Temporal

Lucy always hated the smell of hospitals. In her 60 years of life it had always felt like the stench of the corridors haunted her. When she was 6 and fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm, when she was 22 and had her first child, when she was 45 and her mother had a series of strokes and she went to visit her, no matter the reason for her visit to the hospital, the smell stuck with her. Lucy sat in the screening room with her now 38-year-old daughter, Jamie, and waited for doctor… What was his name again? She couldn’t remember but it was besides the point. A knock came upon the door. The door swung open and in came the doctor holding the folder with Lucy’s fate sealed inside.

“Hello, Miss Lucy, how are we today?” the doctor asked.

“Good, just trying to figure out what’s wrong with me,” Lucy replied in a joking manner but was honestly very worried to find out.

“Well, don’t you worry we’re gonna figure you all out. Sorry to make you get into that cramped machine for that scan. Based on your answers on our preliminary survey and your family’s history I thought it’d be wise for us to rule out some of the more undesirable possibilities. Jamie, good to see you again. How’s little Tyler?”

“Good to see you too Dr. Conners. He’s not so little anymore. He’s 15 and growing like a weed! He’s here right now in the waiting room with his daddy.” Jamie retorted.

“Wow 15! Has it really been that long? Careful once they start growing, they never stop. Anyways, now what we’re here for, your scan results. Now your survey definitely gave me the feeling that what you experienced last week could have been a mild stroke so what we really want to look for is any damage in your brain,” Dr. Conners opens the folder and pulls out a large photo of Lucy’s brain. “You see there are very subtle signs of damage here, and here, and here, which can be scary but given your motor skills are fine it makes us less concerned. However, you did say you’ve been having some memory problems so we ran those tests earlier. Best I can diagnose this early is Dementia. We will have to keep a close watch and monitor to see if it becomes Alzheimer’s.”

That was the word. That’s the word that made Lucy completely zone out from the rest of the meeting with Dr. Conners. That was the one word Lucy dreaded hearing today. She knew what that could mean. She knew Alzheimer’s was terminal, but how fast would it come? Only God knew.

Lucy sat in her chair in her backyard and watched her dog and Tyler play together. Would she see him grow up? She worried about the effect this would have on him growing up. Knowing her mind would decay as he grew though she knew eventually it would be impossible to explain.

***3 Years Later***

“Tyler, would you like to give your report next?” Tyler’s head shot up from his notes.

“Right now?” Tyler asked.

“Uh, yeah?” Ms. Leach said, looking at him slightly concerned as to if he had prepared anything.

Tyler got up from his desk holding a disorganized pile of papers and began to hobble over to the projector, stray pages of notes floating down to the ground with every step he took. The room was filled with awkward silence as he shuffled to the front. He seemed unprepared but in reality he just had so much information he didn’t know where to start. Once there he put a piece of paper under the projector camera that says “TEMPORAL STONE” with a picture of a stone with three large scratches on it forking down like a rake.

“Um, my history project is on the temporal stone. The stone was a relic that the ancient Aztecs used on their elderly people who they believed to be possessed by a demon that stopped them from being able to have memory of specific things. Sometimes these people would get violent not remembering who anyone was or what they were doing there so naturally they wanted to cure this. The stone was said to scare away the demon inside and restore the elder’s memory. Years later when archaeologists found recordings of the stone they made the connection that the Aztecs could have been referring to their version of Alzheimer’s, which as many know there is no cure for. Now no archaeologists ever found the stone in fact this picture is only a charcoal rubbing of an Aztec’s drawing of it bu-”

“Tyler, I'm gonna stop you right there,” Ms. Leach interrupts. “I asked for a history report. Not a fairytale.” The class all laughed. Tyler felt small but he knew he believed in it. He had to.

“Just cause it hasn’t been physically found yet doesn’t mean it doesn't exist,” Tyler says hopefully.

“Does anyone else have a project on something PROVEN?” Ms. Leach asks condescendingly.

Tyler would remember these laughs. He didn't need them to motivate him, he already had all the motivation he needed. But he would get some satisfaction some day when he proved them all wrong. He would spend the next 4 years in college, studying archaeology and all that he could of the Temporal Stone. He was an educated man now and an educated man will do all that he can to get whatever he desires, but first a visit.

Tyler hated the smell of hospitals. He had never been in one for any serious reasons. Always just to visit his grandmother. He didn’t visit her nearly enough but he loved her beyond words. It just hurt a little more every visit seeing how different she had become. Tyler’s mother was at the door to her room. She smiled as he approached and extended her arms for a hug.

