Chapter 6

Chapter SIX 'Emerald, I'm scared,' said Delphina. Just then, out of the darkness, glowing lights began to appear all around us in every colour of the rainbow. The further into the tunnel Squishy swam, the more lights there were—until the whole place was lit up by a beautiful rainbow glow.

'An underground cave!' I breathed, staring around in wonder at the rocky walls, which glittered and twinkled all over with the glowing crystals.

Squishy began to slow down, mesmerized. His big button eyes glittered and twinkled too, with the reflection of so many sparkling gems. 'Not just any underground cave!' said Delphina. 'An underground crystal cave! WOOOW!' I reached out my hand and touched a particularly beautiful green, glowing jewel embedded in the rock. It felt smooth and shiny and... magical. I knew we were extremely lucky to have come upon such a rare and beautiful place. It was definitely calming Squishy down too. He floated gently through the water, gazing at all the glittering crystals in the cool, dim light.

'You should take that gem, Emerald!' said Delphina. 'It's green like your name! Let's take a crystal each. They can be our souvenirs from the holiday!' 'OK!' I agreed, excitedly. It would be lovely to take a souvenir home from this mystical place. I began to pull at the gem, tugging it as hard as I could.

'Let me help,' said Delphina, and together we managed to dislodge the crystal from the wall so that it came free in a shower of rock dust. 'Hmm, said Delphina, looking around. Now, which one shall I take? My favourite colour is pink!' I stared down at the beautiful glassy green gem in my hand. It had lost a little bit of its lustre, and the glow was fading slightly. The elation I had felt at the thought of taking it quickly disappeared, and I felt an unexpected twinge of guilt. 'Umm...' I began. 'That's the one I want!' said Delphina, pointing at a particularly large pink gem

on the opposite wall of the cave. 'Will you help me pull it out, Emerald?' She swished over to it in a flurry of bubbles, but I didn't follow. 'Actually... I'm not sure we should take the gems, Delphina,' I said. 'They belong here.' 'What!?' Delphina gave me an incredulous look. 'But you have one!' 'I'm going to put mine back,' I said. Very carefully, I slotted the gem back into the hole in the rock. It clicked into place and began to glow again.