Finding Simba - 1. Find Ch 1

Somewhere in South Africa

When I woke up, I had no idea where I was. My head began to spin a little from dizziness, when I tried to stand up and wherever I was, it was nearly completely dark, with the exception of a narrow hole in the roof, about twenty or so metres above me.

The small amount of light from above, allowed me to be able to see that I was in some sort of tunnel or cave, as I could hear the occasional plop sound of water landing heavily in a pool of water, and very slowly and carefully, I began to feel my way around my surroundings.

When my foot softly booted an object, I stopped and leaned down to feel what it was that I had come across. It felt like a wooden box, no a crate, as I cautiously placed my hand down into the crate to see if I could find anything inside of it.

Suddenly a sound caught my attention, and I strained my ears to listen carefully and try to identify the sound. At first, it sounded like a ringing sound from a wire fence on a hot breezy day, as it sounded very much like that, but then another sound arrived, and it had a kind of a rhythm to hit.

A train, I could hear a train approaching, and the railway line must be very close to where I am been detained, as the sound became louder with every few seconds passing. By the time the train was at its loudest, the cave or tunnel that I was in was shaking, as I heard the clickity clack of the train wheels passing over each railway line join.

By the time the long train had passed, I realised that the cave was now almost pitch black dark, and forgetting the crate, I continued feeling along the jagged wall until my shin hit something solid, and I stopped to rub my shin, to try and relieve the pain from what ever I had hit.

Once I was feeling better, I leaned down to feel what I had hit, only to find my face hit something soft, which made me jump back in fright. Confused I found the wall again, and soon found the metal thing that I had hit with my shin, and I felt the soft item, which felt like a blanket, and pressing down harder, I realised that there was a mattress there. Feeling tired and still in shock that I had been hijacked, I carefully lie on the mattress and promptly fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up next time, there was sunlight filling the whole area, and I could now see that I was in a cave, as it began to shake with the approach of another train. As I waited fort he train to pass, I looked around and saw a large steel door framed door, which looked like it was made of solid thick wood.

What I did not know was that the door has in fact three layers, two of wood with a layer of steel in the middle. The crate that I had bumped into last night was one of two crates, and I had been sleeping on a steel frame bed, with wire supports and a fluffy mattress, and one pillow. Getting up, I walked over to the crated, and on top of one of them was a piece of paper.

On it was a crude sketch of the cave, which indicated that it has two smaller caves, one on either side. The map had WC written in front of one of the small caves, and the other had Ktch written in front of it, so I went to investigate these two areas.

As I came to a hessian screen, I discovered a portable chemical toilet up against the back wall, and beside it were two 5-litre bottles of toilet chemicals and a dozen rolls of toilet paper. Pleased that there was some sort of decent ablutions, I put it to good use right away to relieve my swollen bladder.

Feeling much better, I went to the opposite side of the cave where another hessian screen is, and pulling it aside, I discovered a basic kitchen. In it, I found a stainless steel kitchen bench, with a sink bowl and included a plug. On the bench, there is a 15-litre container, with a tap on the bottom, I opened the tap to see fresh water coming out, and I washed my hands before I closed the tap again.

Looking up, I saw that there was a very small shaft leading up high, allowing a little bit of sunlight into the makeshift kitchen, which includes a camping two-burner stove, along with a 5-litre gas canister. Looking under the bench, I saw that there are two more crates on a shelf.

Grabbing one crate, I lifted it up onto the bench to see what was in it. I was surprised to find a frying pan, a medium size saucepan and a cast iron pot with a lid, under them was a plastic container, which has a knife, fork, spoon and teaspoon, along with a paring knife, a wooden spoon, and a can opener.

One smaller plastic container has just three candles. Next, there is a tea towel, a small chopping board, a large plastic jug and a gas-filled fire lighter. Pulling out the second crate, I was equally surprised to find a heap of canned and fresh food.

I had fresh carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, a 500-gram packet of rice and a 500-gram packet of self-raising flour, small containers of pepper and salt, and with the cans, I have tuna, corn, baked beans, and four varieties of soup. At the very bottom, wrapped in another tea towel was a loaf of bread, with a thick crust, which I was very pleased to see.

“Ok, I am in here for the long term, I have no idea how long that I will be here, or when my next supply of food will come, so I need to ration the food, I said to myself out loud. Putting the food back in the crate and covering it with the tea towel, I returned to the main part of the cave, where I began to explore the rest of it.

At the very back of the cave, there is a sandy area, with a pool of water about the size of a dozen bathtubs, as I watched as a heavy drop of water created a ripple effect in the pool. Leaning down I scooped up a handful of water, and smelt it, before cautiously sipping the water, which was nice and refreshing.

With a fresh supply of water, and a supply of water, I had enough with me to last me for some time, if I kept to a strict ration of the food that I have. As I looked around me, from approximately the centre of the cave, I saw that the rest of the cave was flat, and contained a mixture of flat rock and sand.

Remembering the other crates near the bed, I walked over to them and peered inside, where I found the first crate contained a second blanket, and a number of paperback novels, which would help to pass the time. The second crate was empty, but I did notice that it has short lengths of rope attached to each side of the crate, that connect to a steel ring and a metal clip.

Not entirely sure what that was about, I picked up the crate to move it under the bed, when I saw something already under it, and I suddenly realised that it was my suitcase. Lifting it onto my bed, I opened it up, and I discovered that my toiletry bag was missing, but out of it, there was my deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, and my plastic comb.

All of my clothes were inside, and the only other thing missing was my belt and my good shoes, with just the casual shoes minus the laces and my sandals. There was no sign of my razor, or my grooming kit, and there was no sign of my brief case, laptop computer and my I-Pad.

I sat down in the middle of the cave so I could concentrate on what to do next. I know, that I have been kidnapped, I know I am being detained in a cave with the location unknown, and that my captors have provided with me with the tools and food to survive for at least one week, if I ration carefully.

As I leaned forward to look at my sore shin from when I hit it against the bed last night, I saw the slight bulge in my socks, and I suddenly remembered what I had placed there.

I pulled out my mobile, passport and the cash that I had stashed in my socks during the taxi ride to the hotel. I immediately turned on my mobile, and while the phone was at 90% battery strength, there was no mobile coverage, which I realised was probably because I was in a cave.

I looked upwards towards to sky above me, and realised that I had no chance of getting any mobile range down in the cave. I turned off the mobile to conserve the battery, and I stood up and stashed the cash, passport and mobile in the inside zip pocked of the suitcase. Retrieving one of the paperback novels, I sat down in the centre of the cave where the most light was available, and I started to do some reading.

When it was getting difficult to read any more, once the sun had gone beyond the roof hole, I busied myself with preparing some dinner under candle light, with tonight’s meal being a can of soup and a good chunk of the fresh bread loaf.

After I had eaten, I cleaned the plate and cutlery, before laying down and began to think back on how all of this drama started, thinking if anyone took any particular interest of my arrival in South Africa, and I didn’t remember anything that wasn’t out of place.

Then I remembered that the taxi driver had accept a telephone call, which was directed to his earpiece, which I was not able to listen into, plus he was speaking in Afrikaans which I did not know, so I couldn’t work out what was been said.

When I woke up the next morning, it must have been fairly early, as there was not much sunshine coming through the hole in the roof, and this is when I noticed a thin rope hanging down from the hole, with a small weight tied to the end.