THE QUARRY ENCOUNTER
By
Matthew Spence
The car was right where Ramon said it would be, in the middle of the old gravel pit outside of town. The bag was there, too, clearly visible in the moonlight that was bright enough to read by.
“You sure about this?” Sean looked down at the car.
“Dude, this place has been abandoned for years. Nobody comes out here anymore.”
“Yeah, so how did you find out about it?”
“I heard about it. I figured I’d check it out before somebody else tried to get to it. So come on.”
Sean followed him down into the pit. He’d always followed Ramone’s lead, ever since they were kids, as an only child, Ramon had been the closest thing to an older brother he’d ever had, and had been the one he’d looked up to after his Dad was sent away. Thy reached the car and Ramone almost whooped out loud when he pulled out the bag and opened it up.
“Dude! Check it out! I knew I was right!”
Sean looked. Sure enough, there were stacks of bills, some of them marked with the dye that banks used in case it got stolen, which it apparently had been. It was a real jackpot, but Sean still felt uneasy.
“I don’t know, bro. I mean, why’d they leave it here? Seems kinda too convenient. You sure this ain’t a setup?”
“So maybe they ditched it here. Who cares? Finders, keepers, right?”
“Dude, this still doesn’t feel right. Maybe we should do some more checking around before we…”
Ramone started to make a smartass reply, but something was happening. The pit began to change-grow, was the only way Sean could describe it, as rocks began tumbling down its sides.
“What the hell?” Ramon stared at the encroaching walls. “What the hell’s going on?”
“I think we need to leave,” Sean said. Ramon grabbed the bag, but Sean said, “Drop it, dude! Run!”
Ramon instinctively obeyed as he followed Sean up the side of the pit. Below them, the car and the bag disappeared, swallowed by what Sean could have sworn were teeth, jagged rows of rocks that came out of the ground, dragging the car down with them. They made it back to the top where they’d started and looked down at where the car had been.
“What the hell was that?” Ramon asked.
“I don’t know, but it let us go. I think we should take the hint and like leave, dude.”
“But what is it?” Ramon insisted. But he began following Sean, and the irony wasn’t lost on either of them that Sean was taking the lead.
“Something that needs to be left alone,” Sean replied. He continued taking the lead as they went back into town.
THE END