Member-only story
You Have to Be In It to Win It
First Line Fiction Prompt #27
He thought the old legends were just stories — until he found the cave. He had almost walked right past it, so hidden was it among the big rocks that nearly covered the opening. An immense sense of relief washed over him. They hadn’t just been stories, after all.
He had hiked three hours on harsh West Scotland rock to get here. But, before he could climb down into the dark tunnel, he had to sit down. The journey here had been long and cumbersome, not just physically.
He leaned against the stone protruding from the ground near him and looked over the surrounding land. From his high vantage point, the only living creatures he could see were the highland cattle grazing in the distance below, their fur burning in the evening sun.
He took out his wallet and opened it to see three faces smiling up at him, etched in glossy paper, a memory frozen in time.
It had been a sunny day. One could just make out the sunshine outside the pub windows behind them, as they stood shoulder to shoulder and beamed for the group selfie.
He was doing it for them. He needed to show, after all those months of research and mapping, when they thought he was going mad, and he knew he was close to, he wasn’t chasing the wrong dream after all.
