Tag: Short Story

Word Count: 7,406

The rich musty smell of the fertile earth surrounding me combined with the scent of blooming flowers in the air dominated my senses on this misty, early morning. A transparent fog-like haze filled the damp forest and coated the leaves in an early dew. The sun only began to rise moments ago, and the thick canopy of ancient hardwood trees blocked what little light that there was. 

I allowed perhaps fifteen to twenty minutes to pass so I could see and finish breaking down my small campsite. It allowed me the chance to watch the sky go from near midnight-blue, to bright orange, to light blue. I went ahead and packed everything I could last night, so it did not take me long, around thirty minutes, to get the rest of my things broken down and loaded onto my backpack. I ate a meager breakfast of nuts and fruit I picked two days prior, and almost the rest of the dried apricots I packed for the trip. 

I enjoyed observing the morning insects flittering this way and that like glitter in the sharp sunbeams penetrating the trees. The dew on the leaves of the trees sparkled like diamonds, as did the leaves of the few ground level plants caught in the striking rays. It was like something out of a fantasy novel, and I had to get out my camera to take a few photos of the beautiful scene before I continued on my journey for the day. 

With a lift and a twist of my shoulders, I slung my heavy pack around onto my back and strapped in my arms. It was specially designed to allow one to carry the pack with much less effort than most packs. I was glad I decided to go the extra mile and purchase this most expensive of the options. It really did function as well as the salesman said. 

The morning was beautiful. The heavy haze at sunrise began to clear, but the stillness filled the forest with an almost glowing, magical quality. Under the heavy cover of the massive trees that probably sprouted from the ground hundreds of years ago, the underbrush was scarce. With the mist and the trees, it almost gave me the feeling of being in a tunnel network deep in the earth. The few sunbeams penetrating the treetops illuminated the hazy air, and with the movement of the flying insects, it was an awe-inspiring scene. 

Early morning birds tweeted and sang their songs as they came out to feed on the worms, insects and other small creatures crawling about the forest floor. Larger birds came out a bit later to feed on the small rodents, and a few of the smaller birds. By the time the sun fully broke the horizon, animals of all sorts were scurrying about the forest floor and moving about the branches of the venerable trees. 

I so enjoyed being in the outdoors. I worked in an office all week, and sometimes on the weekends. I was really good at what I did, but I really did not like doing it. Being confined to a cubicle with no windows in sight made me feel trapped and isolated. I worked hard though. I earned bonuses. I earned compensatory time for working so much. I did not get overtime, but I did get the time back that I worked over. I saved up for this walking trip across the country for six years. 

I began my journey in Ashville, which was roughly at the eastern edge of the Smokey Mountains. Most of the time I walked, but sometimes I would accept rides from friendly drivers depending on the current terrain and weather conditions. I got to see much more on foot than I ever saw in a vehicle, so I only accepted rides when necessary. 

I was glad I took the route I did. I did not think I strayed too far from the highway, and I was near a large mountain stream where I could collect some water and then wash myself off a bit. 

It really was an awe-inspiring sight. I could not help but marvel over the trees. I was not sure what kind of trees they even were. They did not grow like any trees I knew. The average trunk was easily four and a half foot in diameter. The log sized branches of the trees stretched wide and grew a fairly low canopy. When I finished up at the stream, it was several hours after sunrise, but the large leaves filling the massive branches blocked all but a little light. 

Up ahead I could see a lot of large rocks in the turbulent mountain stream I felt sure I could easily cross. When I arrived to the location, I found it was going to be much easier than I thought to get past the flowing water. I knew I should not stray from the highway, but something kept telling me I had to get across the river. A feeling in my gut told me that was the right thing to do. 

The water at the location of the rocks was much lower and its banks much wider than downstream. It took me very little effort to get across the wide expanse. I did have to step in the water a few times, but it was five inches deep at its worst. By the time I made it across to the other side, my shoes and socks were wet, but I at least had the forethought to roll up my pants first. 

I removed my socks and shoes. After wringing out the water from my socks, I tied them onto the rails of my backpack. For my shoes, I tied together the laces and hung them from around my neck. I would have to carry them this way until they dried. Thankfully the lack of underbrush also meant a lack of thorns and such that would injure my bare feet. 

