The Mummy

"THE MUMMY" - Clifton Bush Jnr.

The corridor was dark and dusty, with the flame of the

torch threatening to blow out at any minute. The air was hot and stuffy, and a slight breeze followed me down the tunnel. Soon I entered a slightly bigger room, looked around, and found another opening off to my right. I held my torch in front of me and headed in the direction of the new opening.

The torchlight flickered against the ancient walls, casting shadows and giving me pause to continue on my adventure. I kept looking down into the sand to make sure that I didn’t walk onto a cobra or other snake. So far so good, I thought. The corridor narrowed a little and I had to bend down to reach the exit.

I exited the corridor and came into a wondrous, huge room. The roof above was arched slightly and there were colorful hieroglyphics painted on the stones. From what I could gather by just glancing at them, I had entered the tomb of one of the Pharaoh’s advisors. Directly in front of me lay the sarcophagus of the advisor, long undisturbed by time or grave robbers.

I rubbed my hand on top of the sarcophagus and felt the years of accumulated dust and grit upon my hand. I wiped it off on my shirt and proceeded to try and find a way to open the coffin.

I had taken a small crowbar with me but wasn’t sure if it would be enough to pry open the coffin. Finding a small notch in between the cracks, I inserted the flat end of the bar and pulled down. To my amazement the cover moved slightly. A hiss of escaping air and dampish smell assailed my nostrils. After a few more minutes of prying and tugging the cover was open enough to where I could see inside the sarcophagus.

I reached down alongside the coffin to retrieve my torch, bent back up and shone the fire to light up the interior of the sarcophagus. Inside was a typical mummy, wrapped from hand to foot in bandages and covered in a thin layer of dust. The slight odor of mold assaulted my nose and I turned back quickly, catching my breath. My stomach heaved slightly and I walked back against the wall, a cold chill running up my spine.

I took a few deep breaths, and walked back to the sarcophagus. I had come this far, there was no turning back now. I shone the light back into the darkness and stared at the form lying below that used to be a living, breathing human being. In that moment I wondered just what I was doing here. I had always loved archaeology, especially the ancient Egyptian motif, but once I was here I began to have second thoughts. So I decided this night that I would break from the group and enter the tomb myself, to make sure that this is what I truly wanted to do. Seeing the 3000-plus year old mummy fortified my courage and I decided right then and there that this was my calling.

I walked around the sarcophagus towards the back wall, looking at the brightly painted pictures and marveling at the artwork. There were also several bas-relief carvings cut into the stone, giving the images a three dimensional look.

Boom, boom boom! I heard several loud noises above me, and instinctively looked up. It almost sounded like loud footsteps, but no one else knew that I was here. Then a cool breeze wafted down the corridor, enveloping me in a chilling grip. The flame on my torch almost went out, and I turned around and looked back at the sarcophagus.

It was the same as before, except there was a greenish mist rising out of the stone. My heart was pounding in my chest, and the air seemed to grow thick and heavy. As I watched, the mist grew into a thin tendril that disappeared into the back wall, leaving me speechless.

I figured that now was a good time to leave. I turned back towards the entrance corridor and started walking back the way I had come. A foul smell soon assailed my nostrils, and I stopped to gag, turning around to see if anything was following me. To my horror I spotted two red, blazing eyes in the darkness. My heart skipped a beat, and I continued on my way. The smell grew overpowering, and I had to stop to vomit. I looked behind me, and saw nothing. Wiping my mouth off, I spit once more in the sand and turned to continue my exit.

There in front of me stood a mummy, about five feet tall and with glowing red eyes. The smell of the creature was putrid, and my heart just leaped into my throat. I tried to scream when the creature grabbed my neck but soon all I saw was blackness…

BIO: Clifton lives in Michigan and has wanted to write stories all of his life. He is happily engaged to a wonderful woman and raising his 10 year old son. He enjoys writing, astronomy, NASCAR, football and the outdoors in general.