"Aw man," Gerald groans.

  He cautiously climbs out of the pit of brownish muck he landed in only moments before. Wiping his soiled hands on the legs of his even dirtier pants is a futile effort. Yet, Gerald goes through the motions anyway.

  A loud suction noise causes Gerald to whirl in the direction of the muck pit. He squints in order to see far out into the murky substance. A succession of large bubbles is making its way toward him. Gerald backs away from the edge of the muck pit, shaking his head.

  "Nah. This ain't happening. Oh hell, nah. What is that, a gator?"

  The creature which erupts from the muck pit's surface is no alligator. The giant three-eyed lizard launches itself at Gerald. Gerald dives to the left and rolls, barely missing being chomped on. He starts to run before he is even fully on his feet, going from a low crouch to completely erect in mere seconds.

  "Thank goodness, Dad put me in track. Oh Jeez," Gerald mutters to himself, as he races away from the charging reptile.

  Zigging and zagging, Gerald tries to remember everything he learned in school and those damn nature shows on the television. Of course, they never featured three-eyed thunder lizards on Nova.

  Gerald puts on more speed as he approaches what he believes to be a wall, anticipating a quick bank to the left. The lizard behind him heads in that direction, aiming to cut him off. Gerald shakes his head and feints right. The lizard takes the bait and alters its path as well. Gerald waits for the right moment and then heads left again. That wall. There's a small opening in that wall. If he can only get there.

  Pushing himself past usual limits, Gerald puts more distance between himself and the thundering lizard. The hole looms closer. The lizard lets out a shrill screech and also attempts to put on speed. Gerald pumps his arms, inhaling and exhaling rhythmically. Only another five yards to go.

  Not daring to look back, knowing that will cost him precious seconds, Gerald leaps sideways into the hole in the wall. The lizard zooms past the hole, screeching and bumbling to a halt. The hole is too small for the lizard's body to fit through. However, this does not prevent the creature from using a clawed appendage to swipe inside the hole. Gerald backs further into the small space, observing everything around him.

  The purple woman had said he would find a chamber of gold coins down here. And where the gold coins are, Jasmine will be there too.

  At the entrance to the hole, the lizard has begun trying to enlarge the opening. Gerald hurries forward, not waiting to see if it will succeed.

  The tunnel Gerald finds himself in glows with a purplish light. The same symbol from the murderous cougar's collar glimmers on the walls, interspersed with other similar symbols. Everything about this place seems ancient and weird.

  Scurrying behind him brings Gerald to a halt. He listens intently, head bent to aid his hearing. Was that his mind playing tricks? Did that big ass lizard make it into the tunnel? How?

  Nope. Not the lizard. To Gerald's dismay, a horde of what appears to be enormous misshapen crabs is gaining on him. Creatures. The lady in purple had warned there would be creatures down here. As in plural.

  "Enormous? Nah. That's an understatement!" Gerald grumbles to himself. "Them things are freaking huge! Oh hell, nah!"

  Gerald takes off running for the second time. The roiling horde of monster crabs skitters without interruption, their claws greedily snapping the air.

  "Why didn't I charge my damn phone? Why didn't I charge my damn phone?" Gerald repeats over and over. "Why? Why? Why? Dammit! Okay...I lied. I was playing Minecraft all afternoon. Is this some kind of cosmic punishment for lying to my wife? Okay...I know she's like the sweetest person in the universe or something. I tell her that all the time. But, I told the truth. We should be good now. Do I have to my snap my fingers? Wriggle my nose? Tap my heels together? What do I have to do? I just wanna take my wife and go home. I won't play Minecraft for a month. Two months. Six. I'll charge my damn phone every freaking day. Just let me go home. Please."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  A bright light appears ahead and Gerald squints to keep most of the brightness out of his eyes. As he draws closer, Gerald's eyes nearly bug out of his head.

  "She wasn't kidding when she said a chamber full of gold!" Gerald mutters.

  Gerald increases his speed of travel and dashes into the brightly lit chamber. In the center of the chamber is the biggest mountain of gold coins any human has likely seen. The mountain of money reminds Gerald of a cartoon he once watched as a kid. Come to think of it, most of the day's events seem outlandishly cartoony. With a couple of stark exceptions.

  Thankfully, the giant crabs do not favor the light. Gerald can hear them scrambling back and forth at the entrance to the chamber. He steps closer to the towering pile of money and looks up. The top of the coin pile is so high that Gerald is unable to see it from ground level. He whistles loudly and then groans.

  "How the freak am I supposed to find my wife...When she's been turned into a freaking coin? And how am I supposed to find her...In this?"

  Gerald sucks on his lower teeth and places a hand on his hip. A vibration. At first very small, but increasingly gaining in intensity, starts beneath Gerald's feet. He glances up in time to see a gold coin fall from the mountain of gold and roll away. Then, another. Then another. Then, two more. Three.

  Gerald's face becomes a mask of horror as the tower of coins begins to away. He backs slowly toward the entrance of the chamber. Only his knowledge that the crab creatures are still waiting to tear him apart keeps Gerald from exiting the chamber of gold.

  Something large whooshes by Gerald's head and he glances up. All that he catches is a glimpse of what looks like a tail--before he is knocked forcefully away. Gerald's back slams into the far wall and he slides down. He shakes his head to clear the fuzziness threatening to overwhelm his senses. What the heck was that?

  Gerald scans his surroundings but finds nothing. What is in this chamber? What hit him? He gets his answer a moment later.

  The creature lashes out with its tail a second time, becoming visible for only a brief moment. The creature Gerald glimpses is large and powerful, resembling an ancient dragon. The creature's large purple eyes blink once, and then it melts back into thin air. Gerald knows it is not gone.

  The mountain of coins chooses this moment to collapse, coins flying in all directions and flowing toward him like a golden avalanche. Gerald sees the wave of metal madness coming and drops down on his face. He balls up and covers his head, hoping that will be protection enough from both creature and coin.

  The coins flow around the dragon creature's massive body. It takes flight, out of agitation, and then dives at Gerald. The whoosh of air from its approach tells Gerald he'd better move. Unfurling, Gerald goes against his better judgment and rolls towards the avalanche of gold. Either way, he's gonna feel the hurt. Might as well roll in some dough first.

  The tide of coins hits Gerald with tremendous force, halting his roll and sending him sailing back in the other direction. Gerald flies in the air before crashing back down upon a blanket of cold hard coins. He groans and rolls onto his back.

  "Aw man...Ain't this some sh--!"

  The dragon's thick tail thwacks Gerald, knocking him several feet before he can finish his statement. Gerald groans yet again and struggles to get to his feet. If this is the end...He's not going out cringing like a scared child. Gerald Adleton intends to go out like every generation of Adletons before him. Like a man.

  While his grandfather was fighting overseas, his father and uncles were fighting in the fields. Fighting bugs, poor crop yields, weather, and adversity to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. A dragon...Or whatever...May not be an enemy on a foreign battlefield. But this is his battlefield. Bring it.

  Despite his tough mantra, Gerald knows he is outmatched. He clenches his hands into tight fists and waits for the killing blow. Instead, the dragon reveals itself, a purple symbol--like the one on the big cat's collar--emblazoned on its broad chest.

  The magnificent beast shakes its enormous ridged head, eyeballing Gerald with purple slitted eyes. As Gerald watches; a small stream of teal, violet, red, and orange tendrils flows from the dragon's chest--presumably where its heart should be. Gerald watches the flow until it reaches the blanket of gold. The dragon blinks twice, in quick succession, and then bellows. Back to business.

  Swiping at Gerald with a taloned claw, the dragon goes in for another attack.

  To be continued......