“How are you?” his mom asks.

“I’m fine mom. How is she?” There’s a long pause before his mother speaks and she sighs.

“It’s not one of her best days. I had to remind her multiple times how we were related and who I-” she began to cry. Tyler went in to hold her.

“Hey hey hey mom. It’s ok. It’s ok. I’m gonna fix this. I have a plan.” She wiped a tear from her face and sniffled.

“Tyler, you can’t obsess over this stone, it’s coming to an end. We knew this was coming.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t stop it! If there’s a chance even the smallest chance I can have my grandmother, your mother, back. I’m gonna take it, no matter the cost,” Tyler brushes his mother aside and enters the hospital room, closing the door slowly behind him.

Tyler sees his grandmother in her bed. She looks healthy, not well kempt, but healthy. He supposed for now that was all that mattered.

“Hey grandma,” he says softly as he approaches her bed, acting as if he hadn’t just blown up outside.

“Hi,” she says and laughs almost nervously.

“How are you?” he asks.

“Oh I’m fine, I just wish they would stop serving this awful hospital food. My mama would be turning in her grave knowing I’m eating this stuff.”

Tyler laughed painfully. “Well I saw they had some chocolate in the vending machine and I know you would never turn that away. How about I sneak you some?” Tyler said with a wink. She barely responded before he got up to go to the vending machine. When he left the room his mother entered to try again.

While Tyler was within earshot of the room he heard his grandmother's voice say, “The most handsome boy was just in here. He offered to buy me a chocolate bar. I’m a bit confused because he called me grandma.”

She had no idea who Tyler was. He couldn’t delay it any longer. Tyler went back home without buying the chocolate bar. Having studied archaeology he always had a bag ready for field work. He packed the rest of his things and then hitched a ride to the airport. He bought the next ticket to Southern Mexico.

The flight was relatively smooth. He quickly realized he had not only found the next flight to Mexico but also the cheapest. The seat had tears in it as if a cougar had been sitting there last. The overhead compartment door flung open multiple times cascading the aisle with overhead bags. Tyler just prayed the plane's only broken down parts were in the interior and not amenities such as landing gear.

The shoddy plane finally landed in Mexico. Due to its close proximity to the Aztec ruins that had not been turned into tourist attractions yet, the airport was just as sketchy as the plane. Tyler rented a Jeep and knew this is where the real danger began.

Archaeologists years ago had found inscriptions of the stones on a wall in one specific pyramid. They searched every nook and cranny but found nothing. If they couldn’t do it, what made Tyler think he could? Tyler had motivation beyond fame and glory. Beyond a price tag. He had the love of his grandmother and all the memories they had together.

The name of the pyramid he was going to roughly translated to “Cerebral Temple”. In many ways the Aztecs were ahead of their time, some more mysterious than others. Tyler approached the pyramid but came across a rope bridge which extended at least 100 feet. Archaeologists had stopped studying the pyramid once they had given up the search for the stone or anything of value and when they left destroyed all methods of getting to the pyramid the easy way.

Tyler knew what he had to do and hated it so much. He approached the bridge and looked down and saw nothing but blackness, the type of balck that is so black it begins to look blue. He tested the strength of the bridge by shaking one of the rope handles and sure enough one of the panels fell. After a few seconds he heard the faintest crash of the wood piece on the bottom. That’s a far drop.

Tyler knew it was the only option though. He took his first step. A creak followed shortly after his foot fell. The wind blew almost taunting Tyler and letting him know how stupid he was. Each step felt more perilous than the next but not one broke underneath his feet... until the last one. After he stepped off the last plank and felt semi-victorious, the entire bridge snapped and fell behind him.

Tyler being as determined as he was didn’t have time to think about how he would get back now. Right in front of him was the Cerebral Temple. He had read about it for years but here it was in front of him. He knew that inside he would find out if all those who laughed were right or wrong and it terrified him. He knew coming home empty handed had other implications but the satisfaction at proving those who laughed wrong was so desirable.

There was an entrance atop the first level of stairs on the pyramid. Tyler ran up there knowing his search wouldn’t start itself. Upon entering he was greeted by a long corridor at the end of which was a staircase. The wall was covered in symbols and pictures left behind by the Aztecs God knows how long ago. Tyler retrieved his flashlight and his notes on ancient dialects from his gear bag and tried to decipher them the best he could. All that was written in the traditional Aztec language was “TURN BACK.”