I walked for probably another hour before I reached the edge of this most unusual forest. A large hill covered in beautiful grass bordered this area of the forest. The creeping grass climbed over itself, interweaving and creating a comfortable cushion that felt good to my bare feet. My socks were dry by this point, but my shoes still had a way to go. Putting them on now would no doubt mean blistering my feet. There was no point in risking that when nature laid out before me this luxurious carpeted hill. 

The hill was quite steep; it was too steep to walk straight down, so I had to walk down the grassy hill diagonally. I was perhaps a third of the way down when I caught sight of what looked like a stone walkway hidden in the tall grass. As my steps brought me closer, I became certain that was indeed what I found. 

The pathway was constructed from black stones speckled with white and green spots. I was rather sure it was some form of jasper. They looked old, but they did not look worn out. I had no way of determining how old the walkway was, but I would guess that it was much-much older than me. If this pathway continued on to the other side of this hill, I may not have to walk with one leg reaching down the hill further than the other. That was a difficult way to walk and always a good way to fall. This walkway could give me even ground to walk on. 

The top surface of the stones was covered in small bumps, perhaps to give footfalls a better grip in times of rain and such. It was impossible to judge how old the walkway was. Since the stones were made of jasper, the surface bumps would not wear away easily at all. I had to wonder where the stones came from because I never heard of any such jasper quarries anywhere in this region. 

As I walked along the strange stone pathway, I noticed the grass grew slightly over the edge of each stone, but progressed no further than that. I would think on this grassy hill, the vegetation would climb over and completely engulf the stones by now. Under normal conditions around this part of the country, it should only take a year or two for the vegetation to thoroughly obscure the bumpy stones from sight. 

The jasper stone walkway led around the hill, then began to slope down toward a thick wall of evergreen saplings followed immediately by full grown trees. As I approached near enough, I could see a narrow gap between the trees through which the walking stones continued. Apparently, the trees could not, or would not grow over the precious steppingstones. The carpet of fallen needles did not even cover the stones. 

Although the trees provided something of a gap, many branches and limbs hung over the path making progress rather difficult. I had to remove my backpack and push it in front of me to help break the dry pine limbs. There simply was not enough clearing for me to continue carrying it on my back, at least not for now. 

I continued to follow the strange stone walkway until the initial brush began to thin. After ten minutes of scraping branches, sticky sap and itchy abrasions, I emerged into an expansive pine forest. I was able to don my backpack once again as pine trees are not very supportive of underbrush and the branches grow high. Even with the thick, years-old covering of the evergreen needles, the steppingstones all remained uncovered. I was intrigued before, but now I was really starting to wonder what was going on. What I noticed about nature leaving these stones unobscured could not be anything anyone would consider normal. 

The scent of the recently fallen pine needles was a bit soothing, and with the lack of underbrush I could see quite far in all directions. Nothing else seemed amiss. There was just this mystifying walkway that seemed to resist any attempt nature made to cover it. The stones continued to lead deeper into the pines, so I continued to follow them. 

The walk was really quite nice. With the sun a little higher in the sky, the air was beginning to warm. I walked for several hours through pine trees before I even began to break a sweat. When beads of sweat began to roll down my face, I decided to stop to have a snack and consume a canteen of water. I had one more canteen that was still full, so I really needed to find a stream or such where I could refill. I did not really care to use them, but I had chlorine tablets to sterilize the water. I would prefer to boil it, but that was not always a luxury I had traveling as I was. 

I would surely come upon a source of water soon. It was still early in the season and the melting snow produced fresh springs and small waterfalls all over the mountains. Fresh water should not be too hard to find, although I did notice this particular area seemed to be rather arid. It was my guess this was the side of the mountain that did not get much if any of the rain and snowfall. 

It was not too much longer before I heard flowing water nearby. The path began to lead back out of the pine forest, and again I had to remove my backpack. Ten more minutes of pushing my way through the flesh scraping evergreen branches and I was back out in the open. Across the opening was a mass of hardwood trees, and I knew from the sound that the source of the water was behind them. 

The pathway did not lead up to the stream, so I left the stone trail to go wash off my scrapes and refill my canteens. The water felt nice on my scratched-up skin. Eventually I decided to stop splashing myself with water, took off my pants, socks and shoes and got into the stream. Although the day was already warm, the water was freezing cold. It felt good for a short time, but my fingers and toes grew numb before they had time to become wrinkly. 

