(prompt 'help' - 9/11/2019)

"There's a castle down there! LOOK... THERE!"

Although sounds are mostly eerily muffled down here, there is no mistaking the youth and excitement of a young voice. Smiles start even before heads begin to turn. Unlike this small discoverer of new and magical worlds, ever-practical adults know the truth behind what Angelina's incredulous brain believes she sees.

Impossible for Bethany not to join into the wonder of her child's imagination with a loud exclamation... "Was that a fairy? Peeping around that turret? She's SO deep down, I'm not sure."

"Yes... YES!" Angelina bounces up and down as though the rock floor is a trampoline. Fortunately, her mother holds her hand firmly. "Look! There's another fairy – a rainbow one - and another, and, and... a pink unicorn!" She points into the crystal clear waters, her face aglow with obviously total belief a world of magic is unfolding especially for her.

"There's flowers," she says. "And balloons and lights all around the castles... lots and lots of castles – and the brightest lights ever, and ohh—" she interrupts herself with a loud gasp. "DIAMONDS! They have REAL diamonds for their lights." And her eyes sparkle to match the imagined brilliance.

Bethany and Grandpa look at each other with wide eyes and dropped jaws in appropriate reaction to the stunning scene. Even without their little darling's fantasy world, they'd be near-speechless with wonder in this amazing limestone cave, peering into a crystal clear reflecting pool only a few feet deep. They stare in wonder into an unbelievable duplication of the myriad of stalactites - hundreds of thousands of years old - hanging from the cave ceiling, soaring to an unimaginable height far above.

Tour guide Tony, points to the tip of a stalactite barely larger than Angelina's thumb. "That little fellow's about 85 years old! How's that?" He grins as though he's been solely responsible for the immense age of this fantastic cave. "Reckon your Grandpa might be knowing a bit about that age before you do, hey little one?"

And as Angelina turns her head to to the old man and raises her eyebrows questioningly, Grandpa can't help a smile. Words like 'smoke and mirrors' and 'sleight of hand' drift through his mind. Man-made designs to deceive - and here is a natural phenomenon formed through the millennium and beyond, _... and hidden underground until it's discovery less than a century ago,_ he thinks. His smile broadens further as he imagines Angelina's reaction when he tells the marvellous tale of how it was found only because a young boy was out rabbiting and lost his ferret down a hole he could squeeze through. By feeble torchlight, his were the first human eyes to see the wonder of the Tantanoola limestone cave. _Think I'll save that one for her bedtime story tonight._ Grandpa suppresses a chuckle this time and answers the guide.

"Well that's true. But we DO share one thing. NEVER, in either of our whole lives have we EVER seen an underwater castle reflection like this one. Hey, little one?"

But of course, Angelina knows nothing yet about illusions, and bounces right back, clamouring, "...'flecshun? What? What's that mean?"