The Secret Underground Tunnels of Riverstone

There was definitely something special and magical about a Labyrinth. It seemed to have this amazing ability to transcend time and space. The Professor said that a maze is designed to confuse you while a Labyrinth helps you find your way. This is a very important thing to know as it appears that many seem lost and need a bit help in rediscovering their path. This particular Labyrinth that Casey and I walked was made of rosemary, lavender, thyme, daisies, and river stones. Casey handed me a small piece of lavender. I brought it to my nose. I breathed in its heavenly aroma.

“Thanks Casey,” I replied. The beautiful scent sent a relaxing and calming sensation throughout my entire body. I felt like I was walking on Cloud Nine!

“You’re very welcome, Sedonia,” replied Casey. For those that don’t know, Casey is my new friend, an Alaskan Husky, from the land of Colorado. I met her one day while taking a pleasant walk in the forest. As I was admiring the lovely, magnificent oak trees, I noticed a dog sitting under one of trees, writing in a journal. Feeling curious, I introduced myself and learned that she also wrote poetry. We both admired and deeply appreciated nature and animals and loved to write about them. Casey also loved to talk about the mysteries of the world!

“Sedonia, do you know if you have underground tunnels in Riverstone? Where I am from, I have heard of stories of secret caves and tunnels that supposedly held Egyptian artifacts!”

“Casey, I’m not sure.” I smiled. “I think that is a question to ask the Professor. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge! I will have to introduce him to you.” Casey nodded her head and smiled.

“I would love that!”

Meanwhile, Munchkin and his friend Wolfgang were in Professor Cairo’s study eyeing one of the Professor’s books on secret underground tunnels of the world. Their eyes lit up when they came across a page that spoke of a secret underground tunnel in Riverstone.

“Munchie, we have to find this tunnel!” exclaimed Wolfie with utter excitement.

“Wolfie, let’s ask the Professor if he knows anything about this,” replied Munchie, equally excited.

As Munchkin and Wolfgang made their way to the Professor’s laboratory, they both spotted the Professor and a new cat that they never saw before wearing a late 19^th century suit and a top hat. It seemed a bit odd given the fact that we are now living in the 21^st century. Perhaps he is one of Chai’s theater friends, thought Munchkin. The Professor looked up from his book and smiled. He motioned for Munchkin and Wolfgang to come closer.

“Munchkin and Wolfgang, so glad to see you!” stated Professor Cairo. “I would like you to meet my new laboratory assistant, Mr. Cole.” The Professor gestured to the cat that stood to the left of him. Mr. Cole took off his top hat and bowed.

“Nice to meet you both,” said Mr. Cole in a theatrical British accent. “I hail from the British Isles.”

“I hail from the land of Colorado,” replied Wolfgang, bowing.

Munchkin smiled. “I hail from the ice cream parlor down the street!” Both Munchie and Wolfie were on the floor laughing hysterically.

“Pay no mind to these goofballs!” stated the Professor, gesturing to the cats on the floor. “They like to joke around. They both have good hearts!”

Mr. Cole smiled, but did not know what to make of their antics. Then, as he was about to make a comment, the door opened and a Siamese cat wearing a beautiful Victorian dress walked through the door. Mr. Cole’s jaw dropped. His eyes became as large as grapefruits. He was in love! Who is this enchanting cat, he thought! Mr. Cole walked up to Chai and smiled. He took off his top hat and kissed Chai’s paw.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady,” announced Mr. Cole. He took off his top hat and bowed. “My name is Mr. Cole. I hail from the British Isles.”

“My name is Chai.” Chai blushed. “I was born, here, in Riverstone.”

Then, both Munchie and Wolfie decided to put in their two cents. They kissed each other’s paws.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady,” stated both Munchie and Wolfie simultaneously. They pretended to take off their imagery top hats, but instead of bowing, they fell to the floor again in a laughing riot.

Chai smiled then began to laugh. Mr. Cole shook his head, muttering the words “Ruffians” and “Barbarians” under his breath.

Casey and I entered the Professor’s library and discovered the Professor, Munchkin, and Wolfgang seated around a table in an animated conversation regarding a map. I could see Chai and another cat seated on the sofa in deep conversation. They were probably talking about the theater, since Chai was in rehearsals today. The Professor motioned for us to join them at the table. I waved to Chai across the room. She smiled and waved back.

