STORY STARTER
Submitted by Evelyn Allen Vale
"Two go in, and one comes out" is the start to a dark nursery rhyme that everyone in the town knows.
Write a story which features this rhyme and its tale.
Haven
The people of Littleton had low expectations for Jeremey. He never had any talent for sports, studies, household chores, or anything the town could really name. To his parents, who had lost hope in him long ago, he was a game-obsessed bum of a son. No one had proposed for him to join the fleet of agents hired to enter the haunted mine shafts of Littleton. Everyone had warned him. But he had picked up the flyer without any approval, he filled out the form online so no one would know. They watched on the viewing screen as he entered. The camerawork was iffy, but he had never taken up film before, so the steady shake that always tremored through his fingertips kept its pace and rocked the visuals in return. Large men in black pushed forward with him, surrounding him on all sides and they squeezed into this tunnel. It started with a jog, then slowed down into a stumbled walk as he felt the black dirt fully enter his lungs. He sucked in air, but it filled until he could only try his hardest not to breathe in an attempt to gain oxygen. It was his only life source. Further into the cave, he pushed past the falling soldiers, until at last, a light appeared at the end of an empty tunnel path. He ran for it, reached it, and entered. Light surrounded him, the darkness faded, and heaven entered his vision. He was saved. He found the haven.