Exploring through a desert was not easy work. Anderson drudged through the tall sand dunes, the sun beating down on his burnt back. As he mounted the crest of the dune, he stared out towards the horizon. In the distance he saw trees, an oasis. Hungrily, he quickened his pace, and jogged weakly towards what he feared was a hallucination. Sliding, tumbling down the sandy mountains, Anderson managed to crawl his way to the pond. It was real! Just over a quarter of a mile away, was Anderson’s tryst with survival. Stumbling further towards the pond, the sun crept its way to noon. Anderson looked up to see the star that was attempting to kill him, and then back down at the oasis that would be his protector. In an almost pathetic manner, he stumbled towards the pond until her fell, just short of it.

The hot sand below him began to shake and crumble him. The earth around him cracked and shattered. He began to yell as the ground opened up to swallow him. Standing up shakily, he saw the radius around him fall into a massive sinkhole. Frantically, he continued to chase the oasis, until he saw it lurch up as the ground below him sank more. The oasis that he had chased so much for flipped into the air, dousing him with water. The sand around him consumed him and he fell further into the ground. Giant rocks from all around fell from the sky like asteroids, nearly missing Anderson. Eventually, he presumed, his luck would fail, and it did. A large palm tree spun into the sinkhole, and came straight for him.

He woke up on solid ground. Standing up and groaning, he saw water flowing onto flat solid rock. He looked around confused. Looking up, he saw a distant light which he guessed was the sun. Hearing trickling, Anderson stood up to see a small stream of water flowing from the surface onto the cold rock floor.

    “Rock.” he whispered to himself, realizing the absurdity of it. He tried to look more closely at it. “Bizzare.” the laying of the stone looked undoubtedly intentional- almost human.

Looking towards the darker region of the cave, he saw a tunnel. Looking back to the surface and the trickling water, he ventured further in. From his pocket, he drew a small lighter, with which he saw the wall, which he followed with his hand to a grand archway. Lined with gold, Anderson became giddy with excitement. He felt the gold in the archway, shivering with the prospect of becoming rich and famous back home. Ripping his gaze from the gleaming arch, his eyes were drawn to a builders room, which contained slabs of stone pinned to the walls, with large stone tables and what looked like crude building tools. His jaw dropped in awe as he looked at a map of an enormous structure which he guessed had either not been dreamed into existence, or had stayed a dream. Venturing further into the seeming labyrinth of rooms, he fell upon chests of exquisite gold and silver. He dragged his fingers along the ancient walls excitedly gathering a jump in his step. As a smile creeped onto his face, he snaked through the caverns until he heard-

    “Water?” saying to himself, now remembering his thirst as the adrenaline wore away. He followed the noise eagerly, and slowly, that trickling grew louder and he felt himself getting closer to the source. Walking through the intricate gold doorway that matched the theme of the cavern, he found the trickle to be a small stream of water spilling out of the ceiling. He looked up to the ceiling of the dark stone room, and remembered he must’ve been at least a hundred feet underground. However, water was water, so he jumped under the tiny stream of life and opened his mouth.

After exiting the “water room” and refilling his pouch, Anderson, now energetic enough to discover more of the cavern, decided to venture further down into the cave. As he continued his general sweep of each room, he saw the doorways become less intricate, and the rooms become less grand. Observing this, he felt a fear in his stomach that he was looking on the remnants of a an entire people. Maybe after a few hours, Anderson saw what seemed to be the end of the line. A long corridor with the last marvelous room in the cave faced him as he jumped off of the lat stairs in a spiral staircase. Looking up as he entered, he saw beautiful gold again, with splatters of dried blood. He gulped as he entered the final room.

Pushing aside the silk curtain doorway, Anderson observed the history of this place. A skeleton wearing extravagant silk clothing, and gold jewelry was slumped over a wooden desk with an enormous hole in its skull. Anderson, disgusted, looked around the room with his small lighter, and found he revolver which he guessed had killed the man. Looking to its left, he saw another skeleton wearing clothes much like Anderson’s own.

Anderson sat slumped in the corner of the room, feeling somewhat responsible for the death of this man who was likely king. But again, he began to cheer himself up with the prospects of fame and fortune at his discovery. Now, finally looking to the walls, he stared at a poorly concealed stairwell. As he got up, and turned around to walk down into the final portion of the cave, he looked back to the king, slumped over the desk, probably dead for centuries.

As he ventured deeper into this cave, Anderson grew shaky and afraid of what he would find. Reaching the end of the stairwell, he walked into something hard.

    “A door,” he muttered, his heart rate increasing. He looked down the stone frame, and at a large gold bar that stopped the door from opening. With an immense amount of force, he lifted the massive gold bar, and pushed open the heavy stone door. When he dusted himself off, and looked towards the final room- which was more like an enormous hall, he saw the collision of heaven and hell.

Hundreds of skeletons were strewn across the chamber atop hills and mountains of treasure and art. On the left side he saw the men who wore clothes akin to his, and on the right, men who dressed similar to the king in the room upstairs. Anderson stumbled in shock to the middle of the room, finding something that resembled a stone carving. He looked closely at the picture, and saw a large, ferocious looking man towering over a group of small children. He looked towards the painting solemnly and then towards his own clothes, and the skeletons of the men on the left side of the marvelous hall. He put down the art, and dragged his feet to the stairwell. As he turned around to walk up, he turned around for the final time to the treasure room.

He made his way back to the water room, and sat against the wall, listening to the dripping of water. For the first time, he felt the caverns resisting him. Anderson looked towards the exit of the cavern, and back to the stream of water. For the first time, he felt like an invader.

As the sun trudged along its usual path, now falling behind the horizon, Anderson too fell towards the pile of rocks, with which he fell into the hidden civilization. He sat again, looking at the stars, and the memory of the slaughtered men standing on mounds of wealth. Suddenly and instinctively, he began throwing large rocks and boulders at the cave entrance, blocking them off. The rocks went and came, and the sand from the scorching desert pulled closer to his feet. He guessed after hours, he collapsed on the small mountain of sand he created and lay down, his eyes shutting.

A few hours later, Anderson woke up to the sight of the covered cave, and remembered his yearning for fortune and fame. Now, he frowned at the premise, and stood up, beginning to climb his mountain. Anderson held his pouch of water and made his way to the horizon, trying to forget what he had seen.