Like He Never Existed at All (short story)

Instructions

Like He Never Existed At All "The hole looks really deep," Max muttered under his breath as he kept his hands on the wall of the cave Jake peered over the edge of the hole, looking into it. It spread from one side of the cave to the other. The hole seemed to be like a pitch-black bottomless pit. Vines crept around the sides of the hole, slithering over and between each other like green snakes. Staring into the hole, Jake stood inches away from it while Max refrained from getting too close. To Max, it looked too dangerous. The glistening, interwined vines looked slippery. One misstep on one of the vines or losing his footing would mean tumbling down into the deep black abyss. Staring back towards the entrance of the cave, Max had his heart in his mouth when he realised that the ray of sunshine at the entrance of the cave appeared too far away. He gulped, his heart pumping in his chest "I think I can see something down there," Jake whispered, flashing Max a wide grin, something Max found unsettling. Lying face down on the ground, Jake's head was over the edge of the hole. Max felt strange, his body seemed to be pulled towards the hole, which was as if going to swallow him whole. "I dare you to come closer to take a look!" Jake shrieked in excitement. Max wanted to yell a loud "no" and run away as fast as he could, but no voice came out of his throat. Chickening out would mean the word would be all over school soon, and his classmates would seize the opportunity to mock him. Reluctantly, he crouched down to the rocky ground, making sure not to get too close to the spread of darkness in front of him. At that moment, he spotted something... it was a flicker of light... seeming like a tiny fragment of light reflecting off something. "See it?" Jaked gasped as he nudged Max with his elbow, which made him jump. "No! I didn't see anything..." Max answered hesitantly. Obviously, Max was lying. Stealing a glance at Jake, Max saw a smile of mesmerised glee on Jake's face. Max edged slightly away from Jake. A smell rose from the hole. A musky, earthy smell... that smelled a little like something was rotting there. It was a smell that Max did not want lingering in his face for too long. Their initial plan had been simple, all they were suppose to do was sneak into the cave and take a look at the big hole. But Jake wanted much more than it. With his eyes fixated on the dark mass below them, Jake's lips parted slightly and his breath was shallow. "What are you waiting for? Let's go into the hole and explore it together now!" Jake snapped impatiently with menacing eyes, like something had a grip on him. Max shook his head, swallowed away the dryness in his throat, and shuffled further away from Jake. Turning away, Jake pushed himself in an upright position, his feet dangling in the hole as he eased himself closer to the edge and leaned in before he spat down into the darkness. "Jake, Let's get out of here. We can come back another time with a rope or a ladder..." Max pleaded, he would rather be laughed at on Monday than this. "Yeah why not Max? We'll bring your Dad's ladder and get your Mom to pack us some sandwiches. We can have a picnic at the bottom of the hole." Jake blurted out in sarcasm and scoffed before moving himself closer and closer to the hole. Max stood up and reached out his hand to Jake. "Jake, I'm serious. I don't want you to do this. Please Jake." "What you want and I want are two different things, Max." Without another sound, Jake leaped into the darkness. Max jerked his hand back and stood frozen like a statue for a few seconds as he watched Jake's body disappear into the blackness. "J-Jake!" Max's loud voice echoed in the cave. "Jake!" No response. Still and Silent. Dead silence. Inching forward, Max stared down into the hole. Not a single sound came up from the abyss. Not one fragment of light. Not a soul in sight. It was like Jake never existed at all.