The Key

1: The Eshkolot Cave

One Saturday afternoon we played hide-and-seek in the
Eshkolot Garden, and I hid near the cave.
Suddenly I saw a flash of light inside the cave. I
approached the iron gate and looked in. A man, about 30,
stood there, wearing a gray uniform. He had a long dark
brown beard. He approached the gate from within and tried to
open it.
I asked him: "What are you doing here?"
He said: "Help me open this."
I replied: "I can't, it's locked."

At that moment I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw a
bubble shaped like a hemisphere, made of something that
looked like semi-transparent blue plastic, hovering a few
inches above the ground. Through the plastic-like material I
could discern two sitting forms.

Suddenly a small window opened in the bubble. A beam of
light shone through it in the direction of the cave. The
beam struck the gray-clad man. He groaned and collapsed. The
bubble shot up and vanished.

I looked at the recumbent man, and suddenly he started to
disappear, pieces by pieces, until he totally vanished.

"Here you are!" I heard a shout behind me. I turned around.
It was Joshua. He turned back and ran towards the bench that
served us as a base for our hide-and-seek game. I had no
chance of catching up with him. Nevertheless, I pretended to
pursue him. "One-two-three Jonathan!"

On Sunday I returned there alone, at the same hour. I stood
there and observed the cave.
The man appeared again, at the same place as yesterday. This
time he did not approach the gate, but just stood there
inside and waited.

Again a bubble appeared, similar to the one that did so
yesterday. This time a door opened on the left, and two
forms, wearing suits from some rigid stuff and helmed with
helmets that covered their entire head and face, hopped out.
They held a welding tool in their hands, and applied it on
the gate until it fell down. They dragged it aside, and the
man came out. Then they went back into their bubble and took
off.

The man in the gray uniform smiled at me and asked: "What's
your name?"
"Jonathan," I answered. "And you?"
"Horev. Let's go in."

I went with him inside the cave. He went to the wall
opposite the entrance, drew a flashlight from his pocket and
started to shine it on the wall and turn it off,
alternatively, in a strange rhythm. Suddenly the wall
scrolled to the left and showed an opening. "Go in," Horev
told me.
I hesitated.
"Here, take this." He shoved the flashlight into my hand.
And then, without warning, piece by piece, he vanished,
exactly like yesterday.
I decided to inspect the mysterious opening. I crossed it,
turning on the flashlight.
Suddenly I heard a dragging noise behind me. I turned. The
entrance rolled back to its previous state.
There was no way back.

to chapter #2: http://stage.co.il/Stories/407349