The good luck charm and a new catch
Help arrived. Just a few minutes after Riley fell into the sarcophagus. He would have made it until they could rescue him. However, what could only have been an aftershock, severed the thread he was dangling from.
Some may think of a lucky rabbit’s foot, or a shamrock, when thinking about a good luck charm. Or maybe it’s a lucky number that appears randomly but in all the right places. Today Riley believes it might just be a mummy. Or more accurately, mummies.
The Good Luck Charm
The aftershock (or mini quake, as they later call it) was almost as strong as the first one. Not only did it dislodge Riley from his thread, but also it shifted everything on the floor below. The result being that all of the sarcophagi opened and spilled their contents.
Spilled their contents in a neat little pile, just below Riley. His landing was cushioned, in a manner of speaking. However, he did manage to get wedged pretty firmly in the sarcophagus, under that neat little pile. Of mummies. In fact, that is where he was, when the Emergency First Responders, arrived.
The New Catch
The vending machine coffee is strong. However it is helping Riley. Currently he is sitting across from a Government Official. He’s not in trouble, but he surely is lucky. Furthermore, he wants to go home and shower. He’s seen way more of the exhibit than he ever thought he would. The fingers of his free hand absently trace over the intricate pattern on the surface of the good luck charm.

He answered as many questions as he could. But some of them aren’t making sense anymore. Didn’t they realize there is a fine dust covering his entire body. He involuntarily shudders. Then he sips more coffee and knows some of the mummy dust went in his nose. Riley gags and sets the coffee down. The Government Official just sits staring at him. Bland expression, waiting for his answer.
Riley answers, “No I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I was too busy trying not to fall. Then I did fall. And what the hell anyway? Since when are there earthquakes in the middle of a city? Especially this city?” He picks up his coffee, notices dust floating on the top. And almost hurls again. Now he sets the cup back down and slides it away from him. He may never drink coffee again.
The Good Luck Charm and a New Catch
It is laying on the counter. In the background, the shower is running. The pattern on the surface of the charm is more than intricate, it is ancient. Furthermore, it is never seen or felt, by accident. It was not part of the random. And it never would be. If it were thought of as a good luck charm, then good luck, was only the by-product of its actual purpose.
The day Riley met the odd little man in the derby hat was the single most important day in Riley’s life. Only, he didn’t know it then. However, by the end of this night he will know it well. The pattern on the good luck charm begins to illuminate. Then it glows slightly brighter, as a very loud hammering begins, at Riley’s front door.
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