Who can resist a cave? Who has not wondered at the dark entrance and nervously imagined what must be below—down that frightening, beguiling opening? It is only a hole in a wall. Yet it could be a roof in a storm. Or, is it an invitation to go down—to venture deeper to places where day’s light does not aid vision; where darkness abets the burial of understanding? Ultimately, the mystery is unavoidable. For almost every cave that we encounter in our lives takes us by surprise. We aren’t used to finding dark places. We seek the light. But once found, the cave confronts the discoverer, and like a key, it opens to each the myriad possibilities within the caverns of the human mind.

“Bentari found himself being dragged, half carried by his upper arm that was pinched in Heimhalter’s familiar grip. As they made their slippery way up the steepening wall, they came to more and more of the huge lava boulders that composed the bulwark of the caldera. One of the lava formations appeared to be the adit to a small cave. The three men crawled under the overhang. Heimhalter stuffed Bentari into the cranny before him, and the boy was chagrined to find his breathing forced shallow yet again by the cramped space. The lava rocks poked and scratched him while he sat huddled into a ball holding his own legs around his shins. Was that a draft of air that he felt on his back? Or, was it merely cold rain evaporating in the steamy small cave? He did not enjoy room enough to turn around, yet the thought intrigued him. Bentari remembered all the many tales that his father had told him about this place.” (From Bentari chapter 20, “Storm in the Valley”)

Photo: the caldera’s north wall, Mt. Tabor Park in Portland, Oregon.