Climbing back out of the icy water, I looked around first to make sure I had no onlookers before removing my boxers to wring the water out of them. After allowing a few minutes to let my skin dry, I put back on my shirt, some shorts I retrieved from my backpack, and socks and shoes before heading back up to that bizarre stone pathway. I still had plenty of dehydrated fruit and meat jerky, so I was still good on food for at minimum a few days. I had nowhere to be any time soon, and my curiosity with the strange walkway would not let me stop now. 

I did not think it was an official park walking path simply due to the unusual nature of the stone. I walked it for quite some time now and had yet to see any signs. There were always signs on official park trails letting people know where they were, how far they walked and what other trails or areas were nearby. Sometimes signs would be posted giving historic facts about the area. No such thing appeared to exist on this trail, at least not that I saw yet. 

My route continued up a gradual hill covered in bright green grass and various colorful wildflowers. Once it peaked the hill, I saw it quickly dropped and curved its way down the steep slope. I was apprehensive to say the least. Since I was here, I figured I should go a little further ahead and try to get a look at where it continued to lead. 

I could see the stones become stairs and head down into the valley below. It actually looked like it might be rather easy to descend the staircase, so I decided to continue on with my adventure. As the stones led me downward, I found a flat strip cut into the side of the mountain. The stairs were close to a steep drop, but it was not so close that it bothered me. Eventually I made it around the rock face and on to some flatter ground. I was almost all the way down in the valley at this point. 

Small springs fed the beginning of a river in the valley below me. The water trickled loudly on the limestone rock as it merged together into a single, larger body of water. I still had two full canteens, so I did not leave the path. I was sure at some point the two would intersect. I could do my refilling there if necessary. 

The view was absolutely breathtaking. The valley rested between two steep stone walls. The sun was shining straight down, indicating it was around noon, illuminated the vegetation which enhanced the varieties of green growing around the water’s edge. Large ferns and many broad-leafed plants clung to the rock faces, stones and much of the ground surface. The sparkling clear stream was just rough enough to create small waves as the springs came together. The sun glistening off the rough surface blinded me if I looked at it for too long. 

Marveling at my surroundings, I continued to follow the trail of bumpy jasper stones. The trail led me further upstream, but the two valley walls came together not too far up ahead. Unless it made a U-turn, I feared my journey down the strange path may be about to come to an end. I didn’t see where else it could possibly go. 

I felt almost claustrophobic as the two mountain walls began to veer closer and closer together. I felt like I was walking straight on into a stone wedge. When I thought I was going to be able to go no further, I saw a crevasse between the two rock faces where the path continued on. It was not a very large space, but it was enough space for me to walk upright so long as I carried my backpack in front of me. 

I was not sure how far this fissure in the stone went, as it seemed to have a winding path, but I could barely see there was indeed light at the other end. I wondered where I would end up, and kind of worried about getting lost. I always had the option of following the same walking path back out and to the highway. With that feeling of security in mind, I worked my way through the curving crevasse. Several times I encountered sections large enough for me to not only stand fully erect, but some of these sections were large enough to comfortably accommodate multiple people. 

In total it took me about two hours to work my way through the fissure. Most of the time I had to crouch low, and there were even a few times I had to crawl on my knees and push my backpack in front of me. Eventually I made it to the other side though, and back out into the open. At least I thought I was back out in the open. 

I saw plants, I saw what I was sure was sunlight, but I could not be seeing what I thought I saw. It was impossible. I must have hit my head and was lying unconscious in that wedge of space between the giant rock faces. Either that or I hit my head and was hallucinating. 

This end of the tunnel opened up into a much larger, unbelievably larger valley. The mountains opened at a one-hundred-degree angle. Giant trees were everywhere, and they were nothing like anything I ever saw. Some of them rather resembled palm trees, but some of the others were completely unrecognizable. I even saw what looked like morel mushrooms, but these mushrooms were several feet tall. 

The most unbelievable thing of all is what I saw feeding on some of the lower branches of the trees. They were dinosaurs of some sort. I never learned much about them to say if they were one type or another, but I was absolutely certain what I saw feeding on the tall trees were undoubtedly dinosaurs. 

I was not sure if I was unconscious, if I was hallucinating, or if I discovered some lost world. It felt real. It felt as real as the rest of my hike through the mountains. This was not in the mountains though. Where I now stood was at the edge. I know I did not travel that far. 

