Egyptian Curse

My third installment of my series was the most thought out, for sure. It included a backstory of Egyptians (though my sense of history was sorely lacking as a preteen) and a pirate. It seems that the backstory is a prequel to the first installment. Looking back, that is an incredible insight and ability to continue or flesh out a story, even at a young age. I was really happy to include my sister into the mix of characters as well. This story, close to 20 years later, was submitted to a local theater’s writer submission as a way to instill confidence in my ability to write characters.

I would say that the flow of the story is an improvement from the other installments. And really proud that I finished a trilogy, though a bit small, of stories. Hope you enjoy reading and don’t hesitate to comment your thoughts.

In 1787, when the Egyptians were known for their spectacular pyramids and gold crowns, Jack Mormon went into Egypt because he heard many stories of Egypt, and he wanted to know if they were true. Here is his story:

Jack went into Egypt and only saw a river of water that was coming closer and closer to the city every minute. He talked to a few of the people and they said that the gods are angry because of the fact that outsiders got Tiramisu’s jewel of mystery. Jack didn’t know about this Tiramisu but will find out very shortly.

Clouds started to gather as the water became rougher by the minute. The gods were starting to become very angry because of the red jewel. All of the Egyptians knew that the red jewel was a symbol of peace with all of the people of earth and the gods of the heavens. Jack didn’t want the earth to become the gods play area of destruction so he decided to take back the red jewel from the hands of the Romans. The Romans were camping out a mile from Egypt because their land is a long way from Egypt. Jack started to walk the mile, but he never ever expected what was going to happen next.

As Jack was walking in the desert, he thought he saw a snake, and not just a small snake, but a giant snake. He was seeing correct because a few moments later, the giant snake was right near him. He ran as fast as he could, looking back to see if it was still chasing him. He could see the camp that the Romans made just ahead, so he kept on running. When he arrived, he grabbed the jewel and kept on running, but a little slower at this point. He turned back and saw the snake chomping down on the Romans. When he saw this, he turned back to go to Egypt.

When he got back to Egypt, the priests had a ceremony to put back the red jewel to its rightful place in the pyramid. He decided he shouldn’t stay so he went across the ocean to America.

On a Wednesday afternoon, Mrs. Canon was handing out papers to the class.

“Now, class,” said Mrs. Canon, “we are going to go to Egypt for our class trip,”

The class was hysterical because they were going on a class trip. I mean, would you want to stay in the classroom instead of going to another country.

“Class, settle down,” she said, “If you want to go on the trip, you have to have your parents sign this permission form,”

“Great! We can get out of school!” said Michelle to her friends at lunch period.

“Yeah,” said Heather, “and we can go shopping in another country, too!”

“You forgot the pyramids of past kings and queens,” added Shannon.

“Why? Is there shopping malls in the pyramids?” said Heather.

“No,” said Shannon, “with pyramids, you can see into the past because they hold all the items that they had during the king or queen’s lifetime.”

“Don’t forget the mummies,” said Jennifer, as Colleen and her were walking toward Michelle's table.

“Oh no,” said Shannon, “It’s your annoying sister!”

“She is not annoying!” said Colleen, “She’s my cousin and my friend, so stop insulting her!”

“Are you the brat’s protector?” said Heather.

“Yes,” said Colleen, “Maybe I am,”

By this point, Colleen and Michelle's friends were mere enemies. Nothing would stop from making fun of each other and calling each other names.

“Girls,” screamed Mrs. Canon, “Stop it!”

“Nothing happened, Mrs. Canon,” said Shannon, “We were just playing, yeah that’s it, and we were playing, um…”

“Jail break!” added Jennifer, “We were all playing jail break,”

“All right, then,” said Mrs. Canon, “I’ll let you go, just as long you girls play nicely.”

Mrs. Canon left, and all of them went back to talking. The bell rang a few minutes after that, and all the kids went home. The first thing Michelle told her mom was that the trip their class is having is a plane ride to Egypt.

“Can I go mom?” Michelle said.

“Okay,” Lisa said, “I’ll sign the permission form for you to go,”

“Thanks, mom!” said Michelle.

A few hours went by very quickly, and then Michelle went into the clubhouse to say goodbye to Jack.

“See yeah, Jack,” said Michelle, “I’ll miss you, and don’t hurt anybody while I’m gone, okay?”

“Okay,” replied Jack, “Where are you going?”

“To Egypt,” said Michelle.

“Egypt!” screamed Jack, “I heard that place is cursed by objects that no one has seen! Are you really going there?”

“Yes,” said Michelle, “But don’t worry about me, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll try to, but I will hope that you don’t get trapped inside those pyramids!”

