The Gods Have A Sick Sense Of Humor
The O'Connell Journal
It was well into the early morning hours, when Tia brought her manikin back to the empty mall. Unbuckling him from the car and carrying his lightweight body into the building. Once inside her department store, he came to life once more, smiling triumphantly at having survived his outdoor trip. How many years had he been a manikin, stuck inside this store? Too many to count.
"Alright, lets get your butt over to the swimwear section. Might as well take advantage of your current outfit." She lead the agreeable manikin towards the swim section, finding a lifeguard whistle an placing it's lanyard around the guys neck. Tia then found a boogie board, and had the man hold it underneath his left arm.
"There." She spoke, satisfied with his appearance. "Well, I'd better get going." She paused, the two shared an awkward smile, before she spoke again, "By the way, I won't be in the store all day tomorrow. I know you're stiff as a board during store hours, but I get the feeling you see things still."
He nodded his head, admitting to being perceptive to ongoings about the busy store.
"When will we meet again?" He asked, feeling a bit nervous that she wasn't going to be around.
"I have to come back in the evening to set up the displays, you'll only see me then." She answered, amused as she watched him sigh with relief. The manikin had a bit of a thing for her, that was painfully obvious.
"Till tomorrow." He bowed, kissing her hand as he did so. Tia rolled her eyes and chuckled, leaving the manikin to go home and rest her tired eyes.
-0-0-
As much as Tia wanted to sleep in, she had family obligations to take care of. Her dad had asked that they meet up at the hotel around ten in the morning. So, with only a few hours of sleep under her belt, Tia drug her weary ass out of bed and drove to the fancy hotel her family was staying in.
Her dad met her outside in the parking lot, leading the way to their first floor room. Gran was still resting in her bed, Tia's mother was awake and dressed in boots, shorts and a tank top.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Tia asked half heartedly, noticing that her parents were dressed for some sort of hike or trekking.
"Well, the thing is darling, your father and I have some business at the pyramids, and since your Gran has a hard time going places..." Her mother paused, looking sheepishly at her daughter.
"You want me to Granny-sit." Tia stated the obvious, finding her parents expectations self centered.
"Just for a few hours, sweetie. Gran sleeps so much now, it's hard to do things we have planned and take her along." Tia's mother was pleading with her, while her father was more gruff about the matter.
"You never liked going to the pyramids anyway, we're doing you a favor. Now watch over Granny while your mother and I take care of business." He started pulling Tia's mother towards the door, ready to head out.
"I'm sure we'll be back before long!" Her mother called before getting dragged out of the hotel room, leaving Tia alone with her snoozing Gran.
"Perfect, my day off to spend time with them, and they leave me in the dust." She sighed as her rear sank down into a comfortable chair next to Evie's bed.
As she began to inwardly pout, her eyes noticed a familiar, leather bound journal sitting peacefully upon Gran's night stand. Her hands reached out and took up the well worn journal, knowing full well what it was. It was the O'Connell family journal, a notebook they'd take with them on every adventure, writing down things that happened. It was started by her Grandparents, and then when her father and mother started traveling more than Evie and her husband, it was theirs to write down stories of their ventures in far off lands.
Having time to kill, and nothing better to do, she began to leaf through the worn pages, halting at a passage dated back when she was still a young teen.
Machu Pikchu, it's more populated with tourists than we usually like, but it is still a wonder to behold. It's raining, which honestly feels rather stimulating while we hike among the old ruins of the ancient Inca city. The views would take any mans breath away. The way the dawn mist surrounds the ancient structures, gives me goosebumps every time I witness it.
It seems the only person not enjoying this fascinating sight, is Tia. She keeps asking if we're almost done, when we are going to head back home.
I never dreamed that I would one day father a homebody. Her disinterest in exploring the way I did growing up, saddens me to no end. What can I do to make her see that this way of life is a blessing? Her mother reminds me constantly that it is her choice, that we shouldn't force her to come if she doesn't enjoy it.
