Dragonfly Dreams, Part Eighteen

The temple was a stone finger pointing accusingly toward the sky….toward the very face of God Himself. Time has ravaged the rest of the city into ruins. The temple, however, seemed to be frozen in place…in a moment…immortal. Even the dust and dirt of the Brazilian jungle did not settle upon its stones. Frank slowly climbed the stone steps one at a time so that he did not lose his footing. At a certain angle, they all but disappeared into one another (since they were so small) making the steps seem like one long ladder threatening to swoop him into a pile of broken bones and agony.

“These people must have had very small feet,” he heard Chuck puffing behind him, trying to keep up.

“Or else our feet are just freakishly huge,” Frank called back. He was trying to take his time on the steps, but he knew that they had to hurry. Janet Jones was already inside the temple. She could very well already be there…the Tree of Life. Did it even really exist? Months ago, Frank would have laughed in someone’s face if they had brought up the subject. But now….

Soon he was at the top. He turned to help Chuck and Harry as they struggled up the last of the steps. Especially Harry, since he was the fattest of them all. His face was red with exertion and his breath was coming in ragged gasps.

“I should….should… have turned into a bird…..and flown….up,” he panted, trying to catch his breath.

“Awwwww,” Chuck grinned, “Quit trying to show out in front of us. We know that you can change into any animal you want. But come on mate…you need the exercise. That big belly of yours isn’t going to lose itself.”

Harry glared at Chuck but was too tired to do anything else.

“Come on guys,” Frank said, “We’ve got to get into the temple. We’ve got to stop her before she finds it.”

Stepping through the crude doorway at the top, Frank found himself in another world…a world of sheer darkness. The stale air clawed its way into his lungs, making him cough. There was a strange scent in the air….one of decay and mold tinged with something acrid that made his nostrils burn. What was that? He remembered that Gordon Jones (now dead thanks to being ripped apart by that wild monkey) had said that this temple wasn’t always here. Sometimes it was in other places…even other planets.

What if it disappears while we are in here? Frank thought. What if we suddenly find ourselves on a planet without air? Was he willing to die just to keep the Tree of Life safe from the clutches of Janet Jones? He only had to think about it for a second, if that long. He took another step forward and started to feel his way down the dark passage. He could hear Chuck and Harry shuffling along behind him.

“Hey mate,” Chuck whispered in the darkness, “Do you know where we are going?”

“Not really,” Frank said, “But everyone keeps saying that I’m a Finder. In that case, I’m trying to find the Tree of Life….and Janet Jones.”

“While you’re at it,” Harry wheezed, “Why don’t you try and find us a light?”

“Okay,” Frank grinned in the darkness. And then, up ahead, he saw…a light!

“By jove, I think that the old chap actually did it!” Harry proclaimed.

As they neared the light, they saw that it was a flickering torch attached to the wall. Carefully taking the torch off of the wall, they continued on down the narrow stone passageway. Every so often, another smaller passageway would lead off to the left or right, but Frank decided that the main passageway was the best for them.

“Come on guys,” he said, “I’ve just got a feeling that we should go this way.”

As they walked, Frank couldn’t help but notice strange carvings on the walls. There were carvings of strange plants and animals that he had never seen before. One carving that kept being repeated over and over again, however, was the strangest of all. It looked just like….but no, it couldn’t be….

“Hey,” Chuck said, pointing to the carvings on the wall, “Isn’t that the Pillsbury Dough Boy?”

“It sure looks like it,” Frank said. But how would people thousands of years ago have known about the Pillsbury Dough Boy? In some of the carvings, it looked like people were worshiping the figure of the Dough Boy. How weird! And yet, just seeing the Pillsbury Dough Boy figure made him feel at peace.

He was so deep in thought about the carvings that he was startled to find that he didn’t need his torch to see in the hallway anymore. It was getting brighter. Up ahead, a doorway was spilling sunlight into the darkness of the stone passage.

“Guys,” Frank said, putting the torch in a niche on the wall, “I’m not for sure, but I think that this is the place.”

“Alright Frank!” Chuck patted him on the back, “You found it! Go on then mate. We’re right behind you!”

The coolness of the dark hall left him unprepared for the heat and stickiness of the room as Frank stepped into the light. He gasped. It was a room….probably the central room of the temple….but it didn’t seem like a room at all. The top of the temple was open, allowing light, heat, and rain to enter as needed. And down a flight of stairs, at the bottom, was a garden….a field of lush trees and exotic plants. Birds were flying through the trees and animals were prowling lazily among the branches. He caught sight of a group of small monkeys swinging happily though the vines that hang down from the top of the temple ceiling.

The garden hadn’t seen human hands….well, if the legend was true…since Adam and Eve. And yet….it looked well tended. Frank could make out lush fruit trees….apple, orange, mango, and plum. There were some that he couldn’t identify. Was one of those the Tree of Life? He didn’t think so.

“Oh my God!” Chuck said, stepping up beside of Frank, “What is this place?”

“Gentlemen,” Frank said softly, “I think that this is the Garden of Eden!”

“That’s right!” a shrill voice snapped behind them, “And you….my friend…are going to find me exactly what I need….the fruit of the Tree of Life!”

Frank knew who was talking even before he turned around. It was Janet Jones….and she was holding a gun. Her pasty face was colored with dark red circles. It seemed that her large girth had made this trip very hard for her as well. Frank wondered if it would be asking for too much to have the sow drop dead with a heart attack.

“And just what makes you think that he’s going to do anything to help you, old girl?” Harry said.

Janet just smiled and Harry and then pulled the trigger. A shot rang out and reverberated on the stone walls….making the monkeys squawk angrily and run for cover in the trees. And although it seemed like time was frozen, Frank watched in horror as Harry slumped over and fell to the floor.

“HARRY!” Frank and Chuck cried out together. But it was too late. Harry was lying on the floor of the room in a quickly spreading pool of his own blood. The hole in his head told the dire truth….Harry was dead.

“Now,” Janet said, pointing the pistol at them again, “Are you going to find me that Tree….or am I going to kill the other one next?”

Staring at Harry’s dead body, Frank knew that he had no other choice. He had to help her. He had to help Janet Jones find the Tree of Life.

“Frank….no!” Chuck yelled out, “Don’t do it….don’t listen to her!”

“Let’s go find that Tree then,” Frank said to a smug Janet Jones.

Until next week, class dismissed.