The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
This note was found with the remains of a pile of pulverized bones in an old train tunnel.
My name is Crystal Gordon. This is not a suicide not. I went hiking and found this train tunnel. It didn’t seem too long – I figure less than half a kilometer – and there was enough room beside the tracks to stand if a train came through. I’m not stupid or have a death wish, but it was spooky and I’m an adrenalin junky.
It was daylight, but the tunnel had a slight curve so you couldn’t see all the way to the other side, but you could see light bouncing off the tunnel walls so it’s not like I was in total darkness. Plus, I had a shake light in my backpack if I needed it.
I entered the tunnel and there was nothing unusual about it, not that I really looked for anything suspicious. It was just a tunnel. I walked between the tracks, sometimes hopping on the rails. They help alert you to oncoming trains, sensing the vibrations before hearing the engine. Some people walk with headphones on, which I think is retarded. You’re not going to hear a train coming if you’re too busy listening to Pearl Jam.
So I’m walking, and as I approach the curve in the tunnel, I see a light coming. It wasn’t daylight, since the colour was yellowish, like a headlight. I didn’t even consider that I heard or felt nothing; I just got off the tracks. As I said, I don’t have a death wish and I’m not stupid. I waited, but nothing happened. No noise, no moving, nothing.
I couldn’t stand there forever so I headed toward the light, rounding the corner, and found the end of the tunnel – a dead end. No train. The tracks went straight to the wall. Why would it be made this way? It was weird, and gave me the creeps for some reason. A single light bulb hung overhead, which must’ve been the light I saw. It probably flickered on and off, or was on a timer or something because it wasn’t on when I entered the tunnel – I would’ve noticed. There was nothing else to do there so I headed back.
Then I noticed a light coming from the other end of the tunnel, same as the last one, reflecting off the walls around the corner. Once again, assuming a train was approaching, I hopped off the tracks. The lack of noise prompted me to explore further. The tunnel was eerily quiet, actually; no wind noise, or that low, nearly inaudible hum that all tunnels have. In here it was totally silent.
I brushed off my paranoia as the tunnel exit came into view – only it wasn’t an exit anymore; it was another wall.
That wasn’t there before.
At the apex of the curve, I glanced back and forth, looking at two identical solid walls. Was I tripping? I hadn’t smoked anything in a couple days…maybe was it residual? I felt fine yesterday.
I walked, faster now, to the end I’d entered, determined to figure out what had happened, determined to leave. The wall looked real, and as I placed my hands on it I felt the cool stone. It didn’t make sense. I shoved and kicked the wall but it didn’t budge. I glanced around, hoping to find a camera or some evidence that this was a practical joke. It wasn’t funny.
I ran back to the other end of the tunnel and tested it, but it too was solid, sturdy, the real thing. Then I began examining the ceiling and walls, looking for a door, or hatch, anything. I took my flashlight out of my backpack and shook it, charging it up, and shone it into every nook and cranny. I found nothing but smooth surfaces.
“Hello? I cried, half in desperation for a response and half to break the unsettling silence. Nothing answered back, which both soothed and worried me. Then I dug through my bag and pulled out my cellphone. It showed no reception, which I took as normal since I was pretty much underground.
I sat down and took a swig from my water bottle. There had to be something I was overlooking. I snorted in frustration, the sound echoing up and down the empty corridor, and put my head in my hands.
I don’t know how long I sat there, but it couldn’t have been too long. I stood, knowing sitting on my ass would accomplish nothing. I needed to try again. I walked to the curve an-
It wasn’t there. The curve I mean. Well it was, but it was shorter. The wall at the other end was now closer, as if it had almost snuck around the corner. It had moved. Something weird was going on.
Checking out the walls for anything I hadn’t noticed before, I still came up short. There was nothing I could see. It all looked flawless, like it was hewn out of one giant slab of rock. Even the tracks seemed to be attached to the walls. It couldn’t have moved.
