Beneath

The first thing that I heard was the scratching coming from somewhere above me, the sound cutting through the darkness like the blade of a freshly sharpened knife. I couldn’t be sure where I was or how I’d come to find myself there, but I was alive. That seemed like a positive even given my predicament, trapped like a rat somewhere the light couldn’t penetrate. I reached forward, my hands meeting the wooden walls that surrounded me. It smelled of must, the air was damp and unyielding. There seemed to be dust all around me and if the light could touch the air I was breathing, I was sure it would reveal motes of the stuff floating around me and trying to fill my lungs.

I had to find a way out, or I would certainly die. If only I could tell whether the sounds above me came from friend or foe, I would know where to start.