The Stone Head [DEC2013]

John had spent many years pursuing the ancient past and had traveled all over the world looking for that one great find. Some of his college friends had already been successful in establishing themselves as archeologists. His big claim to fame was working for someone else who took all the credit. He had become more and more bitter and jealous, until he actually thought about leaving the field. In his mind all he had become was a higher paid field hand.

So it was with that in mind, he decided to quit and go out on his own so he wouldn’t have to share the glory of a big find. He quit and left the dig in Peru and decided to explore the upper reaches of the tributaries that fed the Amazon River. He hired a small float plane to deliver him with his gear, supplies and inflatable raft. It was about halfway through his flight that he realized they were in serious trouble; the engine began to cough and misfire. They were losing power and altitude at a fast rate. The pilot attempted to land on a small stream that was barely wide enough for the plane’s wings but it was not long enough to bring it to a stop.

They crashed directly into the bank and broke off their pontoons and the plane fuselage continued on into the thick underbrush. The pilot was killed instantly when a large tree limb came through the windshield and impaled him. John sat in shock as he realized he had survived with only a few scratches and bumps. As his eyesight began to return to him and he was able to focus his vision he was again startled. For there ahead just a dozen or so feet away was a stone face unlike any he had ever seen.

If he had not just survived a plane crash he would have thought someone was playing a trick on him. This stone head looked like a gray alien of science fiction. He smelled smoke and realized he needed to exit the plane quickly and get the pilot out and extract his equipment and supplies before the plane burst into fire but he was too late. The plane quickly burned to almost nothing recognizable.

The realization he was alone suddenly came crashing down upon him. But then he realized he wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by what looked like tribal people, but none that he had ever seen. Their tawny skin was strangely mottled and their facial features were extremely strange. Their faces were flat and their noses very small. There skulls were oval shaped and they had large dark eyes.

My god he thought, “They look aliens.” He literally jumped when he heard a thought form in his head and a strange voice state, “You are correct. We carry the genes of our mothers and our star fathers. He now realized they were communicating telepathically with him. He looked around him and realized he was surrounded by star children. There was no discernible look of aggression on their faces and only a reassuring thought that he was not in harms way.

Then he was directed to follow them and they made their way back into the jungle. They soon came to a series of stone buildings. They were only one story high and there roofs were flat and as he looked close he realized they were joined one roof to the next. One of them then explained to him that they made up their landing deck.

After giving him food and water they then began to explain to him that he had come just in time to see their departure. He asked them out loud where they were going. They replied to him telepathically that they were going back to their home planet. He asked them when and they stated that very night. As he sat there listening to their story he realized they had been waiting for almost a 1,000 years for the return of their ship. Their normal life span was about 350 years.

These people were the grand children of the original crew. They had survived by utilizing the females of the natives who once lived here. They had all fled the area when their wives began disappearing. The area had been left alone because it was cursed and the tribes around the area were too fearful to ever enter where they saw the stone head.

It was beginning to get dark and as he sat in great wonder thinking about what an incredible find he had made and how it was going to make him famous, he heard a strong humming sound that was fast approaching. All the tribe then stood up and looked to the night sky and then suddenly as if appearing out of nowhere a craft sat down on the roof. He reached for his camera to catch the marvelous sight but then realized he had lost all his equipment in the fire.

In a very orderly fashion they climbed the stairs to the roof and entered the craft. One of them approached him and communicated they were leaving and could not take him with them. The leader directed him to look to his right and see they left him a pile of supplies for him to get back to civilization. Then the leader was gone.

John thought to himself, well maybe he didn’t have a camera but he would be able to bring others back to help him explore the site. He would be famous at last. He turned and looked as the humming increased and the craft lifted into the air. Suddenly there was a strange glow in the night all around the buildings and with a powerful burst the entire structure disappeared from sight. In the light of day he discovered the stone head was gone as well.

John was found many miles downstream three months later by some missionaries. He was mumbling and ranting about aliens and spaceships. They believed he had the fever and had gone insane. Later after a long hospital stay he was never well enough to search for the site. For the rest of his life he would scribble endlessly. It was always a picture of a stone head.

reply to post by grayeagle


Nice to meet you. Go to soundcloud and search on "ivan sokolnikov" for a more lengthly response.

reply to post by grayeagle


Hi greyeagle. I got into the story,It was a good read. It's typical, No camera when you really need one. Hope your doing well btw and good luck

reply to post by TheDoctor46


Thanks Doc! I am doing well and trust you are too. My life in some ways is on hold until I get my knee replacement surgeries done. But my imagination continues to work well and I am enjoying writing! BTW and just as a reminder, I still haven't seen you submit any of your writing yet. Natalia and I are waiting!

reply to post by grayeagle


I enjoyed this too friend.
Good luck.

Oh dern knees huh!?! I wish you well with your surgeries.
Have a great day and again good luck
Peace and love
-nat

reply to post by grayeagle


Haha I knew you would bring that up ...Watch this space my friend. As something will be going on soon

reply to post by grayeagle


I liked it. Creative. Very nice!

reply to post by grayeagle


S&F from me too!

I love the ending! Poor John, pretty endings are not my thing though.

It was a great read and very engaging.