Looking back towards the other end, I swear that wall was closer too. I ran the length of the tunnel, reaching the far wall in much less time than I thought I would. It was the same as the other end; flat, smooth stone with no seams or cracks. I watched the corner very intently for any movement, but gave up after…I don’t know how long. It wasn’t moving, and neither was the other side, which I ran back to inspect, the slap of my shoes bouncing off the walls. I then spent a good amount of time looking for anything odd or suspicious with, well, everything I could see. I gave my arm one hell of a workout, shaking it every couple minutes.
At some point I gave up, flopping to the floor. That was when I noticed, to my horror, that the curve in the tunnel was gone. I looked back and forth from one end to the other, and it was a straight corridor now.
The walls were closing in on me. I couldn’t see it with my naked eye, but they were moving. On a lark, I threw my bag down a foot from one end of the tunnel, and watched. As nothing happened and continued to happen, I got frustrated and walked to the other end, placing my water bottle down in front of it, maybe an inch away. Again, I waited. I don’t know why I was expecting to see it move – it’s not like it moved when I was…
When I was watching! I ran back to my backpack, and sure enough it was a few inches closer to the wall. Then I ran back to my bottle and found it knocked over. The wall must have run into it. I smiled, rejoicing that I’d solved the problem.
Only I hadn’t. There was still a problem – a huge one. Slowly, when I wasn’t watching, the walls were closing in on me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I couldn’t watch both walls at the same time.
Then the lights went out.
I screamed, then clamped my hands over my ears as the echo rang louder than I could bear. I needed my flashlight…but where had I left it? Since I didn’t put it back in my bag, it was probably still on the ground where I was sitting earlier. I crawled around on my hands and knees, using the dim light of my watch, eventually finding it after what felt like forever. I shook it furiously, eager to shine the light on the walls yet scared to find out how much they’ve moved in the darkness.
When I turned on the light, I was shocked to find the walls much closer. From one end to the other the tunnel it couldn’t have been more than a hundred feet. I walked over to my bag, now slumped over against the wall, having been dragged a dozen feet or more, and sat down beside it, feeling defeated. I shone my light to the other end of the tunnel but the light didn’t reach that far. It was pointless anyway; I couldn’t watch both ends of the tunnel, not without eyes in the back of my head.
It had been early in the afternoon when I entered the tunnel, and as the temperature dropped I figured the sun must be setting. After I grabbed a granola bar to snack on I dug a sweater out of my bag – I’m always prepared. That’s when I felt the wall move against my back.
I jumped to my feet and looked at it for a long time, occasionally shaking my flashlight to keep it charged. It didn’t move while I watched, of course, but it was really strange. Now I’d actually felt it move. I don’t know how it was doing it – it didn’t even make a sound. Maybe it would take an expert, or a team of scientists – people smarter than I am – to understand what was going on. The only thing I knew was that if the walls kept closing I was going to be crushed in here.
***
I must have dozed off. I awoke, cold and in the dark. I searched around and found my flashlight a few feet away, began shaking it. How long had I slept? I paused charging my light and checked my watch: it was almost midnight, so probably about six hours. Dread filled me as I shook my light more, wondering how close the walls were.
Fear stole my breath. I had no more than ten feet left.
I don’t know how long I screamed for help before I gave up. I cried, sure. I’m not embarrassed about it. I’m terrified. I’m going to die in here.
***
My food and water ran out yesterday; even with rationing there wasn’t much. I only came with enough for to last an afternoon, not three days. Give or take, that’s how long I’ve been trapped in here.
I haven’t slept at all, too afraid to close my eyes. My arms are so sore from shaking the stupid light. Moving them is agony. I shouldn’t complain I guess – if it was a normal light the batteries would’ve died long ago. I used my phone for light for a while but it was also dead now. Soon I will be too.
I’m sitting against the tunnel wall; not one of the moving ends, but the side wall, so I can face them both. They don’t move when I’m watching, but I must be blinking too much, or too long, because I swear they’re getting closer together. How much longer can I stay awake?
God I’m so tired.
The Chris Effect 
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