Green vines flung up in the air as Fabio swings his machete clearing a path ahead in the dense rain forest, The night-lamp slightly reveals the hot sweat on his forehead while he hacks away rhythmically, Fabio is a tour guide for explorers and archeologists, his deep Mayan roots helps him navigate these terrains like the back of his hands.
Although Fabio is not alone, following closely behind him is Sir Richmont, an 18th-century explorer from Great Britain, he lingered behind like a shadow holding the night-lamp with anticipation, He is seated on a donkey - its braying sounds randomly interrupts the crickets' chirps in the bush.
Richmont is a long way from his family back home but he couldn't feel any closer to his father than in this forest, most times he is often reminded of him, his father Richmont Sr. also went on an expedition in this same jungle and never returned back home.
Richmont's long career in exploration at the Mayan jungles was inspired mostly by following in his father's footsteps and also a search for lost ancient treasures, sometimes, Richmont dreams about encountering his father's troop in the forest, he tucks closely his satchel which contained maps and passed down journals of his father.
Richmont took a quick look at his moon dial and looked up at the moon to calibrate his position.
"Ah.. yes" Richmont exclaimed as he sighted the top of the ancient Mayan temple, the stone walls of the temple reflected the bright moonlight, he hurried ahead of Fabio, pushing off the remnant weeds in their path which exposed a large clearing and the temple sitting comfortably in the middle.
"Magnificent isn't it" Richmont chuckled as he nudged Fabio on the shoulder.
"Yes it is, sir" replied Fabio with a bit of hesitation, for some reason he could sense some strange omen from the ancient structure.
"Why don't we set a camp here Sir, we will explore in the morning," said Fabio.
"Nonsense... the night is young" Richmont replied with a wide grin.
He took giant strides up the stone steps of the temple and shortly looked back at Fabio, he observed the worried look on his face.
"Ah... don't worry Fabio, I'm just going to take a quick look around," Richmont said with an assuring tone.
"Okay Sir... I will set up the tent until you arrive" replied Fabio, asserting his decision to stay behind.
Richmont took closer steps to the entrance of the temple as if something was calling him from deep within it, he looked closer at the engraving with his torch-lamp, he could vaguely understand the meaning as he was also a scholar in Mayan script.
He took out his father's journals and he observed similar hieroglyphs he had previously read, the hieroglyphs depicted something of importance and significance within the walls of the ancient structure, particularly about the treasures of the Chaac the Mayan rain-god. this realization gave Richmont some more courage to explore further.
As Richmont approached the entrance, he looked down the ancient hallway and saw a streak of light that diffused through the holes in the ceiling, the moonlight illuminated a humanoid figure laying on the ground.
He walked closer to observe this strange figure laying by the moonlight, he scrolled his touch-lamp around the area while looking intently, the spotlight slowly reveals a mummified figure wearing a khaki coat and pith helmet, Richmont was now assured that this person was an explorer like himself.
Richmont was entranced by this whole scenario, the same instinct that made him an explorer drove him closer to investigate this strange figure, he pointed his torch-lamp toward the apparel and noticed a familiar sigil on the lapel of the coat, it was the Richmont family seal.
"Father..." Richmont gasped as his heart skipped a beat.
He noticed his father's journals and belongings littered around his remains, Richmont was saddened by the fact that his father died alone most probably from a snake bite or venom, in that moment, Richmont remembered his wife and kids, their images dawned in his heart, It seems his career in exploration was simply masked by his search for his father and now he has had enough, he didn't want to end up like his father.
"I'm Going Home..." Richmont whispered to himself.
Image edited from pixabay
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