It was dark.
David couldn’t read a word on the stone tablet. He fumbled through his knapsack pockets looking for a flashlight, or at least some matches. How many adventures had he and that knapsack been through, he couldn’t count that high, nor did he care. He just knew it’d always been with him, and probably always would be.
He needed that flashlight now. The entire space time continuum would unravel, if he couldn’t read the ancient tablet before the setting of the solstice moon, and it was setting now.
The Calderians knew deep magic, like no other, they had figured out how to balance the very scales of time, which was running out.
Where was his flashlight?
One last pocket to check. He reached deep into his bag past his compass, knife, and map, fumbling blindly.
There it was. He clicked the button forward as he heard a creaking from outside of the tomb. They had found him, but he knew he had to push on. The very universe was a stake. He could hear them breathing they were upon him.
A blinding flash of light filled the room like an atom bomb. He knew he had failed, and his journey was over.
“Davey, I thought I told you to take out the trash before you went to bed,” his mom scolded. “And Davey I thought I told you to throw away that Tele Tubbies backpack, you’re nine now and way too old for little kid things.”