Part I

The Utah desert was vast and bare. Every where you looked, the dry land stretched up, down ,left and right, on and on, allowing for no interruptions. Save for breaks provided by rock mountains, just as plain and boring but beautiful and astounding in their vastness. A land so easily discounted with the eye; and deceived by the body. John, his brother Joe, their mom and dad, and six others stood at the entrance to Nutty Putty cave, taking it all in.
“Here it is. We had to jump through hoops to get these permits,” their dad said, holding up the passes like Willy Wonka’s Golden Tickets.
“You wouldn’t have gotten them without us,” Joe replied, nudging his brother. Joe, John and their dad grew up exploring caves together and Nutty Putty was quite literally, in their backyard. A beginner cave.
“That’s why you’re my experts, boys,” their dad dropped his head and met both their eyes. The state required three divers in the group to be Expert level in order to approve passes. So as much as they came to play, those experts were John, Joe, and their dad. “Like always, have fun- but we need to be safe down there.” Although that was said for the benefit of their mom.
“Its 8 PM,” their mom pointed out. “Let’s give it three hours?” She looked to their father. Caving wasn’t her thing but she felt safer so close to home. And it was Utah. Her sister had been bugging her to get the girls down and it finally worked out perfectly with John being home this weekend. Besides, if her nieces, 6 and 9, could do it, then so could she. If her family was crazy enough to go spelunking, then she had to be crazy enough to make sure they were safe enough. In a family of boys- those details were often forgotten. Mom was the worrier, dad was the risk taker.
“Alright- you heard your mom. 11 PM and we’re out. 11:30- we’ll be packed up and gone, so if you’re not up, you can cave your own way back home.” Dad was talking to two people. John laughed. Even married with a child of his own and another on the way, when he came home, he knew he would always be treated like a baby.
“All your batteries charged Johnnie? I’ll be right behind ya,” Joe said, slapping his arm around his brother's shoulder. John flashed the light on his watch and adjusted his headlamp.
“Try and keep up.” John shot back. Both brothers were young, fit, and in their prime. Although they hadn’t been spelunking in a while, they were both confident and believed it was in their blood. Like riding a bike.
The dark was setting in fast, turning the world around them to a deep navy blue before it would go black. The night began hiding the miles of nothingness that surrounded them. The roads had long since ended before they arrived. They had to follow bumpy paths of dry Earth that had been tred into the barren landscape to get there. Barely visible except for the odd bush or tracks that let you know you were still going to right way. Navigation by memory.
The Utah air was fresh and nature was loud. The world around them was very much alive and buzzing with excitement.
The entrance to the cave would have been easy to miss among the flat landscape. Another rock in the middle of a wilderness of land and more rocks. Except this one opened up into a underground labyrinth of tunnels.
John walked up to the entrance and sat on the edge of the rock. Swinging both his feet over, he steadied himself with both arms holding on behind him. Stealing one last look at his brother and family, seeing the girls anxiously awaiting their turn to get in, he used his arms to lower his body into the cave.
Unlike other caves, Nutty Putty was a series of tunnels underground that opened to bigger rooms. Inside the rooms, were more mazes of holes and tunnels you could climb into or on top of. Some parts were big enough to stand up in but most were just wide enough for the average person to slide through. The deeper you got, the tighter the tunnels got.
Using his feet to find the nearest rock to step on, John steadied himself with his arms behind him and began stepping down into the Earth, finding rocks to step on like a rock staircase in a tunnel. Keeping his back flat against the wall and his arms behind him for support, his feet searched for the next rock and he began methodically stepping down, to be swallowed by the Earth.
His hands grabbed at the surrounding rocks that acted like handles. Going down, he was immediately assaulted by the darkness and, huffing, John adjusted his head lamp. All around him, the Earth opened into a maze of rocks in every shape and size. Its easy to find where to step and grab as he gets farther down and the petrified Earth accepts him.
Cracked and bursting into greys that are dull but magnificent, shaded by the light of his headlamp and the dripping water, that adds texture and depth into the shapes and grooves that are carved. Above and below him are slits and sheets of rocks that are big enough to climb over and crawl into. Holes and crevices everywhere that reveal nothing but darkness and lead to nowhere or somewhere. A maze of undisturbed land to explore in the dark- like a giant game of Hide and Seek. When he gets down far enough to finally stand straight up, he looks around in awe and tries to take it all in.
“You down there, buddy?” John hears his brother call out, bringing him back to reality.
“Yeah man, just come straight down.” He yells back.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.I didn’t know it would be so humid down here,” Joe reaches John, sweating and panting.
“I know,” John wiped his forehead along the sleeve of his dirty shirt, careful not to disturb his headlamp. That was the only light he had.
They were both clammy and while the humidity surprised them, so did the beauty. Looking around, it was an abyss of peace, hidden underneath the world. At some point, art and architecture combined and only revealed itself only to the few. Those brave enough to test their physical and mental capacity.
The silence played like music, crashing into their ears like nothing they’d ever heard before. Timed with the rhythmic sounds of raindrops that beat like the heart of the cave. The brothers stood together and looked around in awe.
Reaching out, John ran his finger tip over the wall.
“You see this?” showed his brother what he had scrapped off the walls.
The cave is sweating, the walls almost melting. The sound of rain coming from above; the roof leaking.