Relic Short Story: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Hi! I haven't forgotten Pretzel Lectern, I've just been working hard at updating Knight Guy as often as possible, which is an extension of this blog since it's a project. If you haven't looked at it yet, check it out!

Meanwhile, I've been nostalgically poring through old Wordperfect files on my Ark (that's the name of my external hard drive) and I found this rather funny gem of a story I wrote. The date on the file says 2/20/02 and is stamped as an assignment for my 7th-grade Geology class. I'm not sure what our assignment was, because this is laughably scientifically inaccurate. Enjoy!

Journey to the Center of the Earth

It was the late 1800s. Henry Mortar and his assistant James Peterson were packing up their things for the trip. They had been planning their trip for months now, and were almost surely going to be prepared for it. They packed everything they needed: Grappling hooks, pickaxes, spades, matches, food, water, buckets, dynamite, and lots of rope.

Henry had, all of his life, dreamed of a journey to the center of the earth. Other scientists said it could not be done. The Earth’s crust was too thick to drill through, and it would be too pressurized to get through the mantle at all.

Henry ignored their mockery and pressed toward the Day.

James had been his only supporter for the trip, so he decided to come along and back up Henry’s journey.

Finally the Day came.

Henry and James packed their last things—journals—and checked their packs three times to make sure nothing was missing.

Then they were off.

Henry drove to the large inactive volcano ten miles away and parked his automobile in the grass. Then the two got their climbing tools and trekked up the volcano.

The particular volcano they climbed was called Mt. Trangshi, but Henry and James had their own name for it. They called it Mt. Opportunity.

Years earlier, the volcano had erupted, covering Ottoburg with lava, but now the cone was silent. Luckily, the earlier eruption had left the top of The Opportunity open, just as Mortar wanted it to, as that was his secret: he was going to the center of the earth through a volcano.

Henry Mortar landed softly on the igneous rock in the heart of Mt. Opportunity. He helped pull the rope as James Peterson climbed down the inside. They had reached the first stop. They had a lot longer to go, however. A large platform of rock had plugged the bottom of the magma heart, so Mortar and Peterson would have to go to the edge and go rappelling down the slope. It would take days, but there would be holds for them . . .

Weeks later, Mortar and Peterson were out of food, and it was only a matter of time before they would starve to death. They had dug very far under each air pocket in the rock, over and over, and rappelled deeper until they had reached the next layer of hard rock. As they descended deeper and deeper in the darkness, Mortar heard a squelch under his foot. He lowered his light to the floor he had hit. It was olive-green, and it had the consistency of tar. The mantle! The partners had reached it, and Henry Mortar had been correct! If only the civilization they left behind had known . . . Had they known this, then they would’ve had hope to reach the Core. But it wasn’t in vain. Mortar and Peterson, weak from hunger, carved their initials in the rock on the wall. They hadn’t reached the Iron/Nickel core, but the Olivine Mantle was the closest they ever got.

THE END