It was Friday morning and I got up to go to school. I got dressed, ate my breakfast, brushed my teeth, packed my lunch and headed out to wait for the bus. I heard it coming so I started running, hoping I would get there in time, and not miss it. I felt the earth drop from beneath me. I looked down and I was flying through a whole. A whole, down into the earth. The whole stopped. I looked up, and there was a tiny bit of light, enough for me to look around. It seemed warmer here then it had when I was walking. Then I noticed something. I had fallen into a whole into the earth. Did this happen every day? No! This is not what you hear on the news every day. “Girl disappeared. Fell into a giant whole in the earth.” I was now pretty scared, wondering if I was stuck down here forever. In science class we had been learning about the earth, and I am guessing this is the crust, considering I haven’t gotten very far down. In science class we had learned that in the crust there were igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. I looked around. I saw the different kinds of rocks. Igneous, metamorphic, and even the sedimentary. This really surprised me. I wasn’t scared anymore, I was quite interested. I guessed that the crust was about 40 to 50 km thick, but I wasn’t definitely sure. It was not too hot, but a little bit warmer than above.

I was just about to touch one of the rocks when the floor caved in again. After what seemed like a long time, I slammed onto a hard rock. I moaned, as the pain flew up the arm I had landed on. Something tapped me from behind. I spun around, catching myself from about falling over. A dog was there. He smiled at me. “Hey!” he said quite cheerfully. I must have really hit my head I though, because dogs just don’t live in the Mantle of the earth and talk. “I am real!” the dog shouted angrily. I know what you’re thinking, how childish I must be to imagine a talking dog, but I am not kidding. I know what I am seeing. A short purple dog with big shinny gold teeth that can talk. “Where am I?” I said quickly. “Where do you think!?” Ok, great. I am stuck in the mantle of the earth with a purple talking dog that obviously has an attitude. “In the mantle?” I said questioningly. “Yes! Thank goodness you finally realized this. I thought I was going to have to bash your head against the side of this rock here to make you spit it out!” “Look, people don’t fall into the earth everyday! I want to leave!” “You can’t!” the dog said laughing. I sighed, and looked around. This looked much different than the crust. There were olivine, pyroxenes, spinel-structure minerals, and garnet rocks. I noticed that it felt like I was in the deep part of the swimming pool, way down at the bottom where the pressure kills your ears. The pressure was making them hurt a lot. I noticed that the floor was bending a little bit like plastic does. Then I remembered learning that the temperature in the mantle was anywhere from 932 to 1,652 °F. This was impossible. How am I living? The dog was rambling on about how my parents were aliens from the core of the earth and I am destined to live down here. “Look, I just need to get back home!” “Not so fast!” he yelled as the floor beneath me caved in once again.

I flew downward, landing on my feet this time. I noticed the incredible heat at first. Apparently the temperature was anywhere from 5,430 °C; 9,800 °F. This is made up of hard iron and nickel. It was extremely hot. The pressure is even worse down here. My ears are screaming of pain. I close my eyes and scream. Suddenly I am flying upwards, and then I am back at home. The bus is there and tooting. I am running now towards the bus. I am trying to recap what just happened. I get on the bus, sit down and try to understand. But I can’t. I have no idea what just happened.