Mr. Sing

- Translated By -
L. A. Evets

An hour into his travels, Mr. Sing acknowledged he must try to calm his nerves. Desperately trying to clear his mind of a dreaded obligation, he sat immobile and gazed out the compartment window welcoming the mundane blur of the tunnel walls that streamed by at a steady pace. Within a short time, the somewhat hypnotizing effect caused by the nondescript vision had finally won over and his mind was clear. So relaxed was he that when the train exited the tunnel and entered into the brightly lit cavern, he abruptly jerked his head back causing some pain just above his right shoulder. The dim lighting within the tiny compartment instantly transformed into a rainbow of vibrant colors. "Ah, the Meridian caverns." Mr. Sing whispered. The Transcontinental Train, the only mass transit system since the invasion and operating solely underground, had just entered a site Mr. Sing enjoyed the most when traveling between outposts. He enjoyed them even more so during the algae mating season, such as now. The bulbous little plant life that thrived within the great hollows had not only become a primary food source but an abundant lighting source as well. Appreciation of the algae to produce illumination was on the decline since the recently designed carbon lighting system by the Tunnel Academy. As magnificent as it was, the algae did have its drawbacks and those were most prevalent near the end of the mating season. The illumination of colors was stimulated by the many excited algae mature enough to mate. The wave of colors traversed from one side of the cavern to the other and back again, signaling a wave of acceptance to the other side’s intentions. The bold and at times bursting celebration would last up two weeks, a little longer in the larger caverns such as the Meridian. In its final days as the mating nears its completion, the older algae begin to die and dislodge from the cavern surface. As the older algae pass on, they lose all color and drift to the cavern floor simulating a light snowfall. A poetic conclusion marking the end of a beautiful light show. Later, Tunnel builders would arrive and gather up most of the fallen algae to feed the caverns they had recently artificially seeded with new algae. Mr. Sing remembered how as a child he and his friends would gather up the fallen algae and squeeze them tightly into a palm size balls to throw at one another. Those were very fine days indeed he thought, very fine. Today's journey would not allow him to enjoy the algae as he once had. His mind was too deep into thought. The train exited the Meridian caverns through a short exit tunnel that opened widely into one of the largest voids of the underground world. Even with the swift speed at which the Transcontinental Train traveled, it still took a substantial amount of time to cross the vast openness. Far off into the distance Mr. Sing saw another of his favorite sites, the Molean Falls. Millions of gallons of water flowed over its edge into a canyon nearly seven hundred feet below. Sing thought about the water’s travel and wondered, just exactly where did it go? Moreover, where did it come from? The Tunnel Academy had its theory, which was nothing new. Being the only institution of higher education, they had a theory for everything.