Turning around I saw a large, black stone archway standing over the opening of the rock fissure I followed to get here. I could not put my finger on it, but there was something about that archway that was extremely unnatural. There seemed to be a faint, glowing mist inside of the arch as if it were somehow contained within the inside of the structure. 

Although the sun only rose five or so hours ago, it was already starting to set. I patted around my head gently to see if I had any pain where I may have hit my head. Everything felt normal, and this all felt too real to be a dream. 

Did I somehow step back in time? How was that possible? Was it even possible? 

I should have panicked, but I did not. I definitely felt a strong sense of anxiety, but not like I would expect I should. I was just in the Smokey Mountains, and now I was in a giant valley filled with plants and animals that went extinct millions of years ago. I should be scared, but I think my sense of adventure and exploration was clouding my better judgement. 

The stones of the walkway that led me here continued on into the pre-historic forest. These stones were worn smooth and did not have the surface texture of those on the other side of the crevasse. It made no sense to me, but the jasper stones on this side appeared to be much older than those on the side I followed thus far.

The sunset was probably the most spectacular sunset I ever saw. I lived a lot of my life in the mid-west, and they have some awe-inspiring sunsets there. This though, this sunset was a glorious testament to the beauty of nature. As captivating as it was, I had to take my attention away from the sun setting behind the incredible forest because that meant it would be dark very soon. 

I did not want to try to make my way back through the crevasse in the dark, and I was most assuredly not going to venture into this wild forest at night. I decided my best option would be to sleep just inside of the fissure. At least nothing large could get to me in there. I propped my backpack up between me and the opening. It would not offer any real protection, but at least it would make noise if something knocked it over. 

I got very little sleep during the night. The sounds of the animals and what I thought might be insects were so very alien to me. I hiked and camped in many places, and normally the nocturnal sounds of nature helped soothe me to sleep. Not last night. Last night I listened to things that sounded terrifying, things that sounded large, and things that sounded like no other creature I ever heard before. 

I slowly lowered my backpack to see if anything was on the other side, and then opened up a pouch containing some breakfast bars and beef jerky. I made sure I did not eat too much even though I was still hungry. After I had some water from my canteen, the dry food I consumed would swell and give me a feeling of satisfaction. I wanted to down the whole canteen, but I had to see what sources of water I might have first. 

Suddenly I noticed something. I realized there was no going back, not back the way I came. The steppingstones inside the fissure were old and smoothly worn. When I came back through the archway, I did not return to my time. Now the panic began to take me in full. Wherever, whenever this was, I was stuck here unless I somehow found another way back. 

I did my best to try to calm myself. Being hysterical right now was the last thing I needed to do. This was a serious situation here, and I could not allow myself to lose my head. I had no idea as to what I was going to do. I could try going back through the fissure, but I really did not think it would take me home. With the steppingstones on the inside matching the ones on the outside, I knew passing back through that misty archway did not send me back to where I was supposed to be. 

How much time passed I could not say. Time seemed to stand still, yet it felt like I sat there for hours. When I finally exited the cave, I found the sun about twenty degrees above the horizon. As I gazed around the scene in the bright morning light, I did not see what I expected to see. The incredibly large, long necked dinosaurs had a thick, bald hide, but many of the smaller animals had almost hairlike feathers. I heard some say dinosaurs evolved into birds, and I heard others say they evolved into reptiles. From what I saw before me, I think they were both right. 

I spent some time taking in the splendor before me. I did not feel like I was on the same planet anymore. The plants, the animals, everything was different. Most of these things went extinct tens or even hundreds of millions of years before I was even born. 

I followed the jasper pathway this far, so I figured I would continue to follow it. Hopefully it led to a way back. Regardless of where it led me, it was not like I had any reason to choose any other direction. I had no idea where I was and even less of an idea of where I was going. 

Someone had to lay these stones out as well as cut and polish them. If I had any hope of finding civilization here, it was because I continued to follow the path. Not that it would do me much good, but I could always follow the path back to the opening in the rock. If I strayed off into the jungle, I would likely get lost or worse, be eaten. 

Suddenly it occurred to me, I did not know any of this vegetation. I had no idea what I could and could not eat. I was going to have to be careful and ration my food conservatively until I could determine what here, if anything, was edible. There were no mammals for me to see what they ate. All I saw were what looked like birds, reptiles and giant insects. 

