by T. L. Clarke
“Ouch! That really hurts, Gabi!” Zora squealed.
Gabrielle shoved Rosalinda’s body against the wall, crawling past her.
“Ouch…watch it, chica!” Rosalinda screamed.
Gabrielle snorted angrily. “No, you watch it. Look, I’m real tired of you right now, ‘chica.’ Your prima donna attitude was real funny about two hours ago but now you’re really starting to piss me off,” she screamed as she looked over her shoulders. “You’re jeopardizing the safety of my friends and that I will not put up with. Now, Gabby Girls, I suggest you crawl past Princess Rosalinda and follow me out of here.”
Rosalinda squinted angrily. “How rude—how dare you?”
Gabrielle chuckled. “Oh, I dare, Princess Rosalinda, I dare. You’re welcome to follow us out of here or you can sit here and rot. It’s your choice.”
Rosalinda gritted her teeth stubbornly. “Well, I’m not moving an inch.”
Zora adjusted her glasses impatiently. “Frankly, I’m also getting tired of your attitude. I really thought we could be friends but you’re just selfish and spoiled.” She gritted her teeth with determination. “Jess, grab the end of my shirt; we’re getting out of here.”
Jessica nervously grabbed the end of Zora’s shirt as they squeezed past Rosalinda’s stiff body. Zora quickly grabbed the end of Gabrielle’s sweatshirt.
Gabrielle smiled with relief. “Okay, Gabby Girls, let’s get the heck out of here.” She slowly crawled through the tunnel with Zora and Jessica right behind her.
Jessica abruptly stopped and looked back. “Rosa, come on…grab the end of my sweater. You can’t stay here,” she pleaded.
Rosalinda huffed angrily, hesitantly grabbing the end of Jessica’s sweater.
They sloshed their way through the tunnel; with every inch they crawled, Rosalinda squealed in anguish.
Trickles of sweat ran down Gabrielle’s forehead, but she gritted her teeth with determination, anxiously wishing they could somehow find a flicker of light to show them the way out of the dark and seemingly unending tunnel.
“Gabby Girls, this tunnel seems to be going on forever. I need to take a little break,” Gabrielle said tiredly as she stopped crawling. She reached down and grabbed the front of her sweatshirt to wipe her sweat-soaked face. Oh, this is so gross, she thought as she sat back on her heels.
She pulled her pendant, which was stuck under her sweatshirt, and nervously rubbed it for some sort of comfort. A soft smile slowly spread across her face as she thought of Grandma Celeste and how much she wished that she were back home in the comfort of her cheery room under her favorite blanket.
Gabrielle’s forehead crinkled with concentration as she slowly continued to rub her pendant as if she were in some sort of trance; her thoughts suddenly drifted to Grandma Celeste’s last cryptic remark. “Gabi, promise me that you won’t lose it. Someday, it will be a beacon of light in your darkest moment. ” Out of the blue, a small tickle shot through the tips of her fingers; stunned, she looked down accusingly at her pendant. Strangely, it was somehow glowing. She blinked in awe but something in her mind whispered to rub her pendant more quickly. The glow became even brighter; it was darn-right beautiful.
“Oh, no way!” Gabrielle screamed excitedly.
Zora took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “What’s going on up there, Gabi?”
Gabrielle gently cradled the pendant with both palms. “You won’t believe it even if I tell you.”
With a sigh, Zora placed her glasses back on. She blinked with shock as she watched a soft glow spring from her pendant. “Umm, I think I would.”
“We actually have light! I wished it and it happened. I can’t believe it! For once something that I actually wished for turned out for the good and not for the bad,” Gabrielle exclaimed happily.
Jessica nervously twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “G-Gabby Girls, um, something strange is happening to my pendant, too—it’s glowing,” she stuttered.
Rosalinda quickly sat back on her heels. “Mine, too! Exactly what’s going on here?”
“I don’t know—but the glow from my pendant is definitely getting brighter,” Gabrielle said slowly.
As if on cue, the glow from their pendants was so bright that it completely lit the whole tunnel, stunning them into complete silence.
“Awesome!” Zora, Gabrielle, and Jessica screamed in unison.