Michelle left the clubhouse and went to bed. The next day, Michelle was very excited about going to Egypt. The morning was filled with sadness, jealously, and happiness, all at the same time.

“See yeah Michelle,” said Lisa, as Michelle was boarding the bus, “Don’t forget to use sunscreen when you’re outside. Oh, and don’t get into too much trouble because I might have to come and take you home! Oh, and one more thing, you’re only allowed to spend twenty dollars at gift shops! Okay?”

“Okay, and don’t worry so much, mom,” said Michelle, “I’ll be fine!”

When Michelle got on the bus, they all went to the airport and boarded the plane going to Egypt.

The ride took about three hours, which was exhausting because the plane only served water and no food.

“Excuse me,” said Michelle, when the waitress came walking by, “Do you serve any kind of food on this plane?”

“Well, we have peanuts. Do you want that?”

“No,” Michelle said, “I hate peanuts!”

“Michelle!” said Mrs. Canon, “Be a lot nicer to people while we’re on this trip, okay?”

“Okay,” replied Michelle.

When the plane landed, all of the kids started to board off the plane. After they got off, they went to the drop-off to get their luggage.

“Does everybody have their bag?” said Mrs. Canon.

“Yes, Mrs. Canon!” screamed the class.

The whole class, again, boarded a bus that took them to the rides area.

“Okay,” said Mrs. Canon, “First, we’re all going to the rides, then to the games, and then last, we’re going to the shopping area. Do you understand what we’re going to do?”

“Yes, Mrs. Canon!” said the class, again.

The rides were okay if you liked scary, kill all who enter kind of rides. Most of the rides were lame, but at least the teacher was enjoying herself.

“These rides are lame!” said Heather.

“I know what we can do!” said Shannon.

“What?” said Michelle and Heather.

“We can go into a real live pyramid in the desert not too far from here,”

“What if we get caught?” said Michelle.

“We won’t!”

So, Michelle, Heather, and Shannon went walking past the city streets into the desert. They were looking hotter and hotter (meaning their skin in the sun) every move they made.

“Are we there yet?” said Heather, “My feet are starting to burn!”

“We’re almost there,” replied Shannon, “About two-tenths of a mile to the pyramid of Tiramisu.”

“Who is Tiramisu?” asked Michelle.

“Tiramisu was an ancient ruler of this land who despised all others.” explained Shannon, “He never liked a single person who comforted him. One day, when he was in the desert, he spotted a huge snake. Tiramisu was caught by surprise because he didn’t have a sword to defend himself. The giant snake ate him up like a small piece of chicken.”

“Is he a ghost now?” asked Michelle.

“Yes, of course. He got killed when he died, so now he’s trapped inside his pyramid. If anybody enters his grave, he might send the snake at you!” said Shannon.

“I think I heard this story before!” said Michelle.

“Yeah,” said Shannon, “It seems to be just like the story about ‘Jack the Loner’ and this story is also true,” 

All of the girls were scared about going into the pyramid when they got near it.

“Let’s go in!” said Michelle.

“Are you sure, Michelle?” said Heather, “What if Tiramisu sends the giant snake at us?”

“He won’t,” said Shannon, “I made up the story to scare all of you! Ha!”

“Well, let’s just go in already!” said Heather, impatiently.

All of them went into the pyramid using the crank to open the door. All they could see, from where they were standing, was dusty walls and four passageways.

“Which way should we go?” said Michelle.

“I think we should all split up and go down separate passageways, so we could save some time,” replied Shannon.

Michelle took the middle tunnel, Shannon went into the far left tunnel, and Heather walked into the far right tunnel.

Michelle started into the tunnel and saw only solid wall with Egyptian writing on them. Shannon and Heather didn’t see any change in the tunnel either.

‘I wonder if Heather or Shannon found anything’ Michelle thought.

After about five minutes of walking, all of them were getting tired. Michelle, on the other hand, found a room non-other than -- King Tiramisu’s grave?

‘I thought Shannon was lying’ thought Michelle.

She was so amazed by the color of the tomb. There were jewels of every color imaginable, gold objects that today would be worth ten thousand dollars, and skeletons of dead snakes gone by. She thought about taking one of the jewels back home with her as a -- souvenir.

‘I wonder if Shannon or Heather found this room too’ thought Michelle, again.

Michelle ran back into the end of the tunnel. She saw Heather and Shannon waiting there.

“Did you find anything?” asked Heather.

“I did!” answered Michelle.

“What did you find?” said Shannon.

“I found the tomb of Tiramisu, and I took a red jewel for a souvenir,” replied Michelle.

“Get out!” said Heather, “I thought Shannon was lying! Shannon, did you lie?”

