Premonitions at Palenque

              “I can’t believe it” thought Chloe as she approached the sarcophagus, “never in my wildest dreams…”. Her thought trailed off as she neared the resting place of what was sure to be an ancient Mayan Royal. Her team pried the heavy stone lid loose and slid it gently to the side. Acrid odors leeched from the sarcophagus and the team of archaeologists covered their faces with their bandanas. Chloe, having waited her whole life for a discovery such as this, could wait no longer, and leaned in to get a closer look. Anticipation and excitement rising she gazed down upon the two-thousand-year-old corpse. The entire inside of the sarcophagus, and the bones, were painted in a bloody shade of crimson. Chloe noted the skeleton was adorned with what appeared to have once been an impressive obsidian necklace. There were also several small stone tablets engraved with hieroglyphs resting beside the deceased’s skull. Mesmerized she reaches down to grab one of the tablets. Once in her hand the tablet slowly crumbled into a cloud of dust, aghast she turns to her team to see if they were seeing exactly what she was seeing. Hector, one of the team’s local guides and glyph translator, seemed to not even notice she was standing there. “Hector, did you just see that!?” she exclaimed. Still, he failed to notice her. Frustrated and confused she turned to Liam; someone she couldn’t quite place and wasn’t sure she had ever even seen before, but somehow knew his name and knew he was a member of the team. He didn’t seem to notice her either and, bewildered, she began to wave her arms in front of his face. “Hellooooo!?” she was shouting. He walked right passed her. Liam began speaking with Hector about what the Glyphs could possibly say and which tools they would need to safely remove them from the crypt. Continuing their conversation, they both headed for the entrance of the tomb. Chloe followed closely behind wondering why on earth no one could hear her and why it was such an effort to walk. No matter how fast she tried to go she only ended up walking even slower, as if she was trying to run through quick sand. The two men eventually pulled away from her and she was left wading through nothingness, feeling like gravity held a special pull on her.

              Sweating and heart pounding Chloe Pearson awakes in her bed at her hotel. Sitting up, she touches her face to make sure that what just happened wasn’t real, because it certainly felt like it was. Reality manifests around her and she takes a deep breath. Deciding she won’t be able to go back to sleep she slides out of bed and heads for the bathroom for an early start to the day. Outside, the birds of paradise are starting to sing; and the sticky, humid heat is already beginning to ooze through the walls. After brushing her teeth and her golden-brown hair, she applies an ample amount of sunscreen to her face and neck and throws the tube in her knapsack for reapplications later. Never wanting to miss an opportunity to dress as an archaeologist, she pulls on a linen top, khaki pants, knee high socks and hiking boots. The bugs, she thought, should not be underestimated in the jungle. Nor should the plants, full of long barbs and jaggers that would rival any rose’s thorn.

              Once in the lobby she takes a roll call of her crew and, after hearing from everyone they head for their van. “Good morning, miss Chloe,” said Hector. “Good morning!” she replied as she stepped into the passenger seat. “Are you excited about today? Rumor is the team is close to the main chamber.” Nodding in excitement she said “oh yes, Hector, we may be just hours away.”

                            Upon arriving at the dig site Chloe’s assistant hurries over to greet her and hand her some plans to approve of. After signing off that yes, indeed that was the spot to begin excavation for the day her assistant announced another matter of business. There was an archaeologist that was sent over from another site to assist with this project and he was in Chloe’s tent for an introduction. Stepping inside, Chloe is confronted with the man from her dream. Literally. This tall, handsome man was the man from her dream last night. Uncertain how to react in such a situation she hesitatingly shook his hand. “Hello, and welcome to Palenque! I’m Chloe Pearson, the Excavation Director.” She couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was as he swept his blond hair back and responded in a deep Australian accent. “Lovely to meet you and happy to be here, I’m Liam Carter, the new Logistics Manager.” After letting go of the hand shake, an awkward silence fell upon them and she broke it with “well, shall we?” gesturing with her hand out towards the main pyramid. “Oh, right, absolutely!” Liam said.  Outside the tent Liam fell into stride with Chloe and her assistant and they caught him up to speed with todays planned dig.

              The day slugged on, monotonous digging and the dusting off of long been buried artifacts. The sun, remembering the artifacts perhaps, seemed to refuse setting, hanging high in the sky to witness Palenque’s unearthed treasures. There was a mention of lunch and everyone gathered in the main tent. Excitement almost outweighed the heat as gossip and rumors circled the makeshift cafeteria. Some were recanting tales of curses, and others were taking bets on which member of the royal family and which treasures they would discover next. “Archaeology,” Liam chuckled as he sat down beside her, “a thousand boring days and then BAM!” Throwing his arms up in a mock explosion. Chloe jumped in surprise. “One, maybe two big discoveries…. Maddening to some I would imagine.” He added and flashed her an award-winning smile. Still feeling uneasy about having quite literally, dreamt this man up, she decided to just agree and strike up a conversation about some of the other dig sites he had been on.

              Shortly after lunch a chattering began in the tunnel of the main pyramid. The chatter grew into excited hollering and one of the team leaders rushed out to meet Chloe and Liam who were hurrying over. “We’ve found the burial chamber!” He exclaimed. Nothing further needed to be said, all three exchanged Cheshire smiles and hurried in the direction of the discovery.

Deep in the pyramid they arrived at a huge, round, stone doorway. Realizing that this is the same entryway from her dream Chloe paused, shivering with the sense of déjà vu. Not for the first time today she had to brush the feeling off and gather her thoughts. After a few tries the team was able to heave the heavy door loose and roll it out of the way. Taking a deep breath Chloe stepped inside, eyes falling on the same sarcophagus from her dream. The same roughly cut volcanic chamber, even the same bitter scent hanging in the air. Gasping, she clutched her flashlight tighter. The entire tomb was rather small; slightly rounded in the corners, and all of the walls left undecorated. An eerie contrast to the opulent sarcophagus in the center of the room. She gave permission when one of the team members asked if they should begin to open the sarcophagus.

Chloe absorbed the scene, her senses on high alert. Feeling such strong déjà vu, it actually began to morph into premonitions. Predicting who would say what and then who would respond and speak next. Time seemed to slow down. Shuffling up behind the team, her mouth ajar, in awe of this experience, she found herself speechless. “Have I lived this before? Could I really have dreamt all of this?” She glanced around the room, feeling almost as if she was on another plane. Once the stone lid was removed, she had no doubts that the skeleton inside would be the one from her dream. Her prediction was confirmed when the solid lid of the sarcophagus was carefully set to the side. She only needed one glance to confirm that she had, indeed, discovered this skeleton last night. How bizarre. How riveting. She recognized every bead on the obsidian necklace and even recognized the tablets in the corner. The team was discussing the hieroglyphs that were found on the scene when she floated back to reality.

Time sped up again and her premonitions came to an end. Someone was asking her a question. It was Liam and, having noticed she was acting strangely, he was asking her if she was alright. She shook her head yes and managed a small smile. A plan was made to bring in some equipment and begin the excavation of the skeleton and its treasures. The overwhelming feeling of déjà vu gone; Chloe was able to enjoy the last of their dig at Palenque. The Glyphs were sent away for translation and the bones sent for DNA analysis.

 Three weeks later the team’s excavation permits expired and they wouldn’t be able to return until next season. The packing up of the site went quickly and smoothly, everyone parting ways, happy to have made new friends. Excited they had all made history, and got to set eyes upon something that no other human had in over two millennium. Chloe returned home, and would always wonder about her strange day of premonitions at Palenque.