Small creatures scurried nearby, but the larger animals appeared to keep their distance from the pathway. I wondered if they knew something about it that I did not. Animals from the present were able to sense things humans could not, so it only stood to reason the same would be true with these animals from the past. Still, I had nowhere else to go. This pathway was the only thing helping to hold me in reality at the time. 

The air was much hotter and more humid than what I was accustomed to, and I was sweating quite profusely. I walked for less than an hour before I had to stop and take a few sips from my canteen. It was difficult not to down the whole thing, but I had to conserve my water until I could find more. Surely as humid as it was, it should not take me long to find a river or stream from which to resupply. 

The foliage was absolutely amazing. I never saw such plants in my life. Some of the most unusual flowers grew from large bulbs protruding from the ground. The stems were thick and bright green. The flower itself appeared much like a cup hanging from one edge of the rim. The scent was quite wonderful, so I stepped closer to have a better look. It seemed there was a fluid inside, perhaps a nectar of some sort. I leaned in closer and tapped the bottom of the reservoir to see if the fluid inside moved. 

Around the sides of the cup were what looked like fine, silky white hairs. The instant I tapped the cup for the second time, the hairs all stood up straight then curled over the mouth of the flower. I realized they were not hairs, but instead were more like the thorns of many ornamental cacti. At this point I could only assume the fluid inside was a digestive liquid. The sweet scent lured in prey, the super-fine spines trapped the prey inside, and the digestive juices did the rest. 

I carefully backed up to the walking path as I glanced around me cautiously. This flower looked like it was meant to feed on small, rodent sized animals. If the flowers here were looking for a warm meal, I shuddered to think of what other predators lurked all around me. So long as I stayed on the path, not even blood sucking mosquitos came near me. None ever bothered me until stepping off the path, and they quickly left me as soon as I returned. 

I felt a sense of comfort believing the animals would leave me alone if I stayed on the trail, but I had a sense of dread should I need to leave the trail to obtain more water. Who knew what kind of extinct diseases mosquitos might spread to me, or what diseases not yet existent I could spread to the animals here. That was a problem I had not yet considered. 

Continuing on, I tried to keep an eye on where the sun was in the sky at all times. The path did not take a straight course, and I was doing my best to keep up with what direction I was going. The gigantic trees and thick canopies did not make this a very simple task. I spent more time trying to orient myself than I would rather have spent. 

I walked well past midday before I finally came to a source of water. The stone walkway crossed over a shallow river. Even though the stones were about half an inch lower than the surface of the water, somehow the water would not touch the surface of the blocks. It made absolutely no sense to me how this could happen. Even if it was coated with some water repellent material, the water should still hit and then roll off the stones. 

I finished drinking what water I had left and refilled my canteens. I had no idea what kind of bacteria or small creatures could be living in this water, so I put a tablet and a half of the chlorine in each to be safe. I wanted to boil the water, but I did not want to waste time. I hoped I could reach somewhere safe before darkness came. 

Crossing the river, I continued on my way. I saw such an amazing variety of plants and animals no human ever saw alive. I probably should be more terrified than I was, but the pathway seemed to offer me protection from any predators that might be about. 

The sun was getting rather low when I saw it. Another gigantic black archway standing in the middle of nowhere. The space inside the arch was filled with the same illuminated blue mist. This could very well be my way home, but then it could send me somewhere ever worse than where I was now. The stone walkway proceeded through the arch, so my choices appeared to either be to go forward or turn back. I already knew the first arch would not send me home, so I decided to take my chances and proceed forward. 

My heart raced as I stood in front of that black archway. On the other side, I saw what I should. I saw the same thing I would were the archway not there. I could not see where this thing would lead me. There was only one way I was going to find out. I took a deep breath and stepped through the blue mist. This time I found myself not out in the wilderness, but in some sort of temple-like structure. 

Spectacular blue agate columns spaced evenly apart in a grid over what looked to be a 100,000 square foot area held up a roof that appeared to be made of a porous volcanic rock. The floor was black marble and polished to a mirror-like shine. In the center of the temple was what looked like some sort of altar. I removed my backpack and leaned it against one of the blue agate pillars and went to have a look. 

