Samuel Montañez Gil

Dark times
Darkness block our senses, make us hopeless like that day. Let me tell you the
story of how one of my friends near passed away on a trip in the middle of the
night. It all began with an expedition outside Bogota with my senior year
classmates. We were staying in cabins on a little town for a few days.
The first day passed by surely fast with a few games and self-encounter
activities. That’s when night struck, everyone went to sleep. Even so, Miguel,
saw in the path to the cabins an antique structure. Undoubtedly, my young and
bold friends wanted to trespass the property.
As soon as the first decided to leave, the journey to seek adventures initiate.
Our excitement faded away when we discovered it was no more than a ground
filled with old rotten floor and dirty walls. Nevertheless, the moon brightness
brought us hope, shining a flourish zone beside the structure. A beautiful
mountain forest that would take us days to fully explore.
Without delay, Andrea suggests we play hide-and-seek in the pure darkness. It
sounded intriguing for us, so we split up in the woods leaving behind only the
seeker, Sergio. In my case, I was fighting against my hyperactivity, trying my
best not to move nor produce the smallest sound.
At first, I kept it under control, but after a few minutes I moved all the way
near the jail, trying to imagine who would be there. In that moment, something
touched me from behind. I was really scared and nearly screamed out my
lungs. Except, I heard a rough but familiar voice saying “well, well, you have
fallen for my master plan”. I rolled my eyes and say, “Sergio, will you move
at very least?”. He looked me into the eyes while saying, “I need to, you are
the only one who will come on its own”. I was beyond speechless and sighed
resentfully while walking way.
Following, a thought crossed my mind as I reached the jail, “Wouldn’t it not
mean I was the first?”. However, I noticed a silhouette inside looking into the
stars. I couldn’t believe my eyes, confused I asked “How were you caught?”.
Differing from my expected answer, I listened a voice saying, “I was just
tired”. Instantaneously, I knew that sweet voice came from Andrea. Knowing
she was absorbed into the sky, I let her be and did the same.
I was about to say something when a loud noise resounded in the distance.
Bewilder, I looked toward it while feeling dread. It wasn’t until a few minutes
Samuel Montañez Gil

later when everyone came back that we felt something was amiss. And it was,
everyone but Sergio was there. In full panic, we began to search high and low
for him. We looked for him while shouting his name without response. After
hours of searching when dawn was coming, you wouldn’t believe what I
found. Nearby a waterfall, Sergio was trapped beside a boulder inside a few
vines! He seemed dizzy while looking up. I called everyone to help him. After
took him to the cabins, the doctors checked him.
Anyway, to cut the long story, Later, when they let us in, he was fully
embarrassed and said “Sorry guys, I misstep in the boulder”. Everyone tried
their best to comfort him. But his eyes revealed the joy from been thereafter
escaping from a close one. After such an awful experience, the nights on that
trip gained a different meaning.