Central Park couldn't have been prettier. The slight breeze in the cool, autumn air, the strolling couples enjoying the romantic venue, and the smell of clean air, so rare in New York City, all set beneath the setting sun. Yet he couldn't enjoy it. Why did he have to be here? Couldn't his family have picked someplace good to take a vacation instead of this obnoxious city? If only he were in the mountains, or some quiet river, or…
"Ethan! Come look at what your sister found!" So much for that quiet river. Ethan and his family had been on vacation in this city for almost a week now, and he had been miserable the whole time. Not wanting to make a huge fuss, he went over to see what the excitement was all about. His sister, Emily, who was soon to go off to college, was holding a small, stray dog. Yep, not as cool as a good mountain. Nonetheless, a dog was still somewhat fun, so he came up and began scratching its head behind the ears, causing the dog to wag its tail in excitement.
Soon, however, the short-lived enjoyment of the dog gave way to Ethan's once again foul mood. He decided that he desperately needed some introvert time. After a lengthy debate on the subject, he convinced his parents to allow him to go for a walk by himself in the park and meet them back at the hotel in an hour or so. Wanting to get the most out of this time to himself, he immediately took off down a path and made his way to the largest rock formation he could find. After a quick climb, Ethan found himself settled on top of the rocks, enjoying the scene before him for the first time. He let his thoughts wander all over the place, allowing himself a half hour of blissful, undisturbed peace. Finally, he knew he ought to head back towards the hotel. Climbing down swiftly, he began to make his way there at a leisurely pace. As he walked by some smaller stones, he decided to jump on top of them and walk along them, but as he landed on the first stone, it rotated beneath his weight, sending him to the ground hard.
"The heck happened there?" he muttered to himself as he brushed the dirt off of himself. He checked out the stone that had just given him the trip down Gravity Lane – it seemed almost suspended in mid-air. On closer inspection he saw that the stone sat jammed on the outer edges of a hole about two or three feet in diameter. After days bored out of his mind, curiosity got the better of him; he shoved the stone until he could reasonably fit through the hole. Looking down, he saw a tunnel extending right beneath the hole. Just a quick look around, he thought as he dropped down into the tunnel.
After pulling the stone back into place, though with just enough light coming through a crack to find it again, Ethan pulled his phone out to see and walked straight down the tunnel. It was rather uneventful, but it was better than nothing, so he kept walking for about five minutes until he came to the edge of a large cliff. Beneath him he could hear the faint sound of water. Have I found an underground lake? He'd heard about that sort of thing existing due to years of erosion from old rivers. He stretched his phone out to get a better look, but lost his grip and dropped it. In an attempt to grab it, he found himself losing his balance and falling straight toward the "lake" beneath him…or so he thought.