Light

Peter found a quarter on the ground at work, It was face up. He stepped on it purposely and laughed at the little man beneath his massive feet. A mouse scuttled by his foot, Peter jumped up in surprise. The mouse quickly picked up the coin and ran off. "Hey! That's mine, you little fuck!" He began to chase the mouse, it took a sharp turn around the corner and Peter swooped in right behind him. Before he could even finish turning his body, he had fallen into an enormous hole, about 20 feet deep and a few feet wide. Peter fell for a good 5 seconds before he felt the ground touch the bottom of his feet. It didn't hurt, he landed perfectly straight, he didn't even realize he had stopped falling until 15 seconds later. Peter was not amused. If this was some kind of practical joke, it was annoying him.. He stood in silence in the pitch black. He looked around but could only see the faint light from above him. He reached out in front of him but felt nothing. He made a complete circle with both arms out, still nothing. Cautiously, he picked up his right foot, feeling carefully that he wouldn't fall into another pit, his foot planted firmly about a foot forward, the ground was soft, like a pillow, or a cushion, it sunk in. He wasn't freightened, he was protected. Still reaching forward he picked up his left foot and took another step, three feet forward this time, the ground still soft, nothing in front of him. This time he took another step, more confident, more swift, still nothing.. His pupils grew a bit more, adjusting to the darkness, he could see the beam of light coming from above, but nothing around him. Another step, then another and another, then almost out of thin air, his fingertips felt a smooth, opaque, surface. He retreated his hand, but then reached back out, he layed the palm of his hand on it, the surface was warm. He moved his hand around, it was even throughout. He kneeled down and at the meeting point of the ground and the surface, he felt some kind of rope like texture, he grabbed it and tried lifting it. He heard a melancholy roar from a distance, he dropped the rope and fell on his ass onto the soft ground. The roar faded, Peter waited for a minute and did not hear it again. He went back for the rope, seeing if it ended anywhere near him, it continued on both ends. He grabbed it again, there was no roar this time. He picked it up, it had plenty of slack. As he gave it a light pull, he heard a ticking sound, like a gear, begginning to turn. He stopped pulling, it stopped ticking. He pulled it again, this time for longer, a little faster. The ticking was faster, and he began to hear more then one ticking sound. He kept pulling, it would come to an end. The ticking came from all around him now, he heard the roar again, but ignored it, the ticking seemed to obscure it. He pulled and pulled and suddenly the rope came to an end, as he held the end of the rope in his hand, a woman's voice said aloud, "let there be light!" Peter looked around, and began to see candles flickering on all along the wall...