There was a bright blue light.

Yoyo looked down and saw the pendant hanging from his neck was glowing like magic. He held the pendant in his hand and closed his fingers into a fist. The blue light slipped past the gaps between his fingers so he covered the pendant with his other hand too. The area darkened, but the light still managed to escape.

Yoyo released the pendant from his fist. The area lit up as rays of blue beamed onto the rocks. He repeated this a few times, bright and dark, bright and dark. A muffled sound made its way through the rock and grabbed his attention.

“ARRR!”

“EEEE!”

A brief silence, then it repeated again.

Arrr-eee? What does that mean?

He didn’t know, and neither Harley or James were around to tell him.

Where are they? Where am I?

Nothing looked familiar; the area was constricting with a rocky floor and a jagged ceiling. Big rocks blocked his view and little rocks blocked his path. Everything he touched felt cold and hard.

“Mommy?” whispered Yoyo, his voice as quiet as a timid mouse. “Daddy?”

He didn’t know if they’d answer him back but he needed them right now; to reassure him, to chase away the shivers, to make him feel safe. He needed a hug, a tight squeeze, and if Mom and Dad couldn’t do it then he’d even settle for Aunt Matilda. Not that she liked strange, scary places either, but she did like hugging him even when he didn’t want one.

Yoyo wondered how he got here in the first place. Only minutes before he was in the woods, chasing the bird, trying to help James catch it. Harley was there too. They weren’t here with him, but they probably were looking for him. All he had to do was be patient; after all, he was alone but not hopeless. He moved his hands down his shirt and felt the T-Rex pin fastened to the bottom. He smiled. At least he still had his pin.

But he also felt uncomfortable. The straps of his backpack bunched up his shirt around his shoulders. He tried to fix his discomfort by pulling on the front of his shirt.

That didn’t work, so off went his backpack. Besides, it was too bulky and heavy; it would just weigh him down. His glowing pendant and T-Rex pin were all he needed anyway.

As Yoyo felt better, he tried to move around the rocks that blocked his way. It was tough going; the rocks were sharp and the glow from his necklace gave the area a dreamy nighttime appearance that made it hard to gauge depth.

It reminded him of waking up in the middle of the night and walking the hallway to Mom and Dad’s room. He would have to move slowly, no running or jumping.

Yoyo found a small opening in the wall and crawled through it. There was another area, but bigger. The sound of a pebble tumbling on the rock startled him. He froze.

What was that?

A second pebble rolled down the steep floor and the noise came to a stop at the wall. He didn’t kick those pebbles; someone else was here. Yoyo felt like there were eyes watching him. The blue glow of his necklace wasn’t any help.

Scared, he let out a whimper.

Yoyo quickly maneuvered on his hands and knees to a large rock that jutted out from the wall. He sat back on his heels and listened. He heard the air move into his head and out through his nose. There was one other sound to be heard—a constant, repeating tap.

Yoyo’s heart beat fast in his chest. As the seconds passed, the tapping slowed but his heart beat faster, and faster, and faster.

He couldn’t take it any more. Jumping out while holding the pendant in front of him, the darkness retreated from the fantastic blue light. His eyes searched the room.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

It’s a bird!

A small bird was in the area with him. Looking black in the light, it wasn’t moving. Its wings were down too but it wasn’t dead. It was very much alive, watching Yoyo with its black eyes.

Its sharp beak tapped the ground. Tap, tap, tap. Then it paused, almost like it was waiting.

What are you doing, bird?

Its size was no bigger than Yoyo’s fists put together. And the strange thing was, when he approached it, the bird made no attempt to fly.

You’re the hurt bird that James found. The same bird that we chased into the woods. You’re lost just like me.

Yoyo waited for some time to see what would happen. He didn’t want to scare the bird, but also he didn’t want to come across as too friendly. He didn’t like it when new people were too friendly to him. And so, no words were exchanged, which seemed perfectly fine, and the tension eased with a calm acceptance of the facts.

You and me, we’re the same, thought Yoyo while he watched the bird. We don’t know where we are. We don’t know how to get out of where we are. And besides all these rocks, we only have each other. I think that makes us friends.

Yoyo wondered if the bird could talk, or if it wanted to talk but couldn’t, or if it could talk but didn’t like to. And if the bird did talk, maybe he would talk to it, or maybe he wouldn’t, he would have to see what it said first, and if he felt like talking. But he didn’t think birds could talk, at least he couldn’t remember one ever talking to him.

The bird turned its head from side-to-side as Yoyo inched his body forward across the rocks. But the rocks were noisy and the bird hopped away. Yoyo crossed his legs and sat patiently. He held his pendant in his hand and closed his fingers into a fist; the room darkened like a bedroom with no nightlight. He opened his fingers to allow the blue light out, but only a little, and watched.

A small hop, then a big hop, then the bird appeared again. It was a curious little thing. Yoyo wondered if it had a name. All things had a name, and it probably did have one, but he wasn’t sure what it was. But some things also had two names, so maybe he could give it another one—that would be OK.

Yoyo thought for a moment and then decided on ‘Birdy’. That’s a good name for a bird.

He nodded to himself.

Yoyo tried again to scoot next to the bird, even slower this time. He watched the bird dart through a small opening in the wall. Yoyo sighed and sat back on his bottom.

Maybe Birdy doesn’t want to be my friend?

Then a curious thing happened; the bird came back into sight. It turned its head from side-to-side, lifted its wings up and down, and hopped back through the wall and out of sight.

Hide and seek! thought Yoyo.

It was his favorite game. He beamed a smile.

Yoyo liked to hide more than seek, but the bird was hiding so he got to seeking. He followed the bird through the wall and into a narrow passage of rock. He crawled on all fours like a dog sniffing out a bone. When the passageway shrunk, he slithered on his belly like a snake. And like a snake he tasted the air with his tongue, searching for his friend as he imagined a snake might hunt for a bird, but for him it was only pretend.

Finally, the passage opened to a wider chamber with lumpy, waterworn rocks. The blue glow lit the rocks like an ocean wave crashing over a moon lit coast.

Yoyo spotted a feather and knew he was close to finding his friend. He peeked his head over a rock and saw the bird probing the ground with its beak. He jumped up and let out a happy squeal.

Found you!

Now it was his turn to hide.

There was a narrow crack in the rock wall and Yoyo squeezed through it. He moved quickly through the passage and wasted no steps to hide from his friend, crouching down beside a wet boulder. But the blue glow of the pendant would give away his location, so he took it from his neck and buried it deep in his pocket. The shades of blue changed to gray and black, and as Yoyo’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a faint white light that reminded him of the sun.

That must be the way out of this place.

He left his hiding spot and moved closer. The walls changed from rock to dirt. The damp soil wet his hands as he clawed dirt out of his way and kept inching toward the light. He could see it clearly—it was the sun, and it was shining bright to find him. His hands worked like a construction digger as each big scoop moved dirt, bringing him closer to the surface.

A little bit more and I’ll make it!

The fresh air swirled at the surface as the sunlight beamed through the holes in the dirt. Yoyo pushed through the soil and fell onto the ground that was a mix of dirt and tall grass.

He was free from the rock. He wiped his hands on the front of his shirt and dove behind a gray stone to hide from the bird. He laughed and covered his mouth to quiet himself.

Will Birdy find me now?

He hoped so. Everyone hopes they are found, and he was no different.