It would take more than those two words to scare Tyler off. He continued on down the hallway and reached the staircase. The writing continued up the walls of that but most of it was in the unrecognizable language. It wasn’t even a language Tyler hadn’t seen; they were symbols he hadn’t seen. He reached the top of the staircase and realized he was at the top of the entire pyramid.

There was absolutely nothing at the top. Tyler was in shock. This couldn’t be it. There can’t just be nothing. Tyler threw his notes down on the ground in frustration. The charcoal rubbing of the Temporal Stone slid out from behind one of the many pages. Tyler picked it up. He held it up and was nearly about to rip it when he noticed something. The three large scratches when held directly towards the front of the pyramid met with the three large spires in front of the tower. Tyler quickly grabbed a pen and used these scratches to find the center it led to. Sure enough it led directly to the stone path in front of the pyramid.

Tyler sprinted down the stairs like a child on Christmas morning and went down to the stone path. He turned over every single one of the hexagonal stones eventually he found one with writing on the back. It was a key. Every symbol correlated to a letter for the Aztec language. Tyler could now read everything written on the walls. One thing was certain the stone had existed. It wasn’t made up. The walls described it as a “healer sent by the gods to destroy the demons of their land”.

Tyler felt reassured knowing it was real but he would not feel completely at peace until he had it in his hand. Who knows who could have taken it and been using it without disclosing it to the world. He reached the staircase with his new found tool. “The key must be placed where the gods may see it and your true intentions.” The top of the pyramid! If only the archaeologists of the past had looked right under their noses they would have had this key to what was their Holy Grail.

Tyler was back at the top. When there he noticed something that hadn’t been there before. An empty spot in the floor the same shape as the key. He placed the stone hexagon in the crevice. The shape began to slowly glow. Before Tyler had any time to react the floor beneath him was gone and was sliding down along a cold and moist surface as if he were in a waterslide. Was this a trap? Was it gonna lead him directly down the bottomless ravine?

He decided to think of his grandmother. Think about the Saturdays he spent there watching TCM movies and tried to act like he knew what was going on. Thought about the oatmeal she’d bring him anytime he was sick. Thought about the day he was told she was sick.

Then a rush of water hit Tyler. He was suddenly treading water in a giant cave. He gained his barings and adjusted to the light. He saw nothing but an ember glow. Thinking it was sunlight he swam towards it. The closer he got the more the picture became clearer. This wasn’t sunlight. It was on a pedestal. The artifact he had studied for almost a decade was right in front of him.

Tyler clambered up onto the platform where the altar sat. He kneeled in front of it and cried. “I found it! I found it!” He knew no one could hear him but it didn’t matter, he could hear himself. He grabbed the stone. A pressure plate underneath it released, opening a door to a stairway up and out. When he reached daylight he was on the other side of the ravine. Those Aztecs really did think of everything. Tyler had emerged victorious. He got in his Jeep and drove to the airport.

He landed back home, he had not let the stone leave his person the entire flight. He turned on his phone and had multiple missed calls from his mom. He called her back joyful to tell her the news.

“Mom! I found it! I got the stone! We can save her!” Tyler exclaimed.

“Tyler,” her voice did not match his excitement in the slightest, “We’re all at the hospital, you need to get here, she doesn’t have much time left.”

“What?” Tyler said with his voice shaky.

“She took a real bad turn just a few hours ago. They say she won’t make it through the night. She’s completely incoherent.”

“I’m on my way,” Tyler croaks out.

He arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes later. He went to the room, his mom was inside this time along with several other family members distant and close. He opened the door and everyone turned to look at him. His grandmother was emaciated, it looked nothing like the funny and caring woman he had grown up with. He rushed to her side as she babbled nonsense.

“Blueberry pie! Thank you mommy!” she says with a giggle.

“Grandma. Grandma it’s me, Tyler,” she looked at him like he was the one out of his mind while he shoved the stone in her hand. “Just hold onto this grandma. It’ll help. It’ll help,” Tyler says as he holds it in her hand and cries. With her other hand she grabs his face.

“Child, one does not need memory to know how much love they feel from a person. Every time I’ve seen you, even though I don’t know who you are, I feel the love. Love is not a memory that can be brought back with silly trinkets, love is a feeling that can only be brought by the presence and words of those who pump it through your veins.”

Those were the last words Tyler would hear from his grandmother. Although she wasn’t coherent in the end she left him with a message that would transcend memory and time.

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