There appeared to be multiple statues surrounding the alter in the center of the giant room, but I was unable to make out any of the intricate details from my current position. Sure my backpack would be safe where I placed it, I slowly began to walk to the center of the chamber. At least I think it was the center. This place was so large it was rather difficult to determine how far it went in each direction. I could see light shining in at the end of each row of columns, so I assumed they were exits for this building. 

Glancing around trying to find some clue as to where I was, I did not see anyone else there other than myself. The temple was clean and clear of dust, but I had the feeling the building was very ancient. I don’t know what built it, but judging by the height of the ceiling, I would guess they were quite large. 

The closer I got to the statues, the better I could see them. The better I could see them, the less I believed what I saw. The first statue was approximately nine feet in height. The being portrayed had a tall, slender cylindrical head that very much reminded me of the Moi of Easter Island. The details were incredible, and I felt like the statue would come to life at any moment. 

The second being portrayed was even taller than the first, and even thinner. It was hard for me to believe something that tall and slender could remain erect in the Earth’s gravity. The third appeared to portray a being that likely evolved from a dinosaur. It stood on two feet and had arms very similar to a human. Surprisingly this statue was shorter than the other two, but it was still taller than me. The fourth statue was probably the most surprising. It did not look like anything I ever saw or imagined in my life. 

This statue appeared to be made from an extremely polished column of black stone such as jet or onyx, making it look like a standing pillar of black ink. At the top of what could only be assumed was its head, it had two sets of very thin horns between which stretched a membrane resembling the wings of a bat. Around the torso, for lack of a better word, was a ring of transparent hairs. The glistening fibers spanned about eight inches along the thing’s body. 

This place was absolutely astounding, and I could not fathom what civilization could have built it. I turned my attention to the altar in front of the unusual statues. It was made of some sort of banded stone, perhaps agate, and stood two feet taller than me. The stone held in its intricate carvings a disc six feet in diameter which appeared to be made from solid gold. 

I stepped toward the altar and began to see something inscribed on the shining disc. I had to approach it very closely if I wanted to see what was carved into the massive wheel of metal. I should have been afraid. I knew I should be in an absolute panic over this whole ordeal, but for some reason I was not. I felt more of the zeal of excitement than I did a sense of panic or anxiety. 

Once I approached the altar closely enough to see what was inscribed on it, I was astounded by what I found. Starting in the very center of the large gold disc was a line of words or characters of some sort which spiraled in a tight coil until it reached the outer edge of the incredible artifact. That was not the most amazing part. The line of characters on the disc continued to grow, writing itself right there before my very eyes. 

Suddenly, I heard a voice coming from the other side of the large agate and gold structure. The voice was not speaking in English, and I could clearly hear that. Regardless, I heard the words in my head just as clearly as if I were speaking to someone in the office where I spent most of my time. 

“Welcome,” the voice said. “I’ve waited a long time for you to arrive.” 

I began to move around the structure when a creature emerged that was like nothing I ever saw before. It was humanoid for sure, but it was not human. The being stood erect, but its arms were so long its fingers almost touched the ground. I believed it to be one of the hominin primate species that inhabited the earth long before modern humans. 

The parts of its body not covered by its toga-like clothing were covered in long but thinning fur. It looked like it was still somewhere in the evolutionary chain between the first primates and humans. Its head was large, disproportionately large for the rest of its body, and its jaw was wide and elongated. 

The being’s appearance should have frightened me, shocked me or something, but I felt no different as if I ran into another human in an alleyway. I was surprised, but for whatever reason I felt no fear or anxiety by the almost alien appearance of the creature standing in front of me. The being standing before me stepped forward and raised his palm in what I assumed to be a greeting. I reciprocated the gesture before trying to find out what in the world was going on here. 

“Who are you?” I asked with a mild air of confusion. “What is this place?” 

“This is always,” the primate replied. “I am the keeper.” 

I waited for probably a full minute before I broke the silence by asking, “Is it possible that you could elaborate on that a little. I don’t know where I am or what is going on.” 

The, for the lack of a better word, man apologized to me as he was not used to having anyone to speak with. He told me his name was Nurbruth, and he found this place the same way I did. Long ago he followed a strange stone walkway as it led him through several ancient black archways until he ultimately ended up here. 

He raised one of his gigantic arms toward the statue that looked to me like a fluid column of ink and said, “When I arrived, Voom was the keeper.” 

