The HOLE (Short Story)

🕳️ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄 🕳️

There once was a man who fell into a dirt hole in the ground. 🕳️

He didn’t know how it happened or why it happened. All he knew was he was now in a hole. At first freaking out, the man quickly attempted to scramble up to the hole’s surface. 😨

He grasped at the sides of the hole around him, frantically grabbing everything and anything he could. ✊

With his heart pounding, his hands only continued to slide along the dirt walls. His grasping at the walls not only wasn’t working, it was only serving to enlarge the hole he was already in! 🕳️

After letting out a scream of frustration, the cold hard truth was sinking in for the man. He may never be able to get out of this hole. 😨

Feelings of helplessness slowly enveloped him. The man released his hands from the dirt walls and let out a long sigh of resignation. 😞

💭 “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵…𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦…𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩.” 💭

As hard as it was for him to accept, he had finally given into the fact this hole was going to his new home…🏠

…A period of time passed. The man started to find ways to keep his mind occupied. He played Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt. He made drawings on the walls of the hole with his fingers. He even started taking a liking to the dirt he was eating for food! 😲

💭 “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵…𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦…𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮…𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦…𝘐’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” 💭

Despite not knowing how or why he found himself in the hole in the first place, it didn’t matter anymore. He was now feeling comfortable. 🛌

💭 “𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴…” 💭

But it was just as he had started feeling peaceful did he one day hear footsteps at the surface. 👣

What appeared to be a passerby was now looking down into the hole at the man. A look of confusion on his face, the passerby shouted down to the man:

🗣️ “𝘠𝘖𝘜’𝘙𝘌 𝘐𝘕 𝘈 𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘌! 𝘎𝘌𝘛 𝘖𝘜𝘛 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘌!” 🗣️

The man looked up at the passerby. All he could do in response was scoff at the obvious advice.

“𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘒 𝘐 𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘌𝘕’𝘛 𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘌𝘋?!” He shouted to the passerby. 😠

The passerby continued to look confused, as if he was trying to figure out what to say next. After another pause he shouted down:

🗣️ “𝘓𝘐𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘕 𝘛𝘖 𝘔𝘌: 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘊𝘈𝘕 𝘎𝘌𝘛 𝘖𝘜𝘛 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘌!” 🗣️

But the man was not having any of it. He was started to feel really angry at this passerby. With a swish of his hand at the passerby, he scoffed. He wanted him to go away. 😠

🗣️ “𝘕𝘖 𝘚𝘌𝘙𝘐𝘖𝘜𝘚𝘓𝘠!” the passerby shouted once more. “𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘕 𝘛𝘌𝘓𝘓 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘛𝘖 𝘎𝘌𝘛 𝘖𝘜𝘛!” 🗣️

At this point the man had had enough! His body shaking with rage, he shouted up to the passerby: “𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘔𝘌 𝘈𝘓𝘖𝘕𝘌!” 😡

The passerby’s face turned from confusion to match the man’s angry face.

🤬 “𝘍𝘐𝘕𝘌, 𝘙𝘖𝘛 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌 𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘞𝘈𝘕𝘛! 𝘉𝘜𝘛 𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘡𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜’𝘙𝘌 𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘚𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘛𝘖 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘠 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘌!” 🤬

The passerby stormed off. 👣

The man felt disgusted at the passerby’s words. “𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘚𝘐𝘕𝘎?!” He sprang to the tops of his feet and screamed toward the surface:

🤬 “𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖𝘕’𝘛 𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘔𝘌!

𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖𝘕’𝘛 𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛’𝘚 𝘐𝘛’𝘚 𝘓𝘐𝘒𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘔𝘌!

𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖𝘕’𝘛 𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘐𝘛’𝘚 𝘓𝘐𝘒𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘋𝘖𝘞𝘕 𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌!

𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘋𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘚𝘈𝘠 𝘐 ‘𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘚𝘌’ 𝘛𝘖 𝘉𝘌 𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌!

𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘕’𝘛 𝘎𝘌𝘛 𝘖𝘜𝘛 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘌, 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛’𝘚 𝘈 𝘎𝘖𝘋𝘋𝘈𝘔𝘕 𝘍𝘈𝘊𝘛!” 🤬

There was a moment of silence. Not a sound came from the surface. The man’s body, stiff as a nail, started to tremble. He had been holding his breath the whole time. The first exhale he took quickly turned into a whimper, and he collapsed to the ground in tears. 😭

The feelings of helplessness had returned. He instantly felt upset for the things he had just said. 😟

💭 “𝘐 𝘗𝘜𝘚𝘏𝘌𝘋 𝘈𝘞𝘈𝘠 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘖𝘕𝘓𝘠 𝘗𝘌𝘙𝘚𝘖𝘕 𝘞𝘏𝘖 𝘊𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘋 𝘏𝘌𝘓𝘗 𝘔𝘌! 𝘐𝘛’𝘚 𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘔𝘠 𝘍𝘈𝘜𝘓𝘛!” 💭

While a part of him was comfortable and accepting of his predicament, a small part of him still had a desire to get out of the hole. And the passerby had been a reminder for that small part of him. 💥

Unfortunately, his anger had camouflaged his cry for help. 😢

As the man continued to cry, he heard footsteps again. Quickly wiping away his tears out of shame, he looked up and saw the passerby had returned. 👤

The passerby squatted down to his knees and took a long deep breath. Composed, and in a much softer tone, the passerby looked the man straight in his eyes and asked:

💬 “𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦?” 💬

The man didn’t know how to respond. He was confused, because as a matter of fact no one told him this. 🤔

He had told this to himself so many times he now believed it. 👤

💬 “𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.” 💬

The passerby grabbed the edges of the hole and jumped in feet-first. He landed right next to the man. 💨

💬 “𝘚𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳,” the passerby continued in his soft tone as he looked around. “𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵.” 💬 The passerby smiled.

The man looked down, ready to cry. He felt ashamed. Again, his mind was conflicted between the place he had just started to make his home and his desire to escape. ↔️

The man replied faintly: “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 ‘𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨’ 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” 😞

The passerby slowly squatted his hands onto his knees, still looking at the man. “𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺.” 👐

The man let out a deep sigh of his own as the passerby leaned in toward him.

💬 “𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘈𝘕𝘠 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘌𝘓𝘓 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸!” 💬 The passerby smiled once again.

The man tilted his head up at the passerby and managed to crack a smile. He couldn’t understand why, but he suddenly felt more receptive to the passerby’s assistance than he did moments ago.

Perhaps it was in part due to the passerby’s willingness to be in the same hole as him. 😅

💭 “𝘏𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺.” 💭

And thus, the passerby started to teach the man the tools to get out of the hole. 👨🏫

At first, the tools the passerby taught to the man sounded like nothing more than common sense! At many points, the man couldn’t help but laugh at his dumbfoundedness!

💭 “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦?!” 💭

He soon realized that contrary to popular belief, common sense isn’t common! And his initial solution for getting out of the hole (grabbing at the dirt walls) wasn’t very practical. 💯

But with these tools no longer labeled as “𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦” but as “𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴” in his mind, the man found his way out of the hole and onto the surface! 😄

As he took his first steps on the surface, he was suddenly reminded of how amazing his ife was before falling into the hole. He had been in the hole for so long, with nothing to remind him of his past life, he had forgotten how great it felt to be alive again. ☀️

The man turned to the passerby. “𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩,” he said, ready to cry again. ❤️

The passerby smiled. “𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳: 𝘐 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.” 😃

The man smiled. And the passerby leaned in for one final word.

“𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑.” 🙌

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