Two choices

 She rebelled at the title of treasure hunter. She held the title of archeologist. She even taught a class on archeology at a local community college. Why did they call her a treasure hunter? Because she did not want to waste her time on digging for years for a few bobbles. She searched for artifacts worth her time and efforts. That is where she stood today.

  Months spent in libraries digging through ancient manuscripts accomplished little. Traveling to read ancient journals and interview people who tried did more. Prolonged discussions with her two helpers covered why the previous trips were so short. They also wondered why so many failed. Her constant companions for her journeys were her two helpers traveled. Her helpers stood like brick walls. They could both dig and carry great amounts of weight for a long distance. She felt the three of them could accomplish anything.

  The treasure they sought could weigh from five pounds to five hundred pounds. Rumors existed of an image of Gnufu carved into a diamond set on a gold pedestal. This whet the appetites of many archeologist before her. The path to and inside the mountain believed covered by discarded equipment and remains of those who failed.

 As they prepared to leave, sweat forming on her head and hands accompanied by an increase in her pulse indicated her fear of dying. Despite the fear of dying, she caried on to each of the digs. With a heavy sigh, straightening her sagging shoulders and a smile pasted to her face, she told her helpers it was time to go.

 Four days of travel brought them to this scary mountain of the Indians of Central America. A solitary opening marked the entrance to the mountain. The group prepared to enter the mountain aware the scene around the opening screamed danger. She asked herself why she did not settle down, marry, have kids, and sip tea on a screened in porch with the family. A sudden wave of nausea swept over her. The two men ran to help her as she went down on one knee.

 “Are you ok?” one asked? The two men shared a concerned look as she regained her composure.

 “I’m fine,” she said. How do you explain the great American dream makes you want to puke? “We need to go before we lose daylight,” she continued. “Let us look over the map one more time. I have the writings of both archeologist and the ancient writer’s failed efforts deciphering the clues to the dangers.”

Their own attempts to decipher the clues to the traps proved unsuccessful. Encouragement to turn around and go home remained the main constant in the clues. The biggest threat came at the choices of forks in the paths. The worst was the last clue, the two doors. There one chose between two doors. One proved fatal, the other revealed the treasure. You had to survive the journey first. More evidence of the challenge presented itself in the form of discarded equipment and remains of the dead. No one moved or spoke. With a firm look, they remained resolute. Each person believed they accomplished what others failed. Satisfied, they collected their stuff and moved into the mountain, aware the eyes of tribal people watched their every move.

 Looking at the map, the woman said, “The trail starts dead ahead of us.” Squinting, they saw a tiny break in the brush. “That spot must be it,” she said.

 Preparing to enter the opening, they decided to lighten their load again for faster travel. She walked to the pile of discarded equipment checking to see what they needed.

 “I want to keep this length of rope,” she said.

 “Why,” one of the men asked.

 “Woman’s intuition,” she said picking the rope up adding it to her backpack. Pulling machetes, they advanced on the spot looking like a trail. Working hard, they chopped and cut into the brush until a clear path revealed itself.

The revelation of the first challenge happened fast. Shock registered again at the amount of equipment abandoned at that spot. The group looked at each other in silence.

One of the men spoke,” The stuff here appears abandoned in haste. Why?”

 The other man said, “Maybe the sign gives us the clue. Thank goodness the universal language of literature is English.” The sign read,

               Beware!

               You must be aware!

               Because the trap is here!

              The clue to one dare.

               With a word rhyming with hair.

The brains worked as they thought out loud. “What rhymes with hair? Bear? Stare? Lair?

 The woman exclaimed, “Lair! That is it! What lives in a lair?” Before anyone could answer heat and flames snaked from an opening to the underground. Spikes and horns emerged from the hole. Beady green focused on the group. All three turned and screamed “Dragon!”

 The woman yelled, “Run!”

 One of the men said, “Dragons do not exist!”

 The other man replied, “Tell that to the one behind us!” As the three of them ran down the path, the dragon gained on them blowing fire at them. They ran till they thought the lungs would burst. They beat each other from singeing hair and clothes. They too threw off more equipment hoping to stay alive. The dragon disappeared giving them a brief chance to catch their breath. Sound like a helicopter roared above them. One of the men looked up, seeing a dragon hovering above preparing to burn them.

 “Run!” The man said.

 They ran past a sign without time to stop. “What did that sign say?” the woman asked.

 One of the men replied, “I think it said falls!”

 “What does that mean?” she asked. Ahead they saw a clearing. They heard the roar of rushing water beyond the path’s end.

 “It is a cliff by a waterfall,” “A man said. Turning they saw the dragon gaining. They stopped just before falling over the edge. They whirled about to face the dragon.

 “What do we do,” the woman asked.

 “We jump” the man said.

  “What? Never!” the woman said as she backed away. “I’d rather fight the dragon!”

  “With what?” The man said. “We abandoned the weapons prior to entering.”

