Discovery Through Caching

The other day while geocaching in Abilene, Kansas, we came across an interesting discovery. Driving out to a cemetery, we noticed a lot with red brick stone pillars and white inlaid crosses. We really didn't think to much of it, but as I drove by, I noticed a dark looming mass in the back corner of the property. We drove to the cemetery, which had a cache about a nearby orphanage and how the many children are buried there in unmarked graves. While driving back, I noticed the dark mass again, and my curiosity just got the best of me. We pulled into the decently kept lot and down the gravel path. The figure mysteriously didn't brighten as we drove closer; revealing it was no mere shadow illusion. We came to a stop in front of the object, looking up as it towered above us. A cold chill ran up my spine, hair standing on end, feeling as though evil was flowing out of it. It was made of a black rock, twisted and mangled, cold as steel. Three cavities were built into its mass, constructed to hold something that was no longer there. Arches marked the sides, leading to nowhere. After a round of photographs, we headed home, bound to find the purpose the object. A quick search for the orphanage showed that it was indeed the property we were on. The object, the only thing on the property besides a small brick building, turned out to be a grotto. A grotto is a place of outdoor worship, usually containing a statue of Mary, made of stone to resemble a cave. Statues made of black rock once stood in the cavities, while the whole structures is made from volcanic rock. The origin of the stone is unknown, but most likely from the Smith Center area where lava seeped from the ground. A black rock also resides in the area which traveled from France used by the nuns of the orphanage as a shrine. Probably my most memorable find, geocache or not.