Michael Hayfield's Story

The hot sun beat down relentlessly on the small group of travelers, nearly exhausted from the full day of exploring. They had been in Egypt for a short two days but had already done so much. The first day was spent exploring the city itself, the food, the culture, and a few landmarks such as the Abdeen Palace and Khan el-Khalili. Arguably, today’s activities were perhaps the most exciting and nearly everyone was looking forward to it. The day began with a short bus ride to the outskirts of Cairo in Giza, where the students were allowed to explore one of the seven wonders of the world. The Pyramids of Giza. The impressive structures were a breathtaking sight and it wouldn’t have been complete without a lengthy lecture from Hawthorne. Elena had already sent a barrage of pictures to her parents and brother back home, she knew they would’ve loved to see this. They spent about four hours at the site before the sun had just begun to set in western horizon. Most thought the day would’ve been called quits there.

Although the Professor had other plans.

When the buses began to fill leading the tourists back to the capital, Hawthorne instead had the group stay behind as he wanted to see one last thing before they headed back. His request was met with some protest - after all they had been trekking nearly all day, not to mention whatever the man had in mind was definitely not on the itinerary. It wasn’t until about a half hour after they had been wandering aimlessly around the desert that it was obvious they were more than a little lost.

”Professor where exactly are we going?” Elena spoke up from the front of the group, adjusting her backpack more comfortably on her shoulders. The heat had begun to take a toll on her, no telling how sunburnt she was going to be in the morning. He was too deeply involved in his map to hear her as he mumbled to himself tracing his fingers over the map leading them onward.

Elena blew a small sigh out of her lips and slowed her pace so she fell in line with Jaiden and Yousof, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose slightly. “Alright, Hawthorne has officially lost it” She muttered under her breath. “Weren’t the buses back that way? I’d really prefer not to spend the rest of this trip rotting in the desert.”

Others however were a little less vocal with their obvious concern. Augustine had been trailing behind the majority of his peers throughout the day, stumbling several times over rocks and occasionally his own feet. It was almost as if the young man needed a harness tied around his waist so he wouldn’t stray too far from everyone else. Granted, the pyramids fascinated him in his own little way. His parents would’ve spent days camping out here just to get the perfect picture. Auggie still couldn’t help but feel a tad bit underprepared for what this entire trip had to offer. His mother nearly fainted at the thought of her precious son in a foregin country.

They had been led past the Pyramid of Menkaure to the Queen’s Pyramids, a set of three Pyramids that were smaller in comparison to the others each built for a famous Egyptian Queen. Long gone were the signs placed conveniently for the tourists, it was beginning to look like mountains upon mountains of sand dunes awaiting them when the ground suddenly dipped down into a small ravine. Professor Hawthorne skidded to an abrupt stop at the sudden dip in the ground and his eyes lit up like a child on Christmas. ”Fascinating” Hawthorne said under his breath lowering his map as he looked at the ruins.

A gasp escaped Elena's lips as she stopped right behind Hawthorne peering down at the sight before them as she scrambled to grab the map that she had snagged from the tourist station from her backpack. No where did it list the presence of this tomb or a current excavation taking place. To anyone else, this place might not have existed.

At the bottom of the ravine set a massive entrance to some sort of temple that was half buried in the sand. The place looked like it was just a breeze away from toppling over. Threatening statues of pharaohs set in the front staring menacingly down at them, almost as if they were guarding whatever lie inside. The sight made Elena’s stomach twist with an odd mix of fear and curiosity. There was no way that something like this had sat here for this long without being discovered. Unless it had unearthed itself, just for them.

What a ridiculous thought.

Hawthorne turned back to the group his map splayed out in his hands before him a large grin on his face. ”This - This is incredible.” He stammered. ”Students! Today we have the opportunity of a lifetime… this could very well be the first time in thousands of years that a human has set foot in these ruins”. He didn’t really ask much of an opinion as he began carefully moving down the edge of the ravine beckoning for everyone to follow him.

