Hopeless

Short story about a girl who is hopelessly trapped and struggles to free herself

    “Hello?” a hopeless voice sounded from below the crowd of people.  They were all huddled around a deep, dark pit that seemed to stretch on forever.  “Is anybody there?  Someone, please help me!”  A few heads lifted slightly and several pairs of ears pricked slightly as if trying to identify an unrecognizable sound.  After a moment or two, all had given up and assumed they had imagined the cry.
    The chatter from the crowd gathered above the hole gradually died away.  One by one, the people left until soon, only two or three remained.  Wordlessly, one of them stumbled toward the edge of the pit they had heard a noise from.  The person stared down into the on stretching nothingness and squinted, trying to make out any shapes of what might be trapped down there.
    “Who’s down there?” the woman at the top of the pit whispered, so she wouldn’t disturb anyone else nearby.  No sound came from the darkness.  “I must be going insane,” she muttered to the other figure nearby.  “There’s no one down there.  If there was, they would have answered me.”
    “Nonsense,” the man told the woman.  “You probably need to call louder.”  And with that, he too approached the edge of the pit.

    The girl was drowning.  Drowning in everlasting darkness.  Somehow she had managed to find the bottom of the hole, but that was about all she had found.  The only other thing she knew is that she was lost, and there was no way out.  Not too long ago, she had been casually walking by, when out of nowhere, invisible hands shoved her and threw her down.  Next thing she knew, she had been falling until she finally reached the bottom.
    She stopped struggling for a moment when she thought she heard a sound from above.  Like someone calling for her.  She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out.  It was impossible.  There was no one at the top of the pit; she had already called out several times before.  There was never anybody then so why should there be someone now?  How stupid of her to think such a thing.
    The girl was devastated at this point.  Did nobody care enough to stop and try to help her.  She couldn’t stay down here forever.  Could she?  Surely there was someone?
    So the young girl waited day and night for what seemed like forever, but still, no Prince Charming came to save her.  She was beginning to hate everyone and everything.  No one cared about her.  She was worthless.  Why was she even still alive?  The girl had nothing to live for.
    A few minutes later, she heard a scream.  It was just enough to make her glance up from her own miserable life and wonder what was going on.  Who had screamed?  And why?
    A crash sounded a few heartbeats later, not far from where the young girl was huddled.  “Hello?” the girl called out in a shaky voice.  Forcing herself to her feet, she examined the whole pit-bottom but found nobody.  If no one was here, then how--?
    She froze.  One of the walls had a small opening.  Feeling with her hand, she guessed she could probably crawl inside if she wanted to.  She paused for a moment before following what seemed like a tunnel.  What did it matter what happened to her?
    “Stop!” shrieked a voice.
    The girl jumped slightly, then shrugged it off.  “Who’s there?” she called.  She almost jumped again when the other voice answered after a few seconds.  It had been so long since anyone had talked to her.
    The voice replied, “Don’t be afraid.  I am a friend.”
    Still recovering from the shock, the girl tried to see the other person that had to be trapped too.  But she had no such luck.  “What happened to you?” she asked wearily.  “And why can’t I see you?”
    The voice of the other person was hoarse but the words were clear.  “I have been trapped down here for longer than most.  Longer than I can remember.  All I remember is always being here alone, living on the edge of a cliff.  Then I fell even further, and this is where I have ended up.”  The stranger snorted then added, “And what a lovely home this is.  As for why you cannot see, it is simply because there is no light down here.  They want us to get lost.  And they have succeeded,” she muttered.
    “They?  Who are they?”
    The other person let out a short laugh, then dismissed the question.  As the girl turned away, the two promised to talk  more the next day.  She half-smiled.  It was nice to know that she wasn’t completely alone anymore.

They continued talking through the wall everyday and soon became good friends.  Things still were not well for either of them, but at least they had the other to talk to.

    One day, even a third person joined them.  That third person was an indicator to both of them that there were more people down there.  Please they might never meet.  And he suggested that they find a way to escape.
    The boy insisted that if they had all ended up down there, there had to be a way to get back up.  The only problem was that they had no materials to work with.  Not that they could share the materials anyway since the walls disabled them from interacting with each other except for verbally.
    “That’s it!” the young girl cried.  “I know how to get out.”
    Her two friends considered the idea carefully.  “Are you sure it will work?” they both asked.
    Slowly, she shook her head, forgetting the others couldn’t see her.  “No, I’m not sure it will work.  And it will be extremely difficult.  But it might be the only way and we might as well try it.”
    Agreement passed between the three friends, and they all began to plan their escape.  After days of preparing, they were finally ready to attempt to climb out of the hole.  And that’s just what they did.
    It was no easy task, but soon they were all slowly pulling themselves further prom the bottom of the hole.  Now and then, one of them would slip and fall part of the way down, but they kept trying.  They constantly called words of encouragement to each other and eventually were able to encourage themselves.  Soon, all three of them were able to see the light.
    Seeing, the light, they knew they had won.  They focused on that light, knowing that they couldn’t afford to fall again after coming so far.  And finally, the young girl who had first cried out for help pulled herself out of the darkness.
    She could see again!  She was so happy to be out of the darkness, she felt she could run forever.  But she knew one thing that would make her even happier--actually seeing her new friends for the first time and them being happy.  Carefully she scanned the ground to find the pits they were still climbing and called down to them.
    Not long after, they were both at her side, all smiling and hugging each other.  They had made it out!  Maybe it wasn’t the end, but simply a new beginning.  One that required living in the dark before you can live in the light.  All three of them had learned something from their time in the darkness.  Just knowing that other people actually cared changed them forever.  But more than that, now they all knew what to do with their lives.  One by one, they guided other prisoners of the dark out of heir pits and gave them friendship and hope.  When all the prisoners were freed, they headed away from the dark holes together.  They had one place left to go--the village to open up the eyes of the people who have always been blind.  And to unplug the ears of those who were deaf.  That was the reason no one had saved them--no one had known they needed to be saved.  And in the end, they had been able to save themselves.

Reviews

[Wolfwind]

A brilliant Story! I loved the moral and practical lessons that it brings to light. You created a great situation to allow the reader to learn about, teamwork, self-reliance and the rewards for those who help others. They way this was told was like a story bring spoken to a group of people, a narration. I could imagine it being told to a group of children in a small village somewhere.

Amazing Ink!
Aaron