Stuck - Part III

Getting through The Birth Canal was a difficult chore, and it almost made me feel like a snake shedding its skin. Wriggling and pushing, pulling and squirming, I finally got through to the other side. Having thrown my flashlight through the hole before entering, I grabbed it and turned back, watching Larry come through the tiny hole. Though Larry was somewhat smaller than the average adult, I marveled how any-sized adult could pass through such a small opening. I picked up his flashlight and handed it to him. "Pretty tight fit," he said. "Mmm hmm," I mumbled in reply.

Toward our back and to the right there was a rather tall yet narrow passageway that again only allowed one person at a time, and that person had to shuffle sideways. It was the beginning of Ballbreaker.

I stuck my head through the opening and looked for light. Seeing a glow on the other end, I began shuffling toward it. Some of the leaders had already started climbing up the slanted rock, positioning themselves every five feet or so to help the rest of us up the incline. The rock was nearly twenty feet long and created a climb of about 40 degrees through a passageway that was no larger than a foot and a half.

"We're supposed to go through that?" I said, turning and looking at Larry. He was at least 30 pounds lighter than me and about five inches shorter.

"I don't think it will be that tough," he replied.

"Not for you," I said, snorting derisively as I turned back to watch Scott's feet disappear over the top of the rock.

"Your turn," said Larry, planting his right hand directly in the middle of my back.

Stumbling slightly, I started the ascent.

Slipping on the damp rock, I searched for hand and foot holds. They were all over, next to me, above me and sometimes underneath me. I slithered through the extremely narrow passageway, not worrying about how my clothes would look on the other side.

Starting near the end has its advantages. You can see where everyone else goes and if they succeed you go where they went. It also has its disadvantages. Sometimes the rock over which you have to climb is left muddy and wet. So was the case on this day.

Nearing the top, my helmet got stuck between the slanted floor and the roof. Adjusting my head slightly, I pulled the helmet back and looked up toward the guys who'd already made it. The passage seemed to narrow just a little ahead of me, so I adjusted my position as to be lying directly on my stomach, back scraping the limestone roof. Figuring I'd be the smallest that way, I pushed myself into the even smaller space and then felt myself move no further.

I'd been stuck like this in caves before, so I didn't panic. I tried bringing my feet around to the side, which usually helped free my torso. No luck.

Stopping to think for just a second, I then looked ahead of me, up the incline to the top. I couldn't lift my head vertically because of the cramped space, so lying on my stomach I slid it sideways so I could see the top. It was no more than 7 or 8 feet away. Blindly searching for a hand hold, I found one near my right hand. Latching onto it, I pulled. Nothing. No movement whatsoever. I was stuck.

Starting to breathe just a little bit harder, and feeling my body expand so that it filled the tiny space, I looked at Amy, who was the closest guide to me. "I think I'm stuck," I said, trying not to let me voice betray the nerves that were welling up inside me.

Being all of four feet tall and about 100 pounds, she'd already reached the top and so had to slither down my remaining few feet. She sat erect in a small hole directly next to my imprisoning space and leaned over. Her headlamp shined directly into my eyes. "Ok, just don't panic," she said calmly.

But it was too late. While she had been coming to my aid I'd tried freeing myself again a couple of times with no luck. Every push and every pull seemed to wedge me in tighter. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing and heart rate, knowing that if either was elevated too much it would only serve to make my body larger and more apt to remain where it was.

"Have you tried pulling yourself to this side?" she asked.

"Yes, that's what I tried first. But I can try again," I said, as I pulled my legs up the sheer rock face toward my shoulders. My body did not move.

"No go," I said.

She put her finger on her chin. "Ok, there is a small chute here just above your head. If you can get your back into that, you'll be home free."

I pulled my helmet off so I could see what she was talking about. Just above my head was a small place where the space actually got a little bigger. Reaching up toward it I grabbed a piece of the wall and pulled. Nothing.

"Alright," she said, a small amount of nervousness in her voice. "Let me go talk to Bobby," and she shinnied up the rock face away from me.

Left in the relative darkness, I closed my eyes. Feeling an irreversible panic arise in my chest, I breathed deeply. "Calm yourself, man. Calm yourself. It's going to be ok." But I knew it wasn't true. I was going to be left there in total blackness with no hope of ever being freed. This was my ultimate prison, my purgatory for having lived such a terrible life, ironically being left in the sheer darkness because of my dark deeds.

I thought of rescue squads coming to the hillside to try and dig me out. It would take weeks to dig through that much rock. I thought of how long it would take to lose 20 pounds, enough to be able to unjam myself from the vice in which I now found myself. It had come to this. I was going to die in a cold, dark, bat-infested cave. I would try to hold on long enough to see my dear, sweet wife again, but she'd have to come down into the cave to see me herself. I'd never hold my precious children again. I was going to die right where I was.

Physically trying to restrain myself from thinking such atrocities, I opened my eyes and looked toward the light. Amy was coming back down. She tried several new approaches to getting me out, none of which worked. She tried to get me to go back down the rock. She tried to get me to roll over more on my side. She tried to help me go to the right and then to the left. None of them worked. Now breathing itself was getting more difficult.

Amy climbed back up the rock and left me in the darkness again. I closed my eyes. "Father, if you can hear me, please help me get out of this. I am stuck and there's nothing I can do to get out. I've tried everything I can think of and I do not want to spend the rest of my life stuck in here. Please, please help me get out."

No sooner had I said Amen than I felt my feet raise up off the floor of the passageway and plant themselves firmly in the roof. Pushing with all of my might I felt my chest slide across the wet stone. I pushed again and felt it slide just a little bit more. Gathering steam and hope I pushed once more, this time grabbing the closest rock I could find. I pulled myself through the small opening and up into the larger room 7 feet above. I was free!

I laid on the floor in the darkness next to Scott. Looking up where heaven would be, if not for several hundred feet of rock, I thanked my Heavenly Father profusely for helping me out. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized that I'd just been the recipient of one of His tender mercies.

Slithering back through The Birth Canal several minutes later, I felt reborn, a new child who'd escaped the dark confines of his terrestrial cell. Reaching the sunlight at the front of the cave, I reached for the sunlight I thought I'd never see again. The warm glow on my cheeks was like touching the face of God.