Photo: New Mexico Tourism Department
“Which one was it?” Mark peered into the screen and jiggled the joystick for the drone.
“I don’t know,” Jake panicked. “It looks different from the ground.”
“We really should call 911,” Sherlock fretted.
“Shut up and live up to your name, will ya?” Jake snapped. Worry and guilt made him mean.
Sherlock turned beet red. In two months he’d finally be old enough to rid himself of this kick-me-name. Not that he trusted it’ll matter to those who already knew him.
Mark maneuvered the drone over the blue circle. He scanned the rocky edges. Ted was only supposed to pretend to jump in, so they could post it online for the new “Dive In” Internet challenge, but he either lost his footing or decided to show off.
A ripple in the watery surface had him zoom in closer.
The drone tilted, wobbled, splashed into the sinkhole, and disappeared. Like Ted.
For What Pegman Saw: Roswell, New Mexico
Na'ama Yehuda 
Spooky place! Well told.
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Thank you, J! 🙂 Yep, spooky plus teenagers not quite realizing what they’re getting into makes for … well … this.
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Thinking they better call 911, although I have a feeling it’s too late. Love the ending.
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🙂 Thank you … yeah, me think, too … Though … you never know …?
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Oh dear. Their friend is gone, and so is the evidence.
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Oh dear indeed … 🙂 Thank you for commenting!
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Those lads are in a lot of trouble. But probably not as much as Ted…
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Yep. … You got that right … 😉
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Man and machine, everything is vanishing in the sinkhole. What force is operating there?
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Who knows …. 😉 After all, this IS in Roswell, New Mexico …
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Na’ama Y’karah,
This is a little close to real life these days. Is fifteen minutes (or less) of fame worth taking ridiculous risks? Well told.
As for nicknames…hard to shed those. Where I worked I was dubbed Rocky. My former coworkers still refer to me in that way…I retired three years ago.
Even better…some of my high school chums still call me Roach.
My favorite nickname was given me by my first crush, Irwin Stern (I was 4) who called me Ruchel Schvester. (Hebrew Name being Ruchel Ester 😉 )
You may read my story here: https://rochellewisoff.com/2018/10/14/r-is-for-rocket/
Sh’vuah tov,
Rochelle
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Oh, I love this!
Ruchel Schvester … Better than Ruchel Schvitzer … ;))
Yeah, nicknames are hard to shed. And when your parents call you “Sherlock” they are basically setting you up for life … 😉
As for the realities behind some of those ‘challenges’–I was thinking about the laundry pods one, and how there were those teens who waited to call for help … Some people died from it, and for some of the media-frenzy-seeking-kids (oy vey), this only made it more enticing to try. I sure hope I’m not giving anyone an idea here. Anyone reading: Do. Not. Dive. In. Or at least, not that way. (I reserve the right to dive into some nice cheese cake, for example – but if you have diabetes … well, ask your doctor first …) Na’ama
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