“What do you mean when you say keeper?” I inquired from a desire to learn rather than a sense of curiosity. 

The being before me turned to its left and began to walk between one row of columns. I could not say how I knew he wanted me to join him as he made no motions for me to do so, but I caught up to the large primate to walk along beside him. He stopped when we reached the second of the large blue pillars and motioned for me to take a closer look. I was not sure what I was looking for until I noticed thin lines carved all the way around the pillar. The writing was the same as that on the giant golden disc in the center of this massive complex. 

I turned to look back at my host just in time to see him turn and resume his walk between the columns. Rejoining him, we walked in silence for at least fifteen minutes and the light coming in from the end of the stone pillars seemed to get no closer. When we stopped, Nurbruth pointed down the row of columns to our left and to our right. In both directions, the lights at the end of the rows seemed no different than the one which we currently walked. 

I realized what he was trying to get me to understand. There appeared to be virtually an endless number of columns in every direction, and every single one of them was covered in the tiny inscriptions. Given the situation, I felt as though I should feel a bit more impatient since my host seemed to be fairly reluctant to tell me what I wanted to know, but I was confident he would get to it eventually. 

Following Nurbruth as he turned to the left and led me down another row of columns, I could not say for certain how long we walked, but the light shining in at the end of the temple or whatever this place was seemed to get no closer than our original path. It was as if the place somehow grew larger the longer we walked. No matter what direction I looked, we always appeared to be in the very center of the place. 

To my relief Nurbruth finally began to speak once again. 

“This place was here since the birth of this world,” he explained to me. “Those who created the Marastu, the first sentient species on Earth as it is now called.” 

“Marastu?” I said quizzically. 

“The first figure you viewed watching over recorder was from the very first species with physical form to inhabit this planet. Their creators created this place,” he told me slowly. 

My host continued to speak in its native language, but I heard his words in my head in English. I always lived under the assumption humans were the first intelligent species to inhabit the planet, and here I was learning we were at minimum the sixth. 

“Since that time, this place kept a record of everything that happened,” he said to my absolute astonishment. 

That explained the immense size of this place. It was difficult to fathom anything containing the entire history of the world, but I did not know how much information each one of these massive blue columns held. It boggled the mind to think of what lost knowledge this place might contain. I wished I could study here before I had to leave and go back to my world. 

For hours, perhaps even days Nurbruth continued to explain this place to me. The first keeper maintained this place for nearly a billion years before the next keeper came along. He was not native to this planet, but his species did inhabit this planet for close to a million years. The third arose from a species of one of many intelligent races of dinosaurs that evolved after trees began developing lignin. 

The fourth was the most interesting and peculiar of them all. The being represented by the tall inky column with the long slender tentacles did not evolve on the surface of the planet, and thus were not genetically related to any surface species at all. Instead, this being that Nurbruth referred to as Voom evolved in the depths of the earth in massive pockets of superheated crude oil miles under the surface. 

My host continued to describe his role since he became the keeper over thirty million years ago. It made me dizzy to try to fathom living for thirty million years, much less living all those years inside of this endless temple dedicated to the entire history of the planet. I paid more attention to the Nurbruth’s words said to me than I did all of the turns we took along our walk. Before I knew it, we were back at the disc that I once believed be the center of this place. 

One thing he did not tell me was who specifically it was who created this record of the planet’s history. He directed my attention to the lower edge of the shining golden disc. I did not notice the carvings depicting thirteen very different beings. This being told me the history of those beings. 

When the earth was still young and nothing more than a massive molten mass orbiting an infant star. The intense radiation emitted by the fledgling world as well as the cosmic radiation that bombarded it through its thin atmosphere intermingled to give birth to these powerful beings. They existed for the eons as the planet’s crust began to cool, and being a telepathic species, these entities were not even aware there were individuals within the whole. 

It was not until a smaller planet collided with the young earth, a spectacular display giving birth to the moon, did these beings realize separate minds existed among them. 

I wanted him to tell me more, but he became quiet as another pedestal rose from the floor in line with the bases of the four statues facing the disc. Nurbruth climbed atop the base, and right before my eyes his body began to turn to stone matching the base. 

“You will learn the rest as you read,” he said to me. 

“Wait, you have to tell me how to get back home,” I begged in sudden desperation. 

Nurbruth looked me in the eyes, and with his last breath he said, “You are the keeper now. You are home.” 

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