   The two men looked at each other, locked their arms in hers and jumped over the cliff. Her screams carried for miles. They fell into cloud cover. Moments later, after what seemed an eternity, they hit water. The current was strong. The river took them downstream.

 The woman struggled to the surfaced only to be pushed under again. “What are you doing?” she screamed. Back under she went as the tail of the dragon brushed by just above them. The water sizzled around them.

 “The dragon can fly,” A man said. “Keep watch and go under when it comes back.” They struggled to stay alive and dodge the dragon. Surfacing, the woman thought they passed another sign.

  “The sign says get out now!” One of the men said.

  “What?” the woman asked.

  “Get out of the river!” The man yelled. Swimming against the current, they fought till they reached the shore. Pulling themselves to the shore, they collapsed gasping for air. Their rest was brief. The dragon is circling to kill us. Run!”

 Running into a fork in the trail, the woman asked, “Which way?” After taking a few steps down both trails they returned to the fork. “The one to the left crosses a rope bridge,” the man said. “If we cross that bridge, we are sitting ducks for the dragon. We must go right.”

 “Did you see a trail?” a man asked.

 “The woman replied, “Of course not, but I think I saw an overgrown place that could be a trail. We have no choice. We hack our way to wherever.” Even with machetes, clearing the path became difficult. Not only plant growth but relentless bugs made progress slow. The work became exhausting. They cut just a moment longer before entering a clearing. There before them stood the Temple of Gnufu. The temple was radiant. Shimmering in the sun, reflections gave the appearance of solid gold. Transfixed by the sight almost cost them their lives. The helicopter sound returned as fire burned the ground behind them.

 “Run!” she said. “Head into that door. Not the one on the right but the one on the left.”

  One of the men asked, “Why not the one on the right? Doesn’t that one seem obvious?”

 “After everything today, you want to enter the obvious door?” she said. On a sane day, I would not make any of the choices we made today. Each choice we made went to the right.” she said. “Hurry! The dragon is here.” They ran for the left door, entering just as the dragon passed overhead. The entrance had an arch covered with ancient writings that appeared to be Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Flashlights lit a long hall going down into darkness. The walls and ceiling stunned then. Writing and drawings covered the walls and ceiling as light illuminated them. Creeping into the darkness. they feared life would end any second. Sweat beaded on their faces from fear and heat. A sigh of relief escaped her as a large room opened before them. In the middle, a gold statue of Gnufu holding the diamond carving in the right hand.

 The men started forward only to be stopped by the woman. She pointed to a sign, “It says spell the name of the god.,” the woman said. “Step on the letters marked on the floor that spell Gnufu. This creates the path. The wrong letter must collapse. I saw this in a movie with some guy carrying a bull whip. Move on the letters after I move to the next one. Take the rope and tie it around my waist in case something happens.”

 One of the men said, “You mean the rock with two other ropes on it?”

  Secured by the rope, she stepped forward on the “k” and her right leg went through the floor. The men pulled hard bringing her back to the solid ground.

 Cursing loud, she said, “Gnufu begins with a silent “g” not “k.” Stepping again on the “G” this time, the floor held. She continued to the “n”, then the “u”, followed by the “f” and another “u”. She stepped on the statue platform bracing for anything. Her two helpers followed. They barely breathed. No one wanted to move.

 One of the men asked, “Why do we do this? Why can’t we sit on a screened in porch and sip tea.?”

 The woman looked at him as her stomach lurched.

 The woman stepped forward, saying, “Let us get moving. The time to leave is now before we are attacked again.” They stepped up to the statue and removed the diamond statue from Gnufu’s hand. The men gathered close to admire when the whole temple complex shook. Before they could react, the floor collapsed sending them down a long slide deep into the mountain. The fall propelled them at incredible speed through twist and turns. They passed temples, houses. Indians watching them fly by. The three of them screamed for their lives before being expelled onto the spot they started the quest. Landing with a thud, they found themselves looking up at a gathering of natives, many armed.

 A male priest reached out his hand and said, “Please.”

 She formed tears as she surrendered the statue. Two men walked up and laid a chest before them. Opening the chest, they marveled at many gold objects and gold bars.

The priest said, “you are one of the few who survive. So many have tried and died. We try to stop them, but they come anyway. We decided to reward the ones who succeed. Take the chest. Please leave most of your equipment so we may scatter it to warn others who try to steal the icon to Gnufu. Your vehicles are right there. Leave now before we allow our dragon to feast.

The priest walked a short distance before turning around, “We will watch you forever. Do not write the solution of the mountain. Nor will you ever return.

 The woman started to speak but the Natives walked away. Later, driving toward the airport one of the men finally spoke, “If not for the gold, I’d believe this was a bad dream. The whole search took two hours. Can we go home now?”

 The woman spoke, “Wasn’t this fun? Let us do this again, another relic.” The men stared at her in silence.