Nocturnal Neighbors

Chad crawled on his stomach through a passageway in the cave. He was cold, hungry, and exhausted. It had been a long day. His plans to explore the cave sounded exciting the day before. Today these same plans seemed crazy. Things definitely went downhill when the battery died on his flashlight. Chad was left to using his senses to help “feel” his way through the cave.

Just then, the noise at the back of the cave started again. The noise was louder than it ever was before. Chad still couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It was sort of a swooshing sound.

Chad kept low to the ground. The noise flew directly above him. Chad closed his eyes and clinched his fists waiting for the noise to stop. Eventually the noise died down and Chad opened his eyes again.

Chad strained his eyes get a good look at his surroundings. What was making that noise?

With all quiet again, Chad began crawling. He was very nervous for a while after the noise and the swooshing finished. Suddenly an image flashed through Chad’s mind. Was it a bat? Chad realized that each time he heard the noise it was actually a large group of bats flying from one end of the cave to the other.

Chad shuddered at the thought of it and soon began to sweat. Taking a breath to calm himself, Chad tried to put his mind elsewhere.