Rosalinda looked at them with wild hysteria in her eyes. “Awesome? Are you kidding me? This is the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen. And, Gabi, please don’t tell me that you actually think you wished for this to happen and it did?”
Gabrielle looked at her boldly. “Well, I don’t want to freak everyone out, but, yes, I actually believe that my wish made our pendants light up.”
Rosalinda laughed. “Okay, so you’re delirious from crawling through the tunnel filth.”
Gabrielle continued. “Okay, so I’ve never told anyone this before, not even my Grandma Celeste, but ever since I could remember, strange things would happen when I wished for them. But up until now, every time I wished for something, it would turn out bad…I mean really bad.”
Jessica looked at her strangely. “Are you saying that you can wish for something and it would actually happen?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t know how or why but it’s true. I know you all think that I’m crazy. I mean, who would actually believe a crazy story like this? I know I wouldn’t,” Gabrielle said sardonically.
Rosalinda snorted. “Well, I think that you’re crazy.”
Jessica wrung her hands nervously. “Gabi, I believe you because…well, where do I begin?” She nervously twisted a strand of blond hair around her finger. “I used to be able to talk to my father about anything but ever since my mother died, he seems to be avoiding me like the plague, and for the life of me, I just can’t figure out why.” She smiled sadly. “Anyway, strange things started to happen to me a couple of years ago but I guess…I don’t know, I guess I tried to ignore them and hoped that it would eventually just go away.”
Gabrielle looked at her oddly. “Like what?”
“Like exactly what happened in that passageway when I was trying to open the door,” Jessica answered as she licked her lips nervously. “Okay, I might as well say it. When I get really nervous or scared, I disappear—become invisible. Well, not completely—but like parts of my body: my hand or my face or my arm. I just can’t seem to control it.”
Rosalinda snorted nastily. “Well, it’s confirmed—you’re both crazy.”
Gabrielle yelped with excitement. “I knew it! I just knew it! I mean, for a minute, I thought I was going crazy when I saw you disappear then reappear. It was like you were translucent or something.”
“You’re both totally insane!” Rosalinda screamed.
Jessica’s eyes filled with relief. “I thought you saw but I couldn’t be sure because you didn’t say anything to me about it.”
Zora scratched her head in confusion. “So, what does this all mean? We all have this weird pendant, we all have some sort of weird power thing going on, and now we’re being led down this weird tunnel. There just has to be a point to all of this.”
Gabrielle smiled hugely. “You’re right, Zora, there has to be a point to all this; we just have to figure it out.” She quickly moved back to her knees. “Well, Gabby Girls, let’s stop wasting time. The Gabby Girls Adventure continues.” She started to crawl through the tunnel again, but this time with a new burst of energy and purpose.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Walk the Tight Rope
Gabrielle’s eyes sparkled. “Do you see what I see?”
Zora’s face flushed with excitement. “Are you kidding me? How can I miss it? It’s light…sweet, glorious light.”
They crawled quickly toward the bright light shining at the end of the tunnel. The further they crawled, the wider the tunnel became, eventually enabling them to stand upright and stretch. They tiredly shook out their cramped legs.
Zora marveled at the two huge gaping holes carved into the wall. “Wow! This is quite a dilemma.” She adjusted her glasses as she looked over at them. “Which one should we take? Should we take the left one or the right?”
Jessica stared blankly as she bit her nails.
Gabrielle boldly walked toward the left hole, peeking through it. Her eyes bulged at the sight of what looked like a very old bridge that stretched across a large stone cavern. She gulped when she looked over to the right, spotting a similar-looking bridge as the one in front of her. Her eyes curiously followed the length of the two bridges, stopping at the end, where they joined to form a perfect Y. She took a deep, calming breath. “Wow! This is definitely not going to be as easy as I thought,” she whispered.
Her eyes quickly darted around the cavern, frantically looking for another way out. “Okay, Gabi, pull yourself together; the Gabby Girls need you right now,” she whispered. Pinning a brave smile on her face, she quickly spun around to face them.
“Okay, so here’s the deal. There’s good news and bad news,” Gabrielle said matter-of-factly, smiling with a confidence that she was far from feeling. “So, which one do you want first?”