Elena gave a cautious glance to her friends, “We have to go after him don’t we?” then back to Hawthorne. “We have to go after him.” She said more to herself as she began after him, sliding down the slope.

Every fiber of Auggie’s being wanted to speak up, protest what was most likely certain death. What managed to come out of him was something of a squeak-cough and his face flushed terribly. It wasn’t like his judgment stood much of a chance. So he scrambled after the others in fear of somehow being left behind.

Professor Hawthorne reached the base of the ravine just in front of Elena, placing his hands on his hips as he gazed at the towering Pharaoh statues to the dark cave of an entrance. “Professor none of us really think this is a good idea we-.” Her face paled slightly as he slipped off his bag and crouched down, digging through it furiously until he fished out a flashlight. He tapped it on his knee a few times before the faint light flickered on. “You, you can’t be serious.” Elena sputtered out a look of complete shock on her face. Hawthorne just returned her gaze with a small glint in his eye. He stood up brushing sand off of his pants, brandishing the flashlight in his hands. ”I know this might seem a bit insane to some of you but… I can’t let this opportunity pass. We have a real chance to make a discovery here, I mean think about it. Wouldn’t some of you like to have a piece of your name written into history? You all signed the waivers didn’t you…?” The briefest smile flashed across his features. “I’m not forcing any of you to follow me in, in fact, by all means stay out here. I’ll just have a brief look inside…” He trailed off as he gazed back at the door. “Anyone who would like to join me however, I won’t stop you either”.

Eli still wasn't totally sure how they'd managed to land themselves a place on the trip, given that they weren't even taking any history classes. But it felt like almost everyone else they knew was going on the trip. The thought of seeing all of the fun, dumb photos filtering in on social media while they were at home with their family had been something like hell. So they’d taken a chance at applying for it. They hadn’t really been expecting to get a place, and they certainly hadn’t been expecting their scholarship to cover it. They didn’t quite believe it until they were in the airport about to board the plane to Cairo.

And it had been one hell of an experience already. Eli was lucky enough that they’d been on a few trips abroad with their family when they were younger, but there had never been anything like this. The days were spent exploring, getting to see the sights and experience something entirely different, and their nights were spent talking, discussing what they’d seen, doing dumb shit, and usually passing out from exhaustion in someone else’s room instead of their own. They loved the group they were with. It felt like home away from home, and it made discovering new things even more exciting.

They’d dressed for the sun with shorts, t-shirts, and button downs, and plenty of SPF. They didn’t tan and they refused to have their trip ruined by sunburn. They also made a point of always carrying extra SPF in case anyone made the mistake of saying they hadn’t put any on. The warm weather and sunshine seemed to be suiting their mood and they found themselves incredibly relaxed.

So when Hawthorne said he wanted them to see one more thing, Eli was, surprisingly, not among those complaining. But after half an hour, when the air was starting to get colder and Hawthorne seemed to be just bringing them around in erratic directions, they were starting to regret not protesting more. And then they found themselves at the edge of a huge ravine… and Hawthorne wanted them to go down into it?

They would have been more than happy to wait up top, but everyone else seemed to just follow Hawthorne down regardless. So they followed, glad that years of gymnastics gave them a good sense of balance as the climb was a little treacherous. It was only as they got down to the entrance of the temple that they really hung back. It seemed like an exceptionally bad idea, and they couldn’t quite believe that Hawthorne was encouraging it. Eli was not intending on going in. It was going to be too small, not to mention whatever the hell was awaiting them within. It was only when it felt like everyone else was going in regardless that they reluctantly followed the rest in, the walls already feeling like they were starting to close in around them.

This trip had been more than a lot for Michael to take in. For one the young man had rarely traveled off the farm when he was younger, unless it was to take a trip into town for groceries or school. Although, Waco, Texas was not a sure place to teach someone about "openness". Coming to Lindenwood was something of a cultural shock to the Texan but a whole different country — as his father would say, it was definitely 'more than you can shake a stick at'. Regardless, the two days they had been there he more or less became a sponge whether it be for information or just the sights alone. This trip had been huge for him, something he was a little embarrassed to admit. Michael had never dreamed that he'd be able to travel, let alone afford it until he was well out of college.

