Three weeks with my brother - Nicholas Sparks [115]
“What did you do?”
“I finally found some guy who spoke English and he helped me. I found out that Tracy got delayed, missed his flight, and that he’d be coming in the next day. But I still had nowhere to go. I didn’t even have a credit card back then. I finally found a couple of mechanics who helped me put the bike together, and after they pointed me in the direction of town, I just started pedaling. It took an hour to get downtown, and I still didn’t know where to go, where I was going to sleep. I finally found a Hard Rock Cafe, and figuring I could at least find something in English, I went to get something to eat. And after that, things got a little easier.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I asked my waitress if she wanted to go out that night. So I went out on a date.”
A little while later, Micah turned back to me. He’d been busy videotaping the drive; in the end, Micah would shoot six hours of video that he’d never end up watching. On the trip, however, you would have thought he’d been filming a documentary.
“Hey Nick—have you ever heard of the Hypogeum?”
I nodded. “I’ve read about it.”
“Isn’t it just supposed to be a tomb?”
“For the most part. But it’s the oldest one ever discovered. That’s why it’s special.”
He seemed lost in thought. “You know what I want a picture of?”
“What’s that?”
“A picture of me lying down in the tomb. You know, pretending I’m dead. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
“I think it would be kind of disgusting.”
He gave me an airy wave. “Disgusting, cool—same thing.”
Alas, Micah wouldn’t get a chance to have his picture taken amid the dust and microscopic remains of the humans once buried in the Hypogeum.
The Hypogeum was entirely different from any other site we’d visited to that point. For starters, it was located beneath a building entirely unremarkable on the outside. It could have been a restaurant, business, or home—like the buildings on either side of it; the only reason we knew it was a museum were the words stenciled on the glass doors.
Inside, we were met by a very serious guide, who explained what we could expect: The Hypogeum was essentially sealed, to prevent decay by the elements. We would walk down the steps, and should watch our heads. We would be told where remains had once been discovered. We would see a short movie about the Hypogeum first. Tours were scheduled every hour and it was imperative that we all stay together and move quickly. We should try not to interrupt, for there wasn’t enough time to answer questions. We would not be allowed to take pictures. If we did, he would confiscate our cameras.
“This guy’s like a prison guard,” Micah whispered. “He doesn’t even smile.”
“Who? Mr. Cheerful?”
“I think he’s sizing us up, trying to figure out who’s going to follow the rules, and who isn’t.”
“I think he knows you’re in the latter group. He keeps looking at you.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I noticed that. For such a happy guy, he’s really pretty perceptive.”
We were led into the climate-controlled, computer-enhanced, video-monitored control room and told to sit in the seats to watch the movie. There was no choice in the matter. You had to watch the movie. Our guide was taking attendance.
This, essentially, is what we learned over the next fifteen minutes: Not Much. No one knows who built it. No one knows why. No one knows what happened to the people who built it. No one knows where they came from originally. No one knows why it was designed the way it was. No one knows what the civilization was like. All they knew was that it was built long before the Pyramids.
The lights came on.
“This way, please,” our guide announced. “Come, come. We will start the tour in one minute. You don’t have much time, so try to stay together. Do not ask too many questions, it will only slow us down.”
And with that, we were led into the Hypogeum. It’s essentially a cave, and we weren’t allowed to touch anything. We walked on a ramp that had been built six inches over the floor, ducked our heads, and listened to the guide talk nonstop for the next forty minutes. And this is what we learned: