Being Prepared, Matt Style

Matt and Charlie quietly explored the winding corridors of the cool, damp cavern until Charlie finally exploded, “Why do you have a cricket in a bamboo cage?!”

“Fancy Japanese women have them,” Matt replied as he held the cage in one hand, his flashlight in the other and wished he’d had a third for a machete.

“You’re not Japanese or a woman,” Charlie said.

“Then it’s like a carrying a canary in a coalmine,” Matt explained.

“No it’s not,” Charlie argued just as a long, slimy tongue shot out of the darkness and slurped the cage out of Matt’s hand.