“You must be Casey,” inquired the Professor, shaking her paw. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Cairo and these are my two friends: Munchkin and Wolfgang.” Wolfgang and Munchkin shook Casey’s paw.

“It is very nice to meet you all!” replied Casey. “Sedonia talks about you guys all the time! She says that you guys love a good adventure.” Both Munchie and Wolfie had Jack O’ Lantern grins on their faces.

“And speaking of adventures, my dear,” stated the Professor, gesturing at the map in front of him. “This is a map that my grandfather gave to me when I was a kitten. It is of a secret underground tunnel system that runs from Mount Shenandoah to Miller Inn! The tunnel system also branches off in the north and south direction, although I am not sure where it leads.”

“Wow Professor!” I stated with excitement. “Casey was just asking me if we had underground tunnels in Riverstone! She said that she heard of caves and underground tunnels in the land of Colorado that may have held Egyptian artifacts.”

“My dear, I wouldn’t doubt it! The Egyptians were very advanced! Even with today’s technology, modern humans cannot replicate the Great Pyramid!”

“Professor, where is the entrance to the tunnel?” inquired Wolfgang.

“My boy, it is on the west side of the mountain. The exact location of the entrance is revealed during the Summer Solstice at sunset.”

“Professor!” I stated with thunderous enthusiasm. “That’s tomorrow!”

It was a great day for an adventure. Most of the citizens of Riverstone were downtown celebrating the Summer Solstice. They were nowhere near the mountain. They were too busy drinking cider, singing, and dancing to give a hoot about secret underground tunnels. However, the Professor, Casey, Munchkin, Wolfgang, Chai, Mr. Cole, and I were approaching the west side of Mount Shenandoah. The sun was coming down quickly in the sky. The Professor carried a special frequency generator in his paws. He mentioned that the map spoke of “vibration” and “Frequency.” He said that it was best to be prepared. Each of us carried a backpack with plenty of provisions to last a week including a special lantern that the Professor designed that could stay illuminated for weeks on a single charge. Mr. Cole was instructed to take field notes. As the sun began to set, we could see the sun touch a section of the mountain. We knew this was the location. The Professor instructed us to wait a couple more minutes.

“Professor!” shouted Casey. “I see a triangular shape on the face of the mountain!” We all ran up to the mountain! The Professor turned on his frequency generator and punched in 180 into the machine and pressed enter. The machine began to hum, and within a minute or so, a triangular door opened up! The Professor motioned for us to follow him in. I could see both Munchie and Wolfie grinning as they walked into the mountain.

As we stepped inside the mountain, the Professor had us turn on our lanterns. It was amazing how much the lanterns illuminated the tunnel. As soon as we were about ten feet or so down the tunnel, we could immediately feel a shift in the temperature. It was at least fifteen degrees cooler than outside. I took a quick glance behind me and noticed the door beginning to slowly close. Perhaps the sun was below the horizon now. Under normal circumstances I would probably be scared, but I was so wrapped up in the adventure and excitement that I forgot about the fear and pushed forward. However, Mr. Cole seemed to be losing his patience.

“I say Professor!” cried Mr. Cole. “These conditions are deplorable!”

“You will be okay, Mr. Cole!” replied the Professor. “A little dirt didn’t hurt anyone.” Chai took Mr. Cole’s paw. He smiled and soon forgot that he was in an underground tunnel. Chai began to recite some Shakespeare and Mr. Cole soon found himself back on Cloud Nine.

“Professor, where does this tunnel lead to?” asked Munchkin.

“If memory serves me right, my boy,” replied the Professor. “I believe it leads to a central location in the center of the mountain.”

I could tell that both Munchie and Wolfie were very excited. I could see it in their eyes. They wanted to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! They walked at a quick pace that appeared more like jogging then walking. They had to stop from time to time to allow us to catch up with them. Casey and I were right behind Munchie and Wolfie, then followed the Professor, and last but not least, Chai and Mr. Cole took up the rear.

Fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves in very large circular room. And at the very center of it was a large circular object of some sort. The bottom half of it was made of metal while the upper half was made of glass. Amazingly, the object levitated about a foot above the tracks. The tracks went in three different directions: East, North, and South. About two feet in front of the circular object stood some type of control panel. At least that is what the Professor believed it to be. There was a key in the center of the panel. And around the panel in a circular fashion were keyholes with numbers above them. Starting at the top and going in a clockwise manner were the numbers: 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. There was also a message on the panel that read: “If you only knew the magnificence of the (blank), (blank), and (blank), then you would have the key to the Universe.”

