2014 Prompt Responses - 13. Prompt 314

The line outside the museum stretched out the door and wrapped around the building. Everyone was there to see the real-life ‘Sleeping Beauty’; a recently discovered two hundred year old body in some sort of suspended animation.

What I wouldn’t give to have been part of the excavation team that discovered her. Two months ago an archeological team in Mexico found a previously undiscovered Mayan pyramid. Inside they found the body now dubbed ‘Sleeping Beauty’. When they discovered that she wasn’t quite as dead as they thought, half the team fled in terror while the other half rushed her to the world’s leading experts in Mayan Culture, Egyptology, bio-archeology, and any other sub-discipline they could possibly think of. They even called in the world’s best physicians to evaluate her state of health. The results only deepened the mystery.

So what do you do with a two hundred year old body in suspended animation that you know nothing about? Put it on tour and exploit it.

Yes, I am a hypocrite since I thought the whole idea of putting her on display was wrong and just plain disgusting. However, I felt such a pull every time I looked at pictures of the Sleeping Beauty that I just couldn’t stay away. The fact that it was a mandatory assignment for all students in the archeology department gave me the moral out I was looking for.

So here I was, waiting in line for hours to get a glimpse of the so-called ‘Sleeping Beauty’. I had my headphones on and was listening to music on my iPod when I heard a faint whisper.

Help me

I paused the music and looked around. The other people in line gave no indication of someone in distress, so I resumed listening to my music. The line slowly inched forward.

Help me

The voice was a little louder this time. I took my headphones off and asked the person behind me “did you hear that?”

The guy shook his head dismissively.

About fifteen minutes later, I finally reached the inside of the building.

I’ve been waiting for you.

I spun around, but could see no one greeting waiting friends. I shook my head. I was losing it.

I’ve been waiting for you. Help me.

I turned to the guy behind me again. “Please tell me you heard that.”

The guy just looked at me like I had sprouted three heads.

The voice chuckled. No one else can hear me.

“Then how can I hear you?”

The guy behind me left the line.

I’ve been waiting for you for centuries. You are the one to save me.

I thought I should take a sabbatical from school because the stress was clearly getting to me.

You’re not crazy. The voice sounded amused.

“What would you call it?”

The people in front of me left the line.

Destiny

I wondered how long I had before I was hauled off to the nut farm. The closer I got to Beauty’s display room, the louder and clearer the voice became. The pull that I felt whenever I looked at the exhibit pictures was nothing compared to the pull I felt now. When I entered the room that contained the body, I heard the voice gasp.

There is no doubt anymore. You are my salvation. Help me, my love!

I gasped myself when I finally set eyes upon Sleeping Beauty. Beauty doesn’t even come close to describing the exquisite creature before me. He looked like a Mayan god dressed in finery. He was androgynous in appearance, with fine features and gorgeous jet-black hair. His body was trim and toned and just as beautiful as the rest of him. I understood why the experts had misjudged his gender. At first glance I would have labeled Beauty as female, too; however the voice in my head was clearly male.

Save me from this curse, my love.

“How am I supposed to save you?”

If you look deep into your heart, you will know.

I knew in that instant that I couldn’t bear to be away from him. I sprung over the guardrail and was almost to the body when I was tackled by security.

“Let me go! I have to save him!” I shouted, fighting the guards.

“Erik? What on earth are you doing, boy?” It was Professor Barrett, my Central American Studies teacher.

“I can save him, Professor. I know how to wake him up!”

He frowned at me. “What do you mean? How can you possibly know how to wake her up?”

“It’s not ‘her’. It’s ‘him’.” I stated. “Let me go and I’ll show you!”

The professor was standing with the museum’s curator and they had a hurried discussion. Apparently Dr. Barrett vouched for me, since the curator motioned for the guards to let me go.

I walked over to the display where they were keeping Beauty. “Please open it.”

The curator looked decidedly against the idea, but Dr. Barrett indicated for the guards to go ahead and open the plexiglass container.

The minute it was open I bent down and kissed Beauty on the lips. His eyes opened and he sat up, looking at me in wonderment. “My love…” he whispered. We put on quite the display for the gawking museum-goers.