Chapter Two

Escape from darkness, voyage back home, and an orb from paradise?

"Sie erhalten diesen felsen aus dem weg!" yelled one of the men, trying his best to uncover the rocks and get their leader out. "Er wird sterben, wenn er dort ohne frische luft für zu lang!"

 

   Daniel woke up to silence in the large room, unable to hear what was happening outside. He sat next to the blocked entrance and stared into the darkness, trying desperately to get his eyes to coopoerate with him, but he could see nothing. As far as he could tell, it was still, simply an empty room.

 

   His body shook, for he felt weak and was terrified to make a sound that would break the dead silence. After he felt like a day had passed by, he cursed himself for not bringing his provisions with him and fell asleep on an empty belly.

 

   When he awoke, his head hurt from lying on the stone floor and decided he would use his burnt out torch next time, if he was forced to stay another day. His hands ran over the ground in search of the torch until he noticed a strange light shining from the center of the room. It took many seconds for his eyes to adjust and he saw a round pedestal on which the light source sat.

 

   A tan, leather jacket lay on the floor next to it, and atop the altar sat a round orb emitting a light that seemed to be every color imaginable and not at the same time. There were no words to explain the experience.

 

   "Oh my . . . ," he mumbled to himself, rising to his feet, and then slowly made way towards it, the light sparkling in his eyes. Ever so gently he closed his hands around the orb's smooth surface, fearful that any pressure would cause the ancient piece to disintegrate into dust. But then something unexpected happened: the light intensified and a high pitched noise rang in his ears, just before his vision went white.

 

   ". . . nicht durchbrechen?" grunted one of the men as he tumbled into the room through a newly made hole in the rubble.

 

   Daniel blinked as his eyes readjusted to the newfound light. He held, in his hands, a jacket, and wrapped inside was what felt like broken glass. He tied it up more securely, to be sure none of the pieces would fall out, and set it carefully in his pack.

 

   "Oh, thank heavens we saved you, sir," cried Jeramiah, who had finally arrived, as he ran through the hole in the rocks, torch in hand. The room lit up to reveal that there was no longer a pedestal sitting in the middle and overall it was still utterly empty.

 

   "How long was I in here?" questioned Daniel. It would have to have been two days or more, but he had no way of telling the time.

 

   "I'm not sure the exact time, would you like me to ask?" Daniel nodded and Jeramiah turned to the other five men, scrambling to attention. They always seemed to have a goofy feel for life. "Wissen sie, wie lange Daniel war gefangen in hier?"

 

   Karl, who had a higher voice than most other men, spoke up. "Über ein stunde vielleicht auch zwei."

 

   Jeramiah tuned to Daniel and replied, "They say you were only here for an hour, maybe two."

 

   Daniel nodded, surprised, but instead of showing it, he got to his feet solemnly and climbed out of the room and into the corridor. When he neared the entrance, he noticed the silhouette of his boss waiting for him.

 

   "Well?" demanded Mr. Hermen impatiently.

 

   "We might need a few Egyptian translators for the glyphs on the walls, but, other than that, this place was empty." He deliberately left out the part of the orb, for two reasons. One, he didn't know, yet, if it was real or not; and two, he wanted to look into that himself. Many people would have questioned his motives, as it was extremely out of character for him; yet, he could not explain the sudden spark of greed that the object ignited inside of him.

 

   "I see," the man said in a burly voice. "I guess this place wasn't what I thought it was." His eyes shifted downward in thought before he turned to his own team, behind him, and declared, "There is nothing for us here, another useless discovery. Let's head back to London."

 

   The boat ride home was vaguely uneventful for Daniel. He distanced himself from everyone, which was abnormal for him. Talking helped keep his mind off of his sea sickness, normally, yet this time he had more troubling things to ponder.

 

   Whenever someone would come in to comfort him, or even just to talk, he would say nothing more than, "I am not in the mood, thanks."

 

   His boss even came in one time to say, "Daniel, once we get back to London, I want you to take some time off, so you can recover. I understand how traumatizing that kind of experience can be."

 

   The rest of the week until he returned home went by in a blur. Before he knew it, his driver announced "Mayfair!" and Daniel hopped out of the carriage and stepped into his apartment building, avoiding the horses.

 

   The incident with the orb kept playing over in his mind, and he had yet to uncover the jacket to see if it held the broken pieces of the orb or not. How it could have broken was, and probably forever will have been, a mystery to him.

 

   He walked into his apartment, just as the sun was setting on the city, and put the jacket down on his desk. He staggered to his bed and collapsed on top of it, taking in the smell of clean sheets. Sleep quickly enveloped him and he dreamt a sweet dream to forget about all of his troubles. He would deal with that jacket the next day, so at that moment, he had little care in the world. There was nothing he wanted more than to sleep in his own bed, one within his own home.

Reviews

[brenda]

i can understand the character how he felt when he saw an orb then watch it break it is interesting

[Lady]

The orb was definitely a magical discovery for me as a reader. I'm very excited about its potential. One thing doesn't quite make sense to me though...Why would Daniel suddenly feel inspired to basically steal government property? Feels a bit random and out of character. Maybe he tried showing the men of his discovery, but when he tries, the orb is gone, its nowhere in his pockets and the men just think he injured his head or something like that. Then once he's back at home, alone in his apartment, he notices something glowing in his pocket and finds the orb?

Also, the 6th paragraph needs a little re-wording:

"Oh my . . . ," he mumbled to himself, rising to his feet, and then slowly made way towards it, the light sparkling in his eyes (you should instead tell us his eye color from the start, such as when Daniel is squinting against the sand littered wind). Ever so gently he closed his hands around the orb's smooth surface, fearful that any pressure would cause the ancient piece to disintegrate into dust. But then something unexpected happened - the light intensified and a high pitched noise rang in his ears, just before his vision went white.

Hope this helped!

[London]

i liked it, wanna read more :)