“Professor, what does it mean?” I inquired.

“My dear, this is a quote from the great visionary, Nikola Tesla!” stated the Professor. “The 3, 6, and 9 are the secret numbers!” Both Munchie and Wolfie smiled. The Professor took out the key from the center of the panel and placed it in the number 3 slot and gave it a turn. He did the same to the number 6 and lastly to the number 9. As soon as he finished the last number, a door opened on the circular object. The Professor and the rest of us walked toward the opening. We saw that it was a craft that had seven seats inside. Each of us followed the Professor inside the craft and took a seat. We all put on our seatbelts. In the center of the craft was another control panel. However, this control panel had a screen attached to it. The Professor turned on the control panel and the screen lit up. At the top of the screen were the words: “Enter destination.”

“Okay, where do you all want to go?” asked the Professor.

“I want to see the Egyptian artifacts in the land of Colorado!” said Casey excitedly.

“I want to go too,” I replied, equally excited.

“I want to go as well!” shouted Wolfie. “After all, I am from the land of Colorado!” Casey smiled. She was from there as well!

We all knew that Munchie did not need to answer. He kept nodding his head and smiling. Both Chai and Mr. Cole smiled.

“Alright, Colorado it is!” announced the Professor.

The Professor typed in “Colorado” into the panel, closed the door on the craft, and hit the departure button. The circular craft took off at a slow speed and gradually increased its speed until it hit 360 miles per hour. Amazingly, we arrived in Colorado in two hours.

Although we knew we were in the land of Colorado, it felt as if we were in Egypt. Everywhere we turned were pieces of Egypt. There was even 2o feet tall version of the Great Pyramid! Both Munchie and Wolfie ran up the pyramid and touched the polished casing stones on the pyramid’s face. I could see the excitement and wonder in their eyes. Mr. Cole took out his notepad and began to jot down notes. Chai’s eyes were drawn to pictograph of a woman in Egyptian attire. The Professor was analyzing the hieroglyphs on the columns. Casey and I were admiring an Egyptian boat. I could just picture sailing down the Nile in this very boat! Casey smiled. She was probably thinking the very same thing.

“Professor, did the Great Pyramid in Egypt look like this?” inquired Munchkin.

“It did, my boy,” replied the Professor. “Of course, it was on a much larger scale.” The Professor winked. Munchie smiled.

After about an hour of exploring this gigantic room, we decided to check out a few more. Munchie and Wolfie discovered a room filled with technological gadgets. There were special tools that were used to cut the stone blocks. Then there was a special instrument that was used to inscribe the special hieroglyphs that were found on walls and columns. Wolfie pointed to a very interesting machine.

“What do you make of this, Professor?” asked Wolfie.

“My guess is that it is some type of anti-gravity device that was used to make the stone blocks weightless,” answered the Professor. “Did you know that the human that constructed Coral Castle in Florida did it by himself? It has been speculated that he had possession of a secret technology that made the coral weightless.”

“Wow Professor!” I stated enthusiastically. “That is absolutely amazing!”

“It is, my dear! We tend to think of our ancestors as not very intelligent. Scientists speculate that the pyramids were constructed with copper tools and slave labor. However, even with today’s technology, we can’t come close to their precision and accuracy. And yet, we call them primitive people. Perhaps we need to look in the mirror before we cast the first stone.”

“Professor, perhaps there is something that we can learn from our ancient ancestors,” stated Casey.

“You’re right, my dear! We most definitely can, if we will only let go of our pride and ego. You can’t fill a cup that is already filled with preconceived notions! The mind must be open to new ideas and possibilities. We live an infinite universe, yet we approach life with a very limited mind. The answers we seek will only come if we are open to receive it.”

Although we were all having a blast, it was getting late. The Professor said it would be best if we head back to Riverstone before citizens wake up in the morning and see us walking out of the mountain. It would be very difficult trying to explain why we were inside the mountain. And furthermore, we didn’t think that most of the folks would appreciate and respect what they saw. They would probably sell the Egyptian artifacts to the highest bidder. We all hopped into the circular craft and put on our seatbelts. The Professor turned on the console and typed in our destination and hit enter. He closed the door of the craft and pressed the “departure” button. We arrived in Riverstone a couple of hours before sunrise.