SUNGLASSES AND ROCKETS Part 1 : New Moon

THE ENTRANCE

I decided to be brave. I had no other choice. Since it wasn't long before the beautiful blonde came up to me to congratulate me with a delicious kiss on the cheek.

All right! If I had to die, at least I would die happy.

It was 3:20 p.m. We would start our journey once again; we scrambled over the pile of rocks until we got up to the enormous hole in the wall. Felix shone his flashlight around the cavity. The damp tunnel that appeared before our eyes was much larger than we had thought. Wooden girders made rectangular patterns on the walls and the ceiling. Felix was the first to jump inside. We followed him, attempting to emulate his agile movements.

I have to admit that I was excited, enthusiastic. Without a doubt, the cheerful kiss from the doctor's niece had brought back my good mood. Although I admit that my happiness was like that of a demented person that climbs up to the highest diving board of a great big swimming pool and throws himself off in a splendid dive...knowing that the pool is completely empty.

The inside of the new passageway was uneven, and it was on quite a pronounced incline. The floor was so slippery that, instead of walking, we slid.

After an hour of going along at a breakneck speed, dodging pillars that folded in on themselves under the weight of age-old construction, Felix stopped. He shone his light on an irregular, horizontal fissure in the wall.

"Here," he indicated, and went in without further ado.

We followed him. We had to bow our heads below the ceiling of the cavity, which appeared to be completely covered in rust. I made out some bluish stains. We must have gone ten steps and stopped. The bare ceiling sloped downwards until it reached the floor, forming a dark, narrow cleft in the rock.

"We've arrived!" the doctor announced, exalted. "The entrance!"

Obviously, the rusty cavity was not the principal entrance to the Bat Cave, but we simply didn't have any more time to look for a more decorous way through. Without hesitation, we started to arrange the equipment into bundles thin enough that they could fit through the narrow opening. The doctor didn't delay in fixing a rope around his chest and, caught up in his excitement as he was, exclaimed:

"I'll go first!"

He immediately lay himself down on the reddish floor, dragged himself along and went through the fissure. Felix had tied the other end of the rope to his waist. In the meantime, the three other members of the expedition shone light on the crack. It must have been about 30 feet long, the end of it marked by a dank nothingness. The light escaped from the area and became lost in absolute darkness; however, the doctor dragged himself along with conviction, albeit slowly, as soldiers do when they carefully move under barbed wire. There was hardly enough room to raise your head.

After a few minutes we saw a ray of light coming from the other side. The equipment, you could hear the doctor order. Felix deftly untied the end of the rope that was tied to his body and tied it to the other rope that held together the bundles of equipment.

"Ready," he announced.

The rope tensed up and the equipment started to be dragged timidly inside.

"Next," the doctor's voice could be heard after a while.

Vanessa went into the crevice without a pause. It was impossible for me to hold back a Be careful!

More than ten minutes went by before you heard: next, said by the doctor and his niece, in chorus.

I let Darwin take his turn. Just as Vanessa and her uncle had done, Darwin also tended to lift up his head, bumping it inevitably against the roof. After a couple of knocks, like his predecessors, he ended up dragging his head, almost scraping along the floor.

And after another few minutes of waiting you could hear again: next, from the other side.

"After you," I told Felix, being a complete gentleman.

He made a gesture of agreement and went into the fissure. I felt as if I were in the waiting room at the dentist's. I could wait all the time in the world for my turn.

"Next," I heard, waybefore I expected to. It's my turn, I thought worriedly, andright away I willed myself onward: it can't be worse than getting an injection.