The creaking began to get louder, followed by a thunderous “Bang!” The cracks in the ice began to get bigger, then chunks of ice began to fall. We watched the proceedings with an amazed horror, it was so amazing that you couldn’t look away, but so horrific because we knew we were trapped in the tunnels.
The drone of the plane’s engines seemed to fade into the background the longer the flight went on. And to think we were only two hours into the flight! Our flight was about eight hours long, because we were flying from Berlin to London, and then on to Ammassalik, Greenland. Then we had to drive three hours to a remote part of Greenland where our little huts were waiting. We were here to explore the northeast corner of Greenland, and we were based about two miles south of Kap Bridgeman. There were seven huts for me, my twin and our friend. I am John Micheals and my brother is Nolan Micheals. We look almost identical, short dark black hair, medium build, athletic and we both like the same things. The only ways we’re different is that I’m about three inches taller, putting me at five foot ten inches tall and I have blue eyes. My brother is about five foot seven inches tall and he has brown eyes. We are here with our friend Jack Sanders, who is about five foot four inches tall, but a real powerhouse of muscle. He has red hair and brown eyes. We were here because our parents took us out of high school and sent us to this place to study for two weeks. The huts were nothing special. Three of them had just a cotton bed, two were for storage, one was a kitchen and one was a common room. That is where I would live for two weeks.
On our first day exploring, Jack found a clear patch of ice under the snow while I was checking the map to make sure we were in the right place. As we looked down we saw ice columns that seemed to resemble steps. We also saw the reflection of the sun setting so we headed back to camp, determined to explore that spot tomorrow. We went back the next day with nothing but some ice picks, some rope and a camera. We peered down at the steps through the thin blue layer of ice. We picked away at the ice like a woodpecker drilling into a tree. After about an hour, we finally broke through the ice with a loud “CRACK” and little cracks seemed to spread along the ice. We decided to go down even though it seemed structurally unsound. As we got to the bottom of the stairs, we stared in amazement at the light blue wall before us. There was a perfectly square wall at the bottom of the steps, with different symbols on the wall. It was right next to some ice sculptures and an ice table.
“Let’s take a picture of this before we do anything to it,” I said. Everyone agreed, but as I took the picture a small creaking noise started. The creaking began to build in volume, leading up two a thunderous “BANG.” The cracks in the ice got bigger, then chunks of ice began to fall. We watched the proceeding with an amazed horror. It was so amazing but also horrific, because that was the only known entrance. As the entire ceiling began to collapse, we took off down the tunnels. We turned left, then right, then left and another left. We better find an exit soon, I thought. We ran and ran and ran, and I just kept thinking “It’s got to be right around the next corner.” There it was, right on cue. There was a thin layer of ice covering a hole to the outside so I just threw myself through it. Nolan and Jack didn’t question me and threw themselves though the ice as well. We turned around and saw many other tunnels falling. With a mixed feeling, we walked back to our camp.
On the plane ride home, we couldn’t get over the feeling of sadness. The world would never know our great discovery. With a shock, I remembered that I still had my camera! I showed everyone and once we got of the plane we couldn’t wait to show the world what we had found.
The drone of the engines seemed to fade into the background as the flight went on.
We were flying from Ammassalik, then to Berlin and London, and then we had one more stop.I fell asleep thinking “we’re going to the Smithsonian!”