Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 3 2018 | Page 89

When we bade the Indians a goodbye, their captain, a tanned muscular guy pulled Leo aside and said gravely
“Go to Jerusalem next.”
JERUSALEM
The trip to Jerusalem was speckled with dangers - poacher attacks Israeli guard patrols, and even wild
animals started checking us out.
As we entered the gates of Jerusalem, my jaw dropped and I gawked. The dust-caked columns rose up to
fifty feet high, inscribed with ancient charms and curses. Out in the distance, I could hear the buzz of locals.
I turned, there, right in front of me, was the dome of the rock and western walls. The dome of the rock’s
roof glistened gold under the lazy evening sun, arrayed in front of it neatly were loosely lodged bricks the
colour of caramel, forming the western walls.
Somewhere to the north, we heard a deep and resonant groan, rather like the hull of a Greek warship.
Instantaneously, a bolt of lightning split the sky, startling the locals. The distinct smell of ozone and sulphur
sizzled in the air.
I realised that the lightning was actually an extra-large laser pointer and the smell was a fire pit. “Come
on!” Leo ushered us as he darted off, pushing locals and making cars swerve. A few minutes later, we found
ourselves stumbling across an ancient ruin buried under tonnes of rocks. All we could see was a delicate
shining marble altar. We shuffled forwards. Leo, instead, strolled right at the altar. Just as his trembling hand
extended to touch it, the floorboard under him creaked. And Leo, my best friend, disappeared down a pitch
black chasm...
“Let’s go save him” Samantha sighed exasperatedly, and swiftly leaped into the hole. I did, too.
The wind screamed as I plummeted down the hole. I was a little stunned so I failed to do a roll but landed
on a damp surface with my foot. Pain flared up my ankle. I stood up and scanned the surroundings. We
were in a vast, circular chamber as big as a football pitch. The walls and floor might’ve once been blue but
were now caked in dust. Miniature crevices crept like snakes down the floor, up the wall and onto an altar
exactly the same as the one upstairs.
Somewhere to my right, I heard a discreet groan. I whirled around, only to find Leo sprawled across the
floor, his once-slick hair matted with blood, a nasty gash across his scalp. “Where are we?” he managed
weakly.
Michael and Samantha were nowhere to be seen, that’s not good. I helped Leo to his feet. I looked at the
second altar. Somehow, I recognised the runic inscriptions on it: “youR nexT stoP: egypT”.
Promptly, a rope descended from the hole we’d fallen through. ‘C’mon!’ Michael’s voice hollered from
overhead…
EGYPT
Finally, when we had reached Thebes, my jaw dropped (I really need to take better care of my jaw).
Jagged sandstone columns soared hundreds of feet into the sky, like greedy fingers grasping for freedom.
In a daze we drifted into the city of Thebes. The vague silhouette of the city skyline stretched on for what
seems like an eternity. I could almost imagine the gods of Egypt, Ra, Horus, and Isis sitting here in all their
glory. Next to us, jutting out from the ground was a building looming over us like a glowering beast - our
target, the Khufu pyramid.
As we clambered down the slippery slope of the Khufu pyramid with its sulphuric smell, I was really
starting to g et a bad impression on the place.