiting for rescue?”

“We should be in a remote part of Antarctica right now. If there is going to be rescue, it would take at least days before they find us, and by that time, we would either be bored to death or starve to death,” Rollan pointed out.

“Sure,” Yolanda agreed with a shrug.

“I don’t know it is so hot in Antarctica,” Rollan remarked, shielding his eyes from the sun as sweat poured down his face, wetting his shirt. They had been walking away from the wreckage, with no idea on where they were going.

“It is summer here,” Yolanda replied matter-of-factly, “Look, there is the sea, maybe there would be food there. I am hungry.” She broke off into a trot, with Rollan close behind her.

A howl somewhere close to them stopped them dead in their tracks.

“You heard that?” Yolanda questioned hesitantly, fear gradually showing on her face.

“Yeah……,” Rollan muttered, not wanting to believe it.

“Should we…,” Yolanda started, but dropped the sentence as she looked to where the howl came from. Just emerging from a pile of rocks was a wolf cub. “Oh, it’s just a cub, plus, look how cute it is!”

“Em… Yolanda? It is still a wolf, you know,” Rollan informed, but Yolanda was already off, trotting to where the cub now stood. With a sigh, Rollan followed.

Yolanda knelt before the cub, slowly extending her hand, as if she were to stroke it. As her fingers touched the cub’s right ear, it let of a low purr and retreated a step.

“Hey, come on, don’t be afraid,” Yolanda reassured, encouraging the cub to come to her. Behind her, standing some distance away, Rollan had his arms crossed across his crest as he rolled his eyes at his sister. He knew that if he were to speak now and scare the cub away, Yolanda would surly never forgive him.

The wolf cub met Yolanda’s eyes, holding her stare for a few more seconds, then bent down to sniff her out-stretched arm. Confirming that it would not be hurt, the cub licked Yolanda’s fingers and trotted toward her, as if accepting her. It wiggled in her hands as she picked it up.

“I told you so!” Yolanda proclaimed as she showed the cub to Rollan. On closer inspection, Yolanda found that the wolf was actually nearly fully grown, with the ability to survive in its own.

“You sure it is good to keep a wolf?”

“Why not?”

“Don’t blame me if you lose a finger or two while playing with it.”

“It needs a name,” Yolanda decided as they settled in for a dinner of shells and seafood they caught on the beach. The sun had already set, turning the sky into a curtain of beautiful stars, shining, and being their only light source. The air had turned chilly, as day switched to night. Now they sat behind some rocks, watching the stars and dreaming of home, while enjoying the food. It was not much, just a shell or two for them each, but it was enough.

“Blackie?” Rollan suggested, looking towards where the wolf had wondered off, playing, “It looks black,” He added.

“Oh, be creative. How about Terresa?”

“All up to you, but you sure it is a girl?” Rollan questioned.

“My choice,” Yolanda announced, as they settled in naming the wolf Terresa. “I am wondering,” She started as they finished the food, “If Terresa was a wolf at all. She looks so dog-ish, you know.”

“Well, you heard that howl.”

“Yeah, but some dogs howl too,” Yolanda retorted, then added, “She is too small for a wolf, but her physical signs show that she is already a grown-up.”

“But how could a dog be here. It is antarctica, after all.” Yolanda thought for a moment, probably going through all the books she read.

“She could be a sled dog!” Yolanda remembered, “I read a book about them. People here travel on sleds pulled by dogs. She could be one of the sled dogs and ran away. She looks like one, according to the description on the book. White and black fur, looking like a little wolf. If you look at her now, she is far to fluffy compared to a wolf,” She pointed out.

“Fine, even if she is a dog, we can’t keep her. We still needed to get home, you know,” Rollan said, trying to talk reason into her sister.

“You know I am not going to. Now, end of conversation. Let’s get some sleep and go home tomorrow.”

“Stubborn…,” Rollan muttered.

The sun woke them up next day, shoving the curtain of stars aside and spreading its rays upon earth. Yolanda and Rollan were already walking, with Terresa hopping along beside them.

“So, how are we going to get home?” Rollan asked, focusing on the important question.

“I thought you have an idea.”

“Seriously, you read all those books and you don’t know how to navigate?”

“I read fiction stuff,” Yolanda explained, “Plus, those are topics for boys.” Rollan sighed. Now it is totally on his shoulders to take them home.

“Looks like we need to depend on our instincts.”

Day after day of tired walking, with no idea where they are going. Terresa brought back rabbits or small animals now and then, but they are gradually running out of food as they walked away from the sea. They felt the temperature dropping every day. If they didn’t get home soon, they would either starve or freeze.

WOOF, WRRRR, WOOF!

Terresa’s barking interrupted their quiet walk. As they looked down, only to find her chewing on the leg of Yolanda’s pants, trying to pull her somewhere.

“Looks like she found something, let’s go, before she ruined my pants,” Yolanda observed.

Finally, Terresa came to a stop, followed by two ran-down humans, both panting hard. They were now standing in a rock formation, little rocky hills dotting the area, with grass and plants growing out of the gaps.

“Wh-wh-what, Te-rre-sa?” Yolanda wheezed between breaths.

Putting her nose to the ground, as if tracking something, Terresa ran up one of the hills, clawing at one of the bogger rocks at the top. Even without barking, they knew something with up with that rock.

“Think we had better get going,” It was Rollan who spoke. The two exhausted figures pulled themselves up the hill with their last bit of strength, to where Terresa now stood.

“Get that rock off, Rollan,” Yolanda instructed, not sitting against a rock, panting once more. Rollan was in better condition, though his shirt was wet with sweat. Building up all his remaining energy, he pushed with all his might against the rock, until it toppled of the hill, rolling to a stop at the bottom.

Yolanda was beside them now, looking down to where the rock was a second ago.

There was a tunnel, leading into nothingness, the diameter just large enough for a person to fit. A smell of the forest came through. They stood looking down it, wondering what it is, ignoring the look Terresa gave them. Then, in that split second, as if to get their attention, Terresa jumped…….

“Noooo,” Yolanda screamed, her cry echoing off the walls of the tunnel. Dangling her legs into the tunnel, and out of sheer desperation, she followed. Rollan tried to catch her, but he was too slow. His fingers slipped on Yolanda’s arm. He watched his sister fell, into nothingness. Then, he did the only thing possible, he took a deep breath and jumped……into the tunnel.

A girl, a boy, and a dog, stood where they emerged, on the edge of a forest. Yolanda was the first to turn to look behind her. Her eyes lit with surprise at what she saw.

“Home!” She gasped. Behind them, and below the mountains, stood a city---their city……. Somehow, the tunnel had carried them straight to where they wanted to be most.

They were home.

The end