An uncomfortable silence filled the room as they stared at her blankly.
Nonchalantly, Gabrielle brushed a non-existent speck of dirt from the front of her jeans. “Okay, so the good news is that there’s definitely a way out of here.”
They stared at her silently, waiting for the dreaded bad news.
Gabrielle smiled brightly. “The bad news is that we have to cross a bridge to get to it.”
Jessica’s eyes popped wide open as she nervously shuffled from side to side.
Zora shook her head with dismay as she walked silently toward the right hole and peeked through it. She gulped nervously as she looked down at the thrashing river at the bottom of a sharp drop. She stepped back into the tunnel and looked at them silently.
Frantically, Rosalinda looked at them. “You’re all crazy. I’m not crossing any bridge,” she screamed as she backed away from them.
Jessica twirled her hair nervously. “I agree with you, Rosa. I think that it’s too dangerous for us to cross the bridge. There’s got to be another way out of here.”
Gabrielle looked at them matter-of-factly. “Okay, Gabby Girls, let’s keep it real. There is no other way out of here, so the way I see it is we only have two choices. We can stand here and freeze to death or we can take our chances and cross that bridge. Frankly, I vote for taking our chances and crossing that bridge. But I can’t force you to agree with me; it definitely has to be a group decision.”
Jessica gulped nervously. “But what if it’s just another trick?”
Zora adjusted her glasses. “Look, I don’t want to add fuel to the fire, but I think it’s fair to assume it’s another trap.”
They all gulped nervously.
Gabrielle looked at Zora. “Well, do you have any suggestions on how we can get out of this pickle safely?”
Zora shook her head in dismay. “Logically, here’s how I see it: there are two bridges, one on the left and one on the right. The bridges look quite unstable and I don’t think they can hold the weight of four people without flipping over and sending us plunging into the river.”
They gulped nervously again.
Zora continued. “So, here’s my suggestion: only two of us should walk across the left bridge and the other two should walk across the right bridge. I think that should be just enough weight to keep the bridge steady enough for us to cross it safely.”
Gabrielle rubbed her hands together eagerly. “Okay, so we’re wasting time here. Jessica, you come with me.” She wiped her sweaty palms on the front of her jeans and stomped over to the left hole. Taking a long, deep breath, she cautiously stepped through the hole and onto the tip of the bridge. Gabrielle did not really want to think about the fact that she was also unsure about crossing the bridge, but she knew for a fact that this was the only way out.
She looked down at the violently thrashing river that was blue as the sky. For some reason, it seemed to be taunting her, welcoming her to fall in. But, true to form, nothing made her back down from a challenge, not even one that was as dangerous as this, so she gritted her teeth and grasped the brittle old ropes that barely held the bridge together.
Nervously, Jessica followed and stepped through the hole. “Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed as she nervously stepped back into the safety of the tunnel. “No way…absolutely no way, Gabi. I’m not crossing that thing.”
With a look of deep concentration, Gabrielle took a few more cautious steps onto the bridge, causing it to sway back and forth slowly. She quickly gripped the brittle ropes tightly to steady herself.
Jessica reached over and tugged on the back of Gabrielle’s sweatshirt, which quickly pulled her back into the safety of the tunnel. Her eyes pleaded with Gabrielle nervously. “Gabi, no way…that bridge looks like it’s a zillion years old. Look at those wooden planks; they’re rotten to the core. Don’t do it; there’s got to be another way out of here.”
Gabrielle smiled bravely. “Jess, I know you want to believe that with all your heart, but both you and I know that we don’t exactly have a choice here. Besides, take a look at what’s at the end of the bridge: it’s an exit.”
“B-but, Gabi, just think about that deep drop into the river; if we fall, we’ll surely die. Do you really want to take that risk?” Jessica stuttered nervously.
Gabrielle smiled reassuringly. “Jess, do you really think we have a choice?” She sharply turned, giving Zora and Rosalinda a pleading look. “Look, Gabby Girls, we can’t turn back now. I mean, what’s back there for us? Nothing. But what’s ahead is our destiny, and I vote for finding our destiny.”
They stared at her silently.
