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The Mighty Heirloom
#WritcoStoryPrompt1
The parcel that had arrived today, contained an old key and a list of instructions to use it. I couldn't but admire the exquisite and intricate carvings made on the antique key. After the partition of our estate, three-fourth of it was placed into my hands by my grandfather, Mr. Solomon Zachariah. Relatives, as usual, weren't content as to a boy (I was 28 by the way) receiving most of the heirlooms.
The old key belonged to an underground room below my grandfather's bungalow, the Shangri-la mansion. There had always been stories regarding one such room, but my grandpa had always denied about it. But I was at a fix as to why he granted me the secret key to a room that he always contradicted to exist. Some say that the confidential matters of how our forefathers acquired the riches lay there and some go with the tale of a cult or spying unit operating below.
Well, as per the instructions, I had to take the stairway beside the servants quarters, which would apparently lead me to a spiral passage. As I went further down, it got darker and darker. I switched to my mobile torch and finally ended up staring at a stone cladded threshold. No one really cared about the servants quarters, so now I understood as to why no one lurked or even thought about a possible underground place below it.
In front of me was a bronze door that appeared heavy, with an engraving of a serpent encircling an open-mouthed lion in the middle. Although it felt a little odd that the door had to face a window or rather an opening, overlooking a humongous well, which clearly looked as if it wasn't used for drinking, household or plantation purposes, I shook myself from the thoughts and decided to continue my quest. The next instruction said something about a mighty tongue sticking out to make way for the dictator.
Since I considered the lion as a mighty creature, I decided to inspect the engraved lion. It's mouth was open, so I lit the mobile torch inside to see if I could find anything. Voilà! There's the tongue of the mighty lion. I wondered how to manage the rest of my adventure. The mighty tongue had to stick out. Should I place my hand inside to retrieve the tongue? What could possibly go wrong? Besides, my grandpa wouldn't engage me in anything that would cause harm.
I mustered up courage, dug my hands deep in, struggled hard and returned victoriously with the lion's tongue. Wow! The tongue had a key hole. “Huh… That was easy!”, I grinned to myself. Taking the key from my pocket, I almost felt overwhelmed with excitement and pride to be the only worthy heir to have received the opportunity to unlock the hidden secrets of several generations.
As I cracked open the door to peek in, a very heavy wind blew out, as if some giant had sighed out air. I opened the door wide and stepped in. I was engulfed by a stinky odor, which made it difficult for me to concentrate on finding the contents of the room. Walking forward, suddenly I stepped on something that cracked beneath my feet. “No, that's not what it is”, was my reaction to what I thought I had seen. But a sudden dread pierced my chest when I turned my torch to the other end of the room. It was full of skeletons! The room was full of skeletons! The room?! Or rather a dungeon! Before fainting, I thought, "Oh, so this is what's called skeletons in the cupboard!"
© Pinky B
The parcel that had arrived today, contained an old key and a list of instructions to use it. I couldn't but admire the exquisite and intricate carvings made on the antique key. After the partition of our estate, three-fourth of it was placed into my hands by my grandfather, Mr. Solomon Zachariah. Relatives, as usual, weren't content as to a boy (I was 28 by the way) receiving most of the heirlooms.
The old key belonged to an underground room below my grandfather's bungalow, the Shangri-la mansion. There had always been stories regarding one such room, but my grandpa had always denied about it. But I was at a fix as to why he granted me the secret key to a room that he always contradicted to exist. Some say that the confidential matters of how our forefathers acquired the riches lay there and some go with the tale of a cult or spying unit operating below.
Well, as per the instructions, I had to take the stairway beside the servants quarters, which would apparently lead me to a spiral passage. As I went further down, it got darker and darker. I switched to my mobile torch and finally ended up staring at a stone cladded threshold. No one really cared about the servants quarters, so now I understood as to why no one lurked or even thought about a possible underground place below it.
In front of me was a bronze door that appeared heavy, with an engraving of a serpent encircling an open-mouthed lion in the middle. Although it felt a little odd that the door had to face a window or rather an opening, overlooking a humongous well, which clearly looked as if it wasn't used for drinking, household or plantation purposes, I shook myself from the thoughts and decided to continue my quest. The next instruction said something about a mighty tongue sticking out to make way for the dictator.
Since I considered the lion as a mighty creature, I decided to inspect the engraved lion. It's mouth was open, so I lit the mobile torch inside to see if I could find anything. Voilà! There's the tongue of the mighty lion. I wondered how to manage the rest of my adventure. The mighty tongue had to stick out. Should I place my hand inside to retrieve the tongue? What could possibly go wrong? Besides, my grandpa wouldn't engage me in anything that would cause harm.
I mustered up courage, dug my hands deep in, struggled hard and returned victoriously with the lion's tongue. Wow! The tongue had a key hole. “Huh… That was easy!”, I grinned to myself. Taking the key from my pocket, I almost felt overwhelmed with excitement and pride to be the only worthy heir to have received the opportunity to unlock the hidden secrets of several generations.
As I cracked open the door to peek in, a very heavy wind blew out, as if some giant had sighed out air. I opened the door wide and stepped in. I was engulfed by a stinky odor, which made it difficult for me to concentrate on finding the contents of the room. Walking forward, suddenly I stepped on something that cracked beneath my feet. “No, that's not what it is”, was my reaction to what I thought I had seen. But a sudden dread pierced my chest when I turned my torch to the other end of the room. It was full of skeletons! The room was full of skeletons! The room?! Or rather a dungeon! Before fainting, I thought, "Oh, so this is what's called skeletons in the cupboard!"
© Pinky B
