An echo from the past

There was a palpable calm in the air. Enveloped in deep reverie, he lay flat on his stomach, hands under his chin, watching intently. His eyes were glazed, seeing, yet unseeing. The only sound that seemed to break the silence was the chirping of a flock of finches that every now and then swooped down in droves, almost invisible in the desert landscape, mingling with the sand, feverishly pecking at the innumerable diligent ants scampering around.

Further ahead, a bunch of playful mice meandered in and out of their burrows, as if frantically searching for some lost treasure.

He moved again, just to rest his head on one elbow and to take the weight off his stomach. He squinted, trying to focus on an object that had just caught his fancy. He continued to look at it pointedly, but refused to budge from the shade of the scraggy tree he had managed to find in the otherwise desolate place. Unblinkingly, suddenly took on a new meaning as he gazed, gaped and finally gawked, all in that order, as he realized what he’d probably happened upon.

He had set off on this particular journey, to the middle of nowhere as most people referred to it, as a part of a regular assignment, one of many as he was an archaeologist by passion and engineer by training.

Excavations and history or history and delving into cultures, societies and lifestyles of bygone eras were top of his to do list. Though he often wondered if such lonely travails were the way to go or be. For very few could take and survive harsh climatic conditions, days of Spartan routines and tedious long drawn field trips often alone, rarely with an assistant  

He finally gathered his wits, shrugged off the lethargy and gingerly walked toward what he had sighted. He set down his backpack and with sure and nimble hands set to work. Hours went by, but what had seemed like a clear indication of a shard of history turned out to be just some bits of coloured stone, perhaps filled with minerals. Disappointment was just another name for what he did too. Though all the times in the past when people had openly scoffed at him, making him sometimes question his resilience and ardor, had more often than not paid rich dividends in terms of the finds to his name.   

He had about three hours of clear sunlight, so thought of taking a quick break and walked further from the dry, decrepit mound and sat down resting his slightly aching back against another scrawny, gnarled tree. He often ate a frugal meal, a balanced one at best, in such conditions and hydrated himself well.

As he rested perhaps catching the proverbial forty winks in between, he noticed a flash of colour from the corner of his eye and almost simultaneously a whiff of incense wafted up to his nostrils. He sniffed the air in the direction opposite to the flash of colour, just a sliver it was.

He almost gasped as she lightly touched his brow, and slid close to him, her long tresses almost touching the ground below. She was paler than the women he’d seen around in these parts. She tugged at his shirt-sleeves, urging him to follow her; the world seemed to have come to a standstill in that moment. Lissome was the only word that came to mind as he saw her sail over the treacherous terrain, a few paces ahead of him, he clumsily followed suit.              

He dug frantically, as the last rays of the sun reflected off his back. He knew he needed to stop as the sun was ready to roll over for the day. About two feet of dirt piled above the pit, his countenance bore strains of the long day and nestled in a small alcove on one wall were the remnants of what looked like a looking glass. He wiped off the dust of eras and gasped as he caught a glimpse of her again, this time reflected as a virtual image in the half broken mirror.

Exactly a year later, he was felicitated, yet again for having found one of the most ancient civilizations on earth: single-mindedness of purpose and purported research based experience or and echo from the past, was hard to tell.       

©Copyright Suverchala Kashyap