Again we took the drug, a somewhat larger pellet this time. The familiar
sensations began. Everywhere the rocks were creeping with a slow
inexorable movement, the landscape expanding around us. The gully walls
drew back and upward. In a moment they were cliff walls and we were in a
broad valley.
We had been standing close together. We had not moved, except to shift
our feet as the expanding ground drew them apart. I became aware that
Alan and Glora were a distance from me. Glora called:
"Come, George! We're going down--quickly now."
We ran to the pit. It had expanded to a great round hole some six feet
wide and equally as deep. Glora let herself down, peered anxiously
beneath her, and dropped. Alan and I followed. We jammed the pit; but as
we stood there, the walls were receding and lifting.
I had remarked Glora's downward glance, and shuddered. Suppose, in some
slightly smaller size, Babs had been among these rocks!
The pit widened steadily. The movement was far swifter now. We stood
presently in a great circular valley. It seemed fully a mile in
diameter, with huge encircling walls like a crater rim towering
thousands of feet into the air. We ran along the base of one expanding
wall, following Glora.
I noticed now that overhead the turgid murk had turned into the blue of
distance. A sky. It was faintly sky-blue, and seemed hazy, almost as
though clouds were forming. It had been cold when we started. The
exertion had kept us fairly comfortable; But now I realized that it was
far warmer. This was different air, more humid, and I thought the smell
of moist earth was in it. Rocks and boulders were strewn here on the
floor of this giant valley, and I saw occasional pools of water. There
had been rain recently!
The realization came with a shock of surprise. This was a new world! A
faint, luminous twilight was around us. And then I noticed that the
light was not altogether coming from overhead. It seemed inherent to the
rocks themselves. They glowed, very faintly luminous, as though
phosphorescent.
We were now well embarked upon this strange journey. We seldom spoke.
Glora was intent upon guiding us. She was trying to make the best
possible speed. I realized that it was a case of judgment, as well as
physical haste. We had dropped into that six-foot pit. Had we waited a
few moments longer, the depth would have been a hundred feet, two
hundred, a thousand! It would have involved hours of arduous descent--if
we had lingered until we were a trifle smaller!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account