But I am determined to win this, there can't be an O'Connell that doesn't live to explore lost civilizations! Even uncle Jonathan went adventuring, sure it was for the chance of seeking treasure, but it still counted. Tia just isn't interested at all. At this point I'd be happy if she just came because of the potential of finding gold or other priceless relics.
We're going to visit the Temple of the Sun, maybe I'll get lucky and we'll have awakened the deity that use to get worshiped here. Another mummy like accident might just make my daughter open her eyes to how fascinating all this is. . .
The page stopped there, her fathers writing still fresh in her mind as she set down the journal.
Why couldn't he just give it up? She wasn't like him, many children weren't like their parents. Her father was a stubborn man though, he had kept trying. To be honest, his insistence of just letting her stay here with Gran was the first time he'd actually let her be. It surprised her, but for one reason or another, it hadn't pleased her. Sure, the pyramids didn't make her favorite places to go list, but she hadn't seen them for years, and it would have been nice to spend some time together as a family.
Gran was still snoring away, so reluctantly, Tia picked up the journal again, this time flipping to a page her mother wrote.
Pompeii is a sad, yet historically beautiful city. My thoughts linger on how it must have felt, knowing death was coming for you as that monstrous volcano erupted. Those poor people, trapped in volcanic ash for hundreds of years, their forms forever stuck in the way they met their end. . .
It's summer time, Tia seems happy enough with that fact, yet still asks us when we're going home. I know it's hard for Alex, he wishes for her to be more like himself, but that just doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.
Tia paused, switching pages to another time within the journal.
Tia has been driving me bonkers! We're sharing a tent in the Himalayas, and she starts talking about Disney Land, asking why we never go on normal family vacations like Disney Land, and how she'd really like to pick our next trip, because she'd pick Disney Land!
I've had just about enough, I simply can't believe that she rather be hugging Mickey Mouse and going on electronic rides, than trekking the gorgeous peaks of the Himalayas! It's not as if I'm asking her to scale Everest, her mother thought it best to wait until she's physically capable of such a climb. Why is she so different? What sort of family genetics did she even inherit from me? It's becoming clear now, Tia has to be some other mans daughter, how could she be mine when she's not like me at all?
His written words halted her, making her heart hurt. This had been one of their final family trips together. Had her father truly held such spite towards her? It made Tia feel very alone within her family circle. Sure she had complained a lot on their radical outings, but at the end of the day, she was still his daughter.
As she set down the journal, finally having read enough, her Grandmothers eyes opened.
"Hello, Gran." Tia greeted the awakening woman a bit hollowly. Her heart was still heavy after reading her fathers written words.
"Tia, I'm so glad to see you. Mind fetching me a cup of tea?" She politely inquired, slowly moving in her bed to sit up in it comfortably. "Once you're done with that, how about I tell you a story." She commented, intriguing the young woman as she set about, getting water boiling and finding a cup. What sort of tale was Gran going to spin this time?
-0-0-
Imhotep's day was uneventful, finding the daily routine about the store boring and trivial. It was close to closing time when an all too familiar face started towards him. Ardeth, the Medjai he loathed, the one who had pursued his Tia, was headed right for him. Stopping in front of the manikin and staring him down.
If he'd been able to, Imhotep would have strangled the young man, finding the image of Tia with him unpleasant. What was the fool looking at? It was making Imhotep moody, watching without being able to speak or throttle the infidel.
A strange beaded necklace was raised up, the other hand held a hawk feather as the young man began to chant quietly to the manikin. The bastard was working ancient magic! Magic that warded off evil, could that mean the fool had sensed something unnatural about Imhotep's form?
Either way, the manikin was less than pleased as he was forcefully given the 'blessed' beads, the Medjai placing the jewelry around Imhotep's neck. For the most part, Imhotep felt no change to his current state, which relieved him. Perhaps the boy wasn't as skilled at thwarting evil as he had thought.
