On his way back from the lumber yard, Kevin found a woman crouched beside a hole in the ground. He stared down into the cavern below. The blood red walls sent ominous chills down his spine as he questioned the pale woman. Her son Tommy had disappeared into a nearby crevice in search of rare minerals and ores. The family lived in a small hut and the boy wanted a room of his own, so he set off in search of funds. Spying an opportunity to make a name for himself in the town, Kevin offered his assistance to the woman. However, he quickly reconsidered his decision as he found what awaited him in the cave.

As he lowered himself down, Kevin found himself in a puzzling room. A note on the wall explained that, to venture deeper into the cave, he would have to wait until the written date, July 2nd. That was only one day away, so Kevin lied down to sleep. However, something felt out of place.

The next day, Kevin woke up to a scream. He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the note which now seemed to show July 3rd. Kevin wasn’t sure if he was seeing things or not, but as he slept through each day, the date on the note kept moving through each day as well. After a week had gone by, Kevin’s eternal patience was replaced with a blinding anger. He kicked the walls and wished he hadn’t lost his rope so he could go back to the surface. As he walked past the note, he ripped it to shreds. Suddenly, he felt drowsy and had a vision. He was able to feel the boy Tommy’s anger from when his mother refused to buy a new house for him. Kevin felt dizzy and he felt sorry for the boy who got trapped inside the caverns. After the pain subsided, the western wall of the room crumbled and Kevin walked through the path to a brand new room.

In the next room of the cavern, there was a new note with a riddle on it. If you had to be killed, would you rather be thrown into a lake of acid, burned over a fire, fed to wolves that haven't eaten in 30 days or being thrown off a castle? After thinking over the question, Kevin decided to go with his first gut impression that the wolves option would be the correct choice. He couldn’t quite consciously explain what made him choose it, but he went with it anyway. As soon as he decided on his answer, Kevin saw another vision. This time, he saw Tommy and his difficulty in choosing the correct option for the riddle. Tommy was trying to analyze the question which, in reality, did not need much analysis at all. The simple solution was that the wolves would be dead after not eating for 30 days. However, Tommy couldn’t figure it out with his deep thought and was ridiculed by a bunch of happy wells with faces. At this point, Kevin felt as if he could end up like a character in Hamlet if he wasn’t careful. After seeing some of Tommy’s past experiences, Kevin realized this rescue was like a David and Goliath battle, and he was reaching his tipping point as the western wall once again crumbled to reveal a path.

Kevin finally found Tommy crying to himself in the corner of the room. As Kevin approached, Tommy angrily barraged him with screams. After some comforting, Kevin was able to get Tommy to calm down and explain his situation. Apparently, Tommy just wanted a cheap room to play with his friends. When his parents refused, he decided to explore the cave as a potential spot. However, he ended up getting trapped in the cursed cavern. Kevin told him not to worry as he led him to the exit where his mother was waiting for him.

Tommy ran up to his mother and continuously apologized for his bad behaviour, and she forgave him. While happy that he was finally free from the cave’s torment, Tommy exclaimed that he still wanted to at least get a treehouse of some sort. He wanted a place to play with his friends so he would never be so angry, lonely, or scared anymore. Kevin smiled at him.

“Don’t worry kid, I’ll get something really nice fixed up for yew. Wood you wait for me while I get some supplies?”

“Of course I will! I’m rooting for you!”