Hydrophobia

This fear came from deep within Rishi. This fear of water. It was so very dark in the cave, and the water so deadly quiet that Rishi's mind raced as he contemplated crawling into it.

He called up to the old man, "Surely there's another way out that doesn't involve me getting wet?"

After a long pause, the old man replied, "I don't know how to get out of the room, but the previous occupant, my friend and teacher, told me that he had to swim out of that cave."

The old man didn't want to tell Rishi what else he had been told. His teacher had said nearly thirty years before that the only way out of that wonderful room was through a submerged cave.

"How did this cave get to be like this?" thought Rishi. "I studied geology because of this cave, because of that dream, now I must use my skills to think my way out of here."

Rishi took a great deep breath and exhaled slowly. He allowed his mind to focus on the chamber. The floor was perfectly smooth and flat and covered with a slimy green algae which he'd been killing by the billions since he arrived in the cave. They would recover, he knew, but part of him wondered if they felt the tragedy of his mistake as well as he did.

Clearly the cave entrance where the old man sat was a crack in the rock, probably due to settling, but this portion of the cave was different. This portion looked etched out by water. Probably the water in the pool before him. "That's why its wet and that's why its smooth," he thought. Had he walked back that far to get here?

"Oh but then!" His mind raced. "This is an underground pathway for a river of fresh water for melted snow!" He had barely beat the grass and flower sprouts to this altitude when he climbed to this cave. The snow would be melting soon. The room would flood. Slowly at first and then quickly and with more violence than any river in the world. The size of the chamber bore testimony to that.

The cavern in which he rested was created by a large chunk of very hard stone blocking the water's progress, causing it to cut out this chamber before finding a way around the blockage.

Then he knew the horrible truth. The old man's pause when answering his previous question suddenly became explained and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "THIS IS A SINK HOLE I LIE BEFORE!"

With massive trepidation the old many replied, "Yes. You have to swim through the hole to come out the other side. You must swim under water for nearly five minutes. Although this is probably as low as the water gets so you may find air pockets in the water cavern before you."

"Listen," said Rishi, "I have this massive fear of water. I mean, I really hate it. I don't even know why. I've been afraid of it my entire life, since I was a baby. My mother tried to give me a bath and I freaked out. She could only give me sponge baths until I was old enough to take a shower. Showers are okay. Pools of water are not. There must be some way for you to help me."

"I will do my best," came the reply from the old man, "but your time to overcome this fear is greatly limited. Soon that cave will be a raging torrent of water."

"Why did he go down there?" The old man asked himself, "why not ask me how to explore the safer portions of the cave? Why do the young never follow the wise and old? Why do they always follow the unwise or worse, try to blaze new trails with reckless abandonment?"

Rishi turned onto his side and flicked on the flash light. He looked at the surface of the water, just a few feet away and knew that under it lay a slippery slope that lead to an entirely dark, water filled death trap.

Then an idea struck him.

"You could," he shouted, "slide my pack down to me and then I could put on my climbing shoes and walk out of here!"

"That's a good idea," said the old man. "Should I send just the shoes or try to slide the whole pack. Oh, but ... what happens if it gets stuck, it would be a bad idea for me to accompany it, I'm not certain these old lungs can hold their breath for five minutes while I swim."

"You wouldn't have to. I could pull you up the cave behind me on a rope."

"You need to understand something Rishi," said the old man. "I'm deathly afraid of caves."

"What! You have got to be kidding me!"

"That's why I came here, to face my fear and master it, but I have found that all I can do is exist with it, watch it, and keep it from stopping action. It is the only way I can function as a cave dweller."

Rishi felt defeated. Rolling on his back, he realized how tired he had grown.

"I have to sleep now," he called up to the old man. "Lets think about things and when I awake we can try to come up with a solution that will respect both our fears."

"Agreed," said the old man

"Sleep well," thought the old man, "you have a long day ahead of you."