Waste Not, Want Not Chapter XVIII

Always the early riser Paul returned to walk the area as the sun had just peeked over the horizon and with no clouds present the day was soon brilliant and, as the day before, crisp and breezy, a great day!
Things always appeared differently in the bright morning sun than later in the day and, of course, from the waning light at sunset. Paul thought he might see something in the different light. He enjoyed walking around out in the country anyway, the snake bite did not linger in his mind.
He went back to the truck and drove to another spot, a small, rocky hill with a few scrubby mesquite trees sprouting from its mini summit. Nothing much in sight.
He parked and got out of the truck and began to walk in a slow, circular pattern, gradually widening the distance from the truck. This was a lot harder because he just didn’t know exactly what it was he was looking for.
He sat down on a grassy hummock and pulled out his Stanley classic green thermos and poured a cup of coffee. Drinking slowly he watched birds of many kinds flitting about, a rabbit broke from cover and scurried to nearby brush. It was quiet, except for the gusty winds.
When he was finished he reached down for his thermos bottle and it rolled off the rock and fell. “Dang!” he said as he reached down for it but he didn’t find it.
“Hmmm…” He got onto his knees and reached around under the rock, until it occurred to him there could be some critters under there so he pulled it out.
“Where could it go?”
He returned to the truck and took his flashlight from it along with a hoe he had in the back. Cautiously he knelt down and shined the light under the rocks. Nothing he could see. He poked around with the handle of the hoe but he felt nothing.
“It has to be under there!”
He was satisfied there was nothing under there so he reached in and felt all around and he realized there was a hole there, the thermos must have fallen into the hole.
“I don’t want to lose it.”
He had to figure out a way to move that rock. He pulled the truck closer and rolled out the winch line. He wrapped the cable twice around the outside circumference of the rock and climbed into the driver’s seat and engaged the winch. The line soon pulled taught and for a moment would move no more. Suddenly the rock slipped and moved toward the truck. Paul reeled in the line and slowly the rock crept closer and closer.
“That ought to do it ,” said Paul as he jumped out of the truck and strode towards the hole. He peered in. A rotten smelling rush of stale air greeted him as he poked his head in. “Whew!”
Paul knew he had found the cavern. He peered into the inky blackness and pointed his flash light down into void. He could see a ledge about six feet down which faced another large hole into which he could not see.
“This must be it.” Paul considered his options. “If I climb in now and something happens I may never be found.” He went back to the truck and poured some coffee. After he finished his cup he took a hammer from his tool box and found a sturdy stick which he pounded into the ground beside the hole. He found an oil rag in the truck and tied it to the stick.
“Now I will be able to find this place.”
He drove back to the ranch house to consider how or even if he should explore the cavern.