Sunlight sank through the leafy canopy, its warm glow rolling through green hues to collect softly upon the forest floor.

Even the trail, dirt turned a dusty brown by the weeks of dry summer heat, had adopted a hint of green.

So the gaping mouth of black leapt suddenly out against this backdrop as Billy rounded a large, moss coated oak.

Once surprise had retreated he noticed the stone path, obscured by the plants sprouting at its seams, cut a v through the earth, it’s sharp banks held at bay by more, naturally camouflaged stone.

Despite the warmth in the air a shiver ran along his spine as he stared deep into the void, willing himself not to enter - but he knows it’s in vain, there’s something about that sharp, screaming maw that calls to him and his feet draw him closer before he even knows he’s walking.

He fumbles blindly at his hip, searching for the flashlight he knows should be there, reluctant to look down and break eye contact with that ever expanding black hole, somehow both flat and infinitely deep at the same time.

He has to glance down however, because the light isn’t on his belt as it should.

The clip is, clung proudly to his belt, but the reassuring cold of the flashlights brushed metallic housing is absent and he swears aloud, the sound falling with a clatter down the tunnel he now stands at the threshold of.