Now behaving on this trip. That was a different story. A task that would've otherwise been easy for the Golden Boy, unless you mixed it with a little bit of Makoa Māhoe. "Dude, come on this one is for my mom" He said shoving his friend playfully out of the frame as he tried to take a picture in front of the pyramids. "She'll have me in the pigs pen all break if I don't get one good photo from this trip". His face flushed a little red at the embarrassment behind the statement although it was probably hard to tell in the sun. Mikey was a momma's boy through and through. Still, the goofball sophomore had worked his way into a soft spot in Michael's heart and the two had become thick as thieves.

While some others complained about the countless hours they had spent walking around, Michael had only just began to break a tiny sweat. He silently thanked the hours Coach Rainer had him running sprints until his legs felt like jello. His phone buzzed slightly in his pocket and he fished it out as they walked, a tiny mortified look on his face as his mother replied to his photo with some sappy message with several emojis that he was sure she had no idea what it meant. Mikey tried to reply with a quick 'love you' but smacked directly into Makoa's shoulders dropping his phone into the sand. "Sorry I—" He crouched down in the sand and began to apologize when his eyes locked on the ruins in front of them, his jaw slacking slightly. "Now that ain't somethin' you see everyday..." Michael said quietly to himself as he stood up shaking the sand from his phone.

The entire thing was impressive, but looked two breaths away from collapsing in on itself. It reminded him of the old barn him and his brothers used to explore when he was younger. Jacob had fallen through the rotting boards one afternoon and broke his leg, their mother made sure they never ventured in there again. He turned to make a wise-crack to Makoa only to see the madman sprint down the dune at full sprint, Malia following begrudgingly behind him. The whole sight elicited a deep chuckle from him. "Wait for me you ass!" He called after him carefully jogging down the slope, carefully avoiding the slip spots until he reached the base.

Hawthorne's suggestions were a little crazy, but he expected nothing less from the man. He gazed once again at the entrance, a weird sensation overcoming him, he didn't know how long he was staring until he blinked hard a few times shaking his head. Chris's words were more than enough to freak him out a little bit. That was one person he felt like he would never be able to truly understand. "I'm just sayin' I've seen the mummy enough times to know where this is going..." He said to no one in particular.

A small voice of frustration behind him made him turn his head to the side his eyes laying on none other than Colette who clearly wasn't as coordinated coming down the dune. Michael spotted her backpack a few feet behind her up the sand and quickly jogged over to it, shaking the sand from the bag before slinging it over his shoulder. Walking back to her from behind just as she was shaking the sand from her shorts. He placed a hand faintly on the small of her back, comfortingly, only for a brief second before stepping around to her front. "Y'alright?" Michael cocked his head to the side a small smile on his face. "You, uh, dropped this back there" He said cheekily, easing the backpack of his shoulder handing it to her.

Egypt was hot. Too damn hot. There was nothing she hated more than the heat. No amount of SPF would save her from the speckled burn she was already getting on her legs. Lia would rather spend a week in the arctic than the desert. But the one thing the arctic didn't have was history. No, here it was rich. With that fact alone, she was truly in awe. She had spent most of the day scribbling notes down in her journal as they trekked through the pyramids and keeping to herself, two things she was exceptionally good at. Lia just wished her endurance was a tad better, feeling winded was not pleasant.

Being here meant that she was suddenly surrounded by numerous people she disliked and deliberately tried to avoid during class. The thought alone was suffocating. So she had made a point to distance herself from the others, occasionally sliding back in line to make brief conversation with Eli when she felt like it or Hawthorne although he tended to understand her a bit less. At least this way she had no one to handle conversation with when she herself didn't want to. Lia was able to slink back into the shadows whenever she wanted, unobserved by the majority of the group able to exist and learn on her own — exactly how she liked it.

