Exploring Caves: Story

Jenny and Carlos Get Out of the Rain
Chapter One: Bat Shows Off the Cave

The rain pelted down so hard they could hardly see.

The two children ran through the heavy rain. They held their arms over their heads, but it was no use. "I'm soaked!" Jenny yelled to Carlos, "My clothes are all wet!"

"Me too!" Carlos yelled back. "We've got to get out of this rain and away from the lightning!" He clapped his hat on his head. The two friends ran on down the muddy path.

Frantically, they searched for somewhere to take shelter. All they could see was rainwater pouring down a grassy hill.

Carlos and Jenny were at science camp. They had taken a walk to the camp headquarters, just half a mile away. Now, coming back, the short walk seemed like a 10-mile trip. They could hardly see the path before them.

Deep thunder rolled overhead. "Look, Carlos!" shouted Jenny. She pointed to a shadow under a huge, flat rock sticking out of the hill. She ran over to the rock. Under it was a space not big enough to stand in. Jenny kneeled down and crawled in. Carlos followed her.

Sitting under the rock, they caught their breath and rested. Their tiny shelter kept the rain off, but it was uncomfortable and small. Carlos turned his head and noticed a large hole behind them leading into the hill. "I bet it's nice and dry in there," he said. He crawled into the hole. Jenny shook her wet hair and crawled after him.

The dark shelter felt pleasantly dry and warm. "This is neat!" Carlos said.

"Carlos!" Jenny cried. "Did you hear that "echo?" They both listened.

". . . that echo . . . echooo . . . " The sound bounced back and forth around them.

"Let's check it out," Carlos said. "This might be a CAVE! It's getting bigger, I think."

". . . biggerithink . . ."

The children laughed to hear the echo again, and then to hear their laughing echo. They crawled further into the cave and soon they could stand up. They walked along a stone wall. Slowly, the light got dimmer and dimmer.

Carlos and Jenny turned around a rocky corner. Suddenly, they were in total darkness. They reached out to touch the wall. Instead, they touched empty space. They turned around and touched another wall. Was it the same wall? They couldn't tell. What was going on? Suddenly they couldn't find their way back.

Where was the cave entrance? They backed up, looking for something familiar. But everything was black.

"Oops!" Jenny bumped into Carlos, who fell down hard on the cave floor.

"Sorry, Carlos!" Jenny could hear Carlos brushing off his pants as he got up. "Here's my hand," she offered.

Carlos groped in the dark until their fingers touched. "I'm scared Jenny. I think we're lost."

They stood still, listening. They could no longer hear the sound of the storm. How had they come so far inside the cave so quickly? Which way should they go to get out?

Out of the silence they heard the trickling sound of water. It sounded like a small stream, along with dripping sounds. Was it raining that hard outside?

"Flap! Flap! Flap!"

"What was that?" cried Carlos.

"Something flew over my head" Jenny screamed. "Something's flying around in here." She waved her arms over her head.

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" The two children looked up toward the sound. They couldn't see anything, but a tiny voice squeaked at them.

"Calm down! I'm just over your head. Be careful!"

"Huh?" Carlos reached up. His fingers briefly touched a small, warm animal, with short, silky fur.

"Don't touch me!" said the squeaky voice.

"I don't want to touch you!" Carlos said. "What are you?"

"I'm a bat, of course. Who else would be flying around in a cave? Batman?"

Carlos and Jenny both laughed. They explained to the bat that they were lost and had to get back to science camp. Could the bat help?

There was a long silence. The two friends realized that this bat could be their only hope of getting out of the cave. Would he help them?

Finally, the squeaky voice replied," I guess I'll help you. I like talking to people. I can take you to another cave entrance that will be a shortcut to your camp. That way you can stay out of the rain. I can show you the rest of the cave, too."

Carlos wanted to go right back to camp, but he loved adventures. Besides, it was probably still pouring rain out there. "Gee, Bat, that would be great. I'd love to see the cave, too."

"But Bat," protested Jenny, "how can we see the cave? We can't see anything in the dark. And aren't you "blind as a bat?" How can you see anything either?"

"Good point," said Bat. "But . . . my eyes are quite good actually, when there's some light. In the dark, I use another way of seeing . . . my bat sonar helps me find my way around. Maybe I can teach you to see in the dark without your eyes."

"You gotta be kidding," said Jenny.

"No," said Bat," Just follow me!"

The children heard Bat's wings flapping off into the darkness.

"Bat! Stop!" Jenny cried out. "We can't see you! How can we follow?"

"Flap, flap, flap."

Bat flew back." I'm sorry," he squeaked." I forgot. Can you two hold hands and follow my directions?"

Carlos was shy about holding hands, but he grabbed Jenny's belt and waited. Bat told them to walk 10 steps forward.

"Hurry up," the bat squeaked.

"BANG!"

"Ow!" First it was Jenny, then Carlos. "I bumped my head on the cave ceiling! Bat, your directions are lousy."

"Oh, I'm sorry again", the bat squeaked." I forgot how big you are. I just flew into this tunnel here. I forgot that you have to bend over to get in. Oh, I am so sorry."

Jenny rubbed her sore head and remembered hearing the bat flapping above their heads. Everything about bats and people seemed different. "It's OK, Bat," Jenny said. " Just try to remember that we can't see and we're much bigger than you."

"OK, kids. Up ahead, you're going to have to kneel down and crawl. It's a long tunnel and it's muddy because of the rain."

The children crawled through the blackness. Jenny complained about getting mud on her clean jeans. Carlos didn't like the moldy smell. They both hated the cold, slimy mud on their hands.

"Stop!" squeaked their tiny commander." Jenny, look for a nice surprise on the floor, just in front of you."

Jenny stretched out her hand. "A flashlight!" she yelled happily. "Oh thank you, Bat! Oh I hope it works!" She wiped the mud off the flashlight with her T-shirt.

"Flap, flap, flap. Time to rest." They heard Bat's voice from above them somewhere.

"Some cave explorers were here a few weeks ago, drawing a map of the cave. They dropped the flashlight."

"Turn on the light, Jenny!" cried Carlos. "Turn it on! Let's see the cave!"

All USGS teaching packets are based on National Education Standards.

Make limestone caves paper models.

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