The Cave

The depths of the cave called as welcome reprieve from the unrelenting midday sun. Flask empty and mouth dry, Kieren ambled over the rocky grass verge, fingers digging into brittle patches for support as he made his way down. His ankle twinged from an earlier stumble, and his neck was surely beacon-like for the steady, painful pulsing of his skin. 

The cave air was blissful; damp, and cool. A trickle from its depths promised a taste of water that for so long parched was too hard to ...