“Yes and no,” replied Shannon.

“What do you mean?” said Michelle.

“Well,” said Shannon, “King Tiramisu was real, but he never got eaten by a giant snake. That’s impossible!”

Just as she said this, a snake started to slither down the middle tunnel, where Michelle came out of.

“Run!” screamed Heather, when she saw a giant snake slithering down the tunnel.

“I thought you were lying, Shannon!” said Michelle.

“I thought I was,” replied Shannon, “I guess it really happened! That’s so weird!”

All of the girls were running as fast as they can, looking back to see if the snake was still chasing them. It only took four minutes to get back to town, since they were running all the way. The snake had stopped chasing them about a mile away from the pyramid.

When Michelle, Heather, and Shannon got back, Mrs. Canon was extremely mad.

“Where did you go, girls?” asked Mrs. Canon.

“Into the desert to -- see how the ancient Egyptians felt like,” replied Michelle.

“Well, don’t do that again because I had no idea where you girls were! I thought somebody killed you three! Never leave our group again, do you hear me?” said Mrs. Canon.

“Yes, Mrs. Canon!” replied Michelle, Shannon, and Heather.

The whole class went back to the plane a few minutes later because Mrs. Canon didn’t want any more shenanigans running off again.

“Well, that was fun trip!” said Shannon, sarcastically.

“Stop being sarcastic, Miss Shannon. You’re about this close for me to tell your parents about what you three girls did!” said Mrs. Canon.

The plane ride took long, but this plane served water and food. The whole class ordered plenty of food but barely any water.

When the plane landed, everyone got their own luggage from the drop-off, boarded the bus, and headed home to their moms and dads who were surprised to see them home so early.

When Michelle got home, she hid the red jewel in her luggage bag.

“Michelle?” questioned Lisa, “Why are you home so early?”

“Don’t you miss me?” said Michelle.

“Of course I missed you, but why are you home so early?” replied Lisa.

“Well, Mrs. Canon, -- broke her leg on one of the rides. She couldn’t stand another day with her broken leg, so she made us all go back home early.” said Michelle.

“Okay,” said Lisa, “I hope she’s alright,”

“Oh, she is,” said Michelle, “All she needs is rest.”

Michelle went into the backyard to greet Jack and Jennifer. When she got there, she noticed that Jennifer was nowhere to be seen.

“Jack,” said Michelle, “Where’s Jennifer?”

“She said she was going to Colleen’s house to swim in a -- pool. What’s a pool anyway?” replied Jack.

“A pool is a big hole with water in it, and people swim in it, too” answered Michelle.

“Hello?” said Michelle, waiting if Jack will wonder why she’s home so early.

“What?” replied Jack.

“Isn’t there something you want to say to me?”

“Oh, did you have a wonderful trip?” said Jack.

“Yeah, and I brought home a red jewel from King Tiramisu’s tomb. Do you want to see it?” said Michelle.

“Yeah, I hope this isn’t the object of destruction I’ve heard about!” said Jack. Jack was very worried it was because the last time he saw it, a city got destroyed.

“Is it?” questioned Michelle.

“Well,” said Jack, “you have to show me the jewel first,”

“Oh, sorry,” replied Michelle.

She took it out, and Jack immediately knew it was the red jewel that the Romans took.

“Why did you take that!?” screamed Jack, “Now the world is going to be destroyed if we don’t bring it back!”

“Why?” questioned Michelle.

“Because of the gods of the skies and ground,” said Jack, “That red jewel is a symbol of peace between the gods and all the people of earth!”

“No wonder the skies looked cloudy and dark as we left!” said Michelle, “How are we going to back to Egypt in time?!”

“Well,” said Jack, “You can send the jewel to Egypt using the Postal Service,”

“That’s a good idea, Jack!” said Michelle.

Michelle went in her room and found a big enough box to put the red jewel in. An hour later, she came out of her room with a poorly wrapped box with an address going to Egypt on the top. She went to the top of her street and put the package into the mailbox.

“What are doing away from the house?” said Jennifer, when she came home from being at Colleen’s all day.

“I was -- sending a letter to an Egyptian person I met when I was there. Yeah, that’s what I was doing,”

“Okay,” replied Jennifer.

The day went by fast, and Michelle was worried the package wouldn’t make it in time. The night faced a lot of changes because the package did get there at eleven o’clock at night. The priest did the ceremony once again so the gods can accept the mishap.

When Michelle woke up the next morning, the sky was blue again.

‘Yes, the package got there in time!’ thought Michelle.

Michelle, Shannon, Heather, and Jack are the only people that know about the incident. They will never forget about it.