It was only a matter of time though before her carefully crafted plan was thrown of kilter. She did not however, expect it to come from stumbling upon untouched Egyptian ruins. That shocked her. Just the sight of it took her breath away and heightened that insatiable curiosity of hers. Aurelia always thought Hawthorne was a bit looney but for once she agreed with him. Truly an opportunity of a lifetime. To see her name inside the textbooks she mulled over for hours... the offer was enticing.

Descending the ravine with catlike grace she made it to the bottom and instantly began to sketch the outline of the ruins in front of her. While everyone was piddling about Lia strayed closer to the entrance than any of the others until it loomed in front of her like a tidal wave. Her lips parted slightly in shock as she gazed up at the Pharaoh poised above her. "Amazing" The word came out with a undeviating breath of air as she gently outstretched her hand grazing the base of the statue with her fingertips, the residue of aged stone leaving an ashy stain on her hand.

Aurelia finally took a few steps back, the faintest of smiles on her lips. Her gaze slid over to the entrance — a black void beckoning passerby. Some strange sort of aura seemed to be emanating from the entrance, that left a buzz in her bones. Chris's words caught her attention and she turned back to the group smiling in his direction. She had always found his unsettling knowledge rather charming in an odd way. Aurelia took a few more steps until she was back in the vicinity of the others although she was angled more towards Chris and Malia. "I don't think this is a tomb... I think it's a temple." She turned back to the entrance cocking her head to the side before pointing to the statue on the far right, "That is Ramses the second" Lia inclined her head slightly in Hawthorne's direction almost as if she was asking for reassurance. She wasn't surprised when he nodded — she knew she was right. "Tombs held bodies and treasures but these, these were built for worship. They were built as a means for the gods to reside on earth. The Egyptians believed that inside they could communicate with divine beings. Only priests and Pharaohs were allowed inside".

for Nancy, the flight to Egypt had been nightmarish. She'd spent the majority of it crying in the airplane restroom, running the tap to muffle the sound of her panic-induced sobs. Hyperawareness of her environment's inescapability gripped her from lift off until touch down, and even her dreams were riddled with plane-related anxieties. Following visions of crashes and hijackings and a slow sinking into a middle-of-nowhere ocean; she would wake up gasping, and then the gasping would fail to cease. Following almost every awakening, she'd have to sneak off once again to the airplane restroom. By the time they landed in Cairo, the routine had become clockwork, only for them to disembark, and return Nancy to a state of unsureness.

But at least she was on solid ground, now, and she could reassure herself that the worst part of the trip was behind her. Until the trip home, anyway. Nancy tried not to think about it, but it loomed in the distance, a storm cloud on the horizon, or a dark figure lingering at the edge of her periphery. Her inability to live in the moment was disappointing, but she had adapted to her wanton worrying at least a little, and pushed the presence further into the edge of her gaze. It was still there, that dread, but it looked slightly thinner now. Scrawnier. The days leading up to the flight home would feed it, but today, Nancy vowed to starve it best she could.

She was not athletic in the slightest, but the ache in her legs after hours of walking was oddly pleasant for Nancy. Usually 'different' frightened her, but the distance from her parents had provided a strange sort of ease, and, geography aside, she'd never felt further from them than she did right now. For all her physical tiredness, therE was a lightness to her steps, and the curious glimmer hadn't left her eyes since they first began their exploration on foot.

that is, until now, when she gazed down at the cavernous expanse before them, and her intrigue turned to incredulity.

"I can’t let this opportunity pass. We have a real chance to make a discovery here, I mean think about it. Wouldn’t some of you like to have a piece of your name written into history? You all signed the waivers didn’t you…?" A name written into history. Fame wasn't something Nancy had ever aspired towards, but nonetheless, Hawthorne's statement struck her. Her family appeared, uninvited, in her mind. Disappointment and resentment were ingrained into their faces, and they each held their doctorate.

"I’m not forcing any of you to follow me in, in fact, by all means stay out here. I’ll just have a brief look inside… Anyone who would like to join me however, I won’t stop you either” Nancy watched as students began to trickle in after him, following the professor into the darkness. The temple loomed, steadfast and foreboding, and Nancy stared at it, thinking of doctorates.

With a resolute sigh, she followed her classmates.