Gabrielle smiled at them. “We are brave but, most importantly, we’re Gabby Girls, for Pete’s sake. We can do anything. Okay, I don’t know about you, but right about now I think it’s an excellent time for a Gabby Girls cheer.”
They continued to stare at her silently.
“C’mon, we really need it,” Gabrielle chided as she stuck her hand out with her palm facing downward. “Gabby Girl Gabrielle!”
Zora adjusted her glasses nervously, hesitantly placing her hand on top of Gabrielle’s. “Gabby Girl Zora!”
Jessica smiled nervously, placing her hand on top of Zora’s. “Gabby Girl Jessica!”
Rosalinda breathed out with exasperation, shaking her head in defeat. “I can’t believe that I’m actually doing this.” She reluctantly placed her hand on top of Jessica’s. “Gabby Girl Rosalinda!”
In unison, they raised their hands in the air, screaming at the top of their lungs, “Gabby Girls Adventure!”
Gabrielle smiled reassuringly. “Okay, let’s get a move-on, Gabby Girls.” Stomping over to the left hole, she confidently stepped through.
Nervously, Jessica followed close behind.
Zora adjusted her glasses, looking over at Rosalinda. “Are you ready?”
“Do I really have a choice?” Rosalinda wailed.
Zora smiled slightly.
Rosalinda walked over to the right hole, cautiously peeping in. Her eyes widened with terror as she looked down at the thrashing river. “Ninguna manera! Absolutely no way,” she wailed.
Gabrielle stepped further onto the bridge, leaning forward slightly. “I can see the tips of your very cute shoes, Rosa. Slowly step onto the bridge.”
Rosalinda backed away nervously. “Me? No way, chica. I am not stepping onto that bridge. Do you see how deep that drop is?”
Zora shook her head with disappointment as she cautiously stepped around her and onto the bridge, causing it to sway back and forth slowly.
Gabrielle smiled slightly. “Hi, Zora.”
Smiling back, Zora gripped the bridge ropes. “Hi, Gabi. So, this is it, huh?” She looked down at the roaring blue waters, her eyes roaming along the two bridges that stretched across the large ca
ve, connecting at the center to form a huge Y. The Y then stretched across to the other side of the cave and led to an opening in the wall, a possible exit.
“I’ll go first, okay?” Gabrielle offered bravely.
Zora gritted her teeth with determination. “No, Gabi, I’ll go first.”
Rosalinda looked over at her hysterically. “Are you both kidding me? You don’t seriously expect us to cross that bridge?”
“We don’t have a choice, Rosa. We can either cross the bridge or die here of starvation. Which do you prefer?” Zora stated matter-of-factly.
Angrily, Rosalinda glared over at her. “Oh! Let me think about this for a second—obviously I prefer to live, Zora!” she screamed.
Zora smirked as she pushed her glasses back from the tip her narrow nose. “Okay, since that’s settled, I’ll go first.” She slowly inched further onto the bridge, which swayed slowly then more violently.
Jessica’s face turned beet-red as her eyes welled up with tears. “Zora, please! Stop!” she pleaded, blowing a stray strand of hair from her cheek. “Rosa, you get behind Zora real close and start walking. And I’ll get behind Gabi. I just have this weird feeling that we have to do this together.”
Smiling proudly at her, Gabrielle grabbed the ropes tightly.
Jessica carefully glanced over at Zora and Rosalinda. “Are you ready?”
They nodded in unison.
“Okay, let’s go, Gabby Girls.” Gabrielle gripped the ropes tightly, slowly inching across the bridge as it swayed. Following Gabrielle’s cue, Zora inched across the bridge. With eyes bulging with fear, Rosalinda softly muttered in Spanish as she followed close behind. She glanced down at the violent waters and yelped.
“Don’t look down, Rosa! Please, whatever you do, don’t look down. We can make it, just one step at a time, okay?” Zora pleaded.
Rosalinda bit her lip, whimpering softly as she inched fearfully across the bridge.
A few silent, tense minutes passed as they inched their way to the middle. Suddenly, as if in slow motion, they watched as Rosalinda’s purse fell onto the weathered planks of the bridge.