Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Indiana Smith, Treasure Hunter!

You've been on the trail of the hidden treasure for weeks, now. The ancient papyrus map is crumbling, but it leads you ever closer to that mysterious treasure that the map calls “God's Treasured Possession.” By night, you follow the map to an uncharted portion of the Valley of the Kings. Finally, mostly buried in the sand, you find the ancient temple! You hope that you’re the first one to find it, so all the valuables will still be inside.
The doorway has long been sealed off, so you climb in through a window and carefully drop to the floor below. There's no moon tonight, so you light the torch you brought with you, and hope it doesn't give out before you find what you're looking for.
The room you're standing in is not very large, and except for the hieroglyphics on the wall, it's not very interesting. There's no treasure here, but according to the map, there's a secret room hidden beyond the north wall.
You follow the instructions carefully. The fourth row of bricks from the floor, the fifteenth brick from the right. You press in on it, and there's a scraping, grating sound, as a section of the wall swings inward to reveal a secret passage! The passage gives way to many other hallways, all twisting and turning like the one you're in now. It's a labyrinth! A maze! And if it weren't for your map, you'd be lost in no time!
Finally, you arrive at the treasure chamber! A giant statue of a man with the head of a lion stands before you, and between his hands is the stone chest, just like the map shows! You grasp the box tightly and slide it from between the lion man's hands. Gently! Gently! And it's out! You stand there quietly, looking for booby traps—but there don't seem to be any.
It's then that you hear it—a small scratchy sound as the statue's hand begin to move closer together very slowly. Suddenly, they slam together, shattering each other, and the whole stone image begins to fall forward, right where you're standing! You dodge it as it falls and see that a huge stone door is sliding out of the wall and sealing off your only escape! You run toward the door, but you keep slipping and falling down, because the floor is covered with sand—sand which is seeping in from the chamber above this one, and is gradually filling the room!
Just when it seems that you won't make it to the door before it's sealed off, you remember that you're holding the treasure chest. You heave it into the doorway--and it stops the door from sliding closed any further! It's a tight squeeze, but you make it through the narrow space, and tug the box loose from the doorway. It slides shut, swiftly and silently. You wonder why it's so dark all of the sudden, and then you remember—in all the excitement, you left your torch in the treasure chamber, on the other side of the door!
You still have your book of matches, though! You light one and read the map, and you get through two turns in the hall before the match burns your fingers and you drop it. So, you light another one, and another one, and another one, until you finally make it back to the main room where you came in—just as the last of your matches burns out! Now it's really dark, and you're not sure where that open window is!
You stand very still, very quiet, and you feel something cool on your forehead. It's the breeze from the window! You follow that breeze, shove the stone chest up through the window and then climb out yourself and steal away into the chilly Egyptian desert night!

No comments: