I flew through the sky on my hoverboard with no destination in mind. I may have the best boss in the world! Is what I should be thinking, but I could only help to think: I only planned to work today, get dinner, and go home. What was I going to do for the rest of the day?
As my mind wandered through possible places to kill an afternoon, I heard my phone ring. Taking it out of my pocket, it was Quintin calling. Swerving past a flock of birds, I answered the call. "Yo, what's up, dude?"
"Happy birthday, ma dude!!" Quintin said. I could hear the loud music from a club in the background. There were loud popping noises; Quintin was probably in the VIP section and they were popping bottles. I could also hear women screaming. It was most likely a bridal shower or a girls' night out.
"Thank you. I see you're partying as usual. What country are you in now?" Flying toward me from a distance was an airliner. I descended, letting the plane pass.
"I'm in Amsterdam! Gil, let me fly you out. People are partying extra hard tonight. It's absolutely insane! I can send a jet over and have you here in about two hours," Quintin said. The heavy beat of club music crackled through the phone. I heard the crash of broken glass beneath the pulsing music, then a muffled voice barking orders about someone getting off the bar but I could barely hear it over chorus of voices talking and laughing
"Nah, man, you know I'm not into going into places like that. I enjoy my very simple life. I very much prefer quieter places like museums," I said, watching the huge cloud in front of me grow larger. Instead of flying through it, I swerved my hoverboard around it's side.
"Alright, man, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me," Quintin said as we ended the call.
Did I unknowingly come up with a great idea for how I am going to spend the day? Swerving my board to the left and I flew towards the museum.
Arriving at the museum, I landed at the front door and stepped off my hoverboard. Picking up the hoverboard, the nanobots in the board came apart and started to morph and tightly coil themseleves to create my wristband. I made my way to the kiosk, then looked through the different ticket options. I noticed they had a special offer on the "Myths and Legends" exhibit. It looked to be an extensive exhibit on the history of different myths and legends. Seems like this is right up my ally. Clicking the "buy now" button, I purchased a ticket.
Arriving at the exhibit, I scanned my code and went inside. The Stone statues of mythical beasts and ancient gods loomed over me from every wall, their stone faces frozen in eternal expressions of power and wisdom. At the foot of each figure stood a large polished bronze plaque, its surface etched with a description their historical significance.
I walked over to a statue of a large beared man with long hair. Considering his warrior physique, I would have expected him to be clad in armor. However, he only wore a sash across his chest and a cloth to cover his nether regions. The plaque in front of read “Gilgamesh: An ancient King of Uruk.”
"Now, we are going to discuss the gods of death," someone behind me said. I spun around to find a small group huddled around a tour guide, all eyes fixed on the exhibit I walked over to join the group. The guide paused mid-sentence when he spotted me, our eyes meeting in a moment of awkwardly recognition. It was almost like he was questioning why am I here, but then he smiled. "Ah, just in time, newcomer. We will go over my favorite god," the tour guide said as he winking at me.
"The God of death has taken on many names and forms throughout humanity's history. The ancient Egyptians called him Anubis, Scandinavians referred to her as Hel, and the Greeks called him Thanatos," the tour guide said as he walked backward, pointing to the different statues of the respective gods. "Just a little fun fact: Eros, the god of love, is often mistaken for Thanatos and vice versa. The reason they are often confused with each other is because both are very beautiful, winged deities. The two Gods also exhibit duality because to understand pleasure, you must first know pain. Sigmund Freud wrote extensively about this, so if you want to learn more, I highly recommend reading some of his theories on the subject."
We walked past the statue of Thanatos. Next to the winged god stood a couple of girls with large bird-like wings on their backs. I broke away from the tour and read the plaque: "The Keres Female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields." Oh my, I hope I never run into those vixens.
I turned around to rejoin the tour, but they were nowhere to be found. I walked all over the exhibit looking for the tour group, but I couldn't find them. I really liked that tour guide; he seemed to be really knowledgeable. Leaving the exhibit, I talked to the receptionist across the door. "Hey, I was wondering what time the next tour is for the 'Myths and Legends' exhibit."
The receptionist stared at me from behind her desk, her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyebrows scrunched together. It was as if I'd asked my question in different language. "We don't have any tours running today," she said, scrolling through her tablet to double-check.
"Are you sure? I just saw a group inside getting a tour."
"Sir, you were the only person that went in that exhibit all afternoon," the receptionist said.
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