The Medjai did a funny hand gesture before leaving, the manikin watched passively as the man left. As far as Imhotep could tell, nothing was effecting him, things could have gone worse...
-0-0-
"Have I ever told you, about Grandpa Rick destroying a mummy?" Evie began, her granddaughter pictured a petrified mummy getting dropped or accidentally set aflame by the adventurous Rick O'Connell.
"This mummy, was unlike any other. You're going to think I'm crazy, but your father can confirm my story. This mummy, had come back to life. And when he did, he was vengeful. During his life as a mortal, he felt he'd been wrongfully punished for having an affair with the pharaoh's bride to be. His lover had not wanted a life with the pharaoh, and so they plotted to kill him together. What they hadn't planned on, was someone seeing their deed and calling the royal guard. The mummy was ushered away, while his lover stayed, killing herself in front of the guards as they came through the doors.
The mummy was heartbroken, determined to bring back the woman he loved by using ancient Egyptian magic, within the Book of the Dead. Pharaoh's guards found the mummy right before he was able to bring back his love, and they punished him for the treasonous act of killing the Pharaoh, mummifying him alive."
"Gran, thats pretty disgusting." Tia piped in.
"I know dear, now let me continue please. This mummy was very angry, and placed a curse so that whoever opened his tomb, would suffer greatly. As luck would have it, your grandfather and I had a big hand in actually awakening the terrible beast. He wrecked all sorts of havoc. We had defeated him twice, since the bugger couldn't just stay dead the first time. He was a very evil man, Tia. A person that could cause a dreadful amount of chaos in a short amount of time." Evie paused, wondering if her grandchild got her point.
"Interesting story Gran. I think I'm feeling hungry, would you like me to go grab us something to eat real quick?" Tia asked, feeling the need to get some fresh air.
"Certainly. Bring us back something sweet, please." Evie smiled cheerily as she watched Tia head for the door. Maybe Evie was being too paranoid, that must have only been a dream, but she felt better knowing that Tia knew the tale now, yet somehow Evie felt she forgot something within her story...
-0-0-
Tia returned late that evening, finding the department store dark and somewhat lonely as she headed towards where she'd last seen Imhotep. To Tia's surprise, the manikin was still plastic, he hadn't changed back into a human. Finding this very odd, she made her way around the store, making sure she was still alone. An hour passed and Tia had found no one else there. As she eyed her silent, plastic manikin, her eyes finally noticed something amiss with his attire.
Imhotep had on a strange, black and red beaded necklace. Who had put this on him? Gingerly her fingers touched the beads, lifting them off his head, feeling an electric shock as she completely pulled off the weird jewelry. When the shock happened, she yelped and dropped them to the floor.
Imhotep started to turn into flesh and blood, apparently the necklace had caused his magical change to temporarily pause. As he stretched his jaw, acting as if he hadn't used the muscles in his face for weeks, the woman curiously asked who had placed the strange beads upon him.
"That Medjai scum!" Imhotep roared, beginning to stomp around angrily, pushing aside clothes racks in his rage.
"Ardeth? But why?" She shook her head, disbelieving. Had the guy seen past Imhotep's plastic disguise? How could he even tell that the manikin was magic?
"He's Medjai, they have their ways." Imhotep snarled, clinching his fists.
"What do we do now?" Tia asked, uncertain of what action to take. Ardeth had been a friend, but now he was causing trouble for her special manikin. As much of an ass that he was, she still didn't want him to stop coming back to life.
"Tia, you must make him believe I am harmless. Confront the Medjai, show him to me when it is nightfall, I will handle the rest."
"How? You only come to life when I'm alone." She raised a brow, wondering what was going on in that mind of his.
"Patience, you will see." He grinned cockily. Imhotep had an idea, with her blatant affection towards him lately, he had to test a theory he'd been pondering over. Tia's affections were going to power him enough to take care of their little pest. . .
-0-0-
Disclaimer: The Mummy doesn't belong to me.
