What we thought was the light at the end of the tunnel turned out to be anything but that.
The closer we got the harder it was to breathe. Outside there must have been a bush fire that wasn’t there when we went spelunking.
It had been an arduous time. A lot of crawling through small spaces and a lot of water to negotiate.
So the thought of coming out into the fresh air had a lot of appeal until we began to sense the smoke finding its way down into the spaces we were in.
We knew we had to try and get out as there would be nothing to breathe before long.
So with a concerted effort we crawled once again, forgot about the pain of scrapped knees and elbows but focused on the space ahead now rapidly filling with smoke.
All the way we were aware of each other and realising for each of us this was a monumental effort of endurance far greater than what we had achieved down under the ground.
With encouragement we made our way to the surface. By then we were all coughing and gasping. Outside the entrance the air was thick with smoke but there were pockets of clean air, enough for us to make it to safety away from the smouldering remains of our favourite bushland.
All of us were affected by the smoke, we sat around drawing in deep breathes hoping to get the smoke out of our lungs. We knew we’d experienced a close thing, if the fire had been over the cave entrance when we tried to come out, the outcome may have been a lot different.
Written for: https://scvincent.com/2016/12/08/thursday-photo-prompt-smoke-writephoto/
Morpethroad 
scary, I had a hard time breathing just reading this…really! As always a great write, Michael.
Thank you oliana it’s lovely having you stop by.
You`re welcome…I am not much of a blog visitor or writer lately. Have been reading a lot which suits me these days. Your post was so inviting on my reader 🙂
Glad you could stop by.
Beautiful descriptive read Michael. Good writing skills.
Great story to the prompt Michael. A narrow escape, well done.
Thank you so much.
Thanks, Michael. Nice and tense.
Thank you Sue
Wow, the atmosphere of this makes me wonder if you, yourself have been caught or near caught in a bush fire, seeing how it is they so frequent Oz. For a change of pace and tone from the lighter ambiance you usually employ, this is incredibly well written – the tension set so well in the details – like scraped elbows and knees, sense of confinement etc.
Thank you Pat, we have enough bush fires to know how destructive they can be…thankfully I have not been caught up in one..
well I am relieved to hear that – but I’m guessing that because you get the media coverage and probably know people who have been close to them, then you can easily translate the essences of it.
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Exciting piece Michael. You did a great job building up the tension, making us wonder if they’d make it out and if the end would have fresh air. Thank goodness it did!
Thanks Mandi, yes a happy ending is the way to go with bushfires…
i almost needed an inhaler reading this. great descriptions and action.
Thank you Ellen…I think…..just read yours excellent tale..
so you did and it was good to see you there… or is it here *scratches chin*
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