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Three metallic, emerald green scarab
beetles live inside one of the ancient pyramids that stood majestically in
the arid desert. Most of the time the narrow passageways were dark, but
every morning a man dressed in a long white robe came around with a torch
and lit the torches in the passageways and chambers, so the tourists and
archeologists could see.
One morning, Rashid, the
torchbearer, came walking down the narrow stone passageway, lighting the
torches on the wall with the one in his hand, which illuminated the
darkness of the musty pyramid. The light woke the three scarab beetles up.
"It must be morning," Caliana said. She rubbed her wings together, making
a soft raspy sound. Eager to start the day off with fun she suggested,
"Let’s play a game of hide and seek before the tourists come." The other
two agreed. "Sahara, you and Ramy go and hide first. I’ll come and find
you."
Ramy flew off and hid behind a large
stone sarcophagus. Sahara found a statue of one of the ancient pharaohs
that had been tipped over onto the floor. Both beetles hid quietly while
Caliana searched for them. She found Ramy first, then shortly after that
she found Sahara. "It’s your turn to find Sahara and I," she said to Ramy.
He went off to count. Caliana hid in
a hole in the wall. Sahara couldn’t decide where to hide. She didn’t want
to get caught. She flew up and down the passageways, searching
desperately, until she came to a long one that had colorful hieroglyphics
painted on it. She clung to the wall and didn’t move.
Ramy started looking for his
friends. After a few minutes he found Caliana. They flew into every
chamber and passageway but couldn’t find Sahara. They searched the entire
pyramid. "Sahara," Ramy called. "Where are you?" Sahara giggled as she saw
Caliana and Ramy fly back and forth, looking for her and calling her name.
She wasn’t about to answer them and give her secret hiding place away.
As she clung to the wall she watched
as some people came down the passageway towards her. They were tourists,
she thought, or maybe they were archeologists, or both. She couldn’t tell
because she was right up against the wall. The group stopped at the wall
with the hieroglyphics on it. A man explained to the rest of the group
about what the drawings meant. One of the women asked, "Oh look, there’s a
scarab beetle. What is the significance of the scarab beetle in the
hieroglyphic?"
The man stopped and looked. "Oh my,
I don’t know. It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the message."
One of the tourists heard a giggle
coming from the wall. "What was that?" she asked the guide. Sahara giggled
again. "There it is again. It’s as though the hieroglyphic is laughing at
us." The woman became frightened. "I’m getting out of here. This pyramid
is haunted!" She ran down the passageway and out into the fresh air,
followed by the rest of the group. Nobody wanted to be in a haunted
pyramid.
The other two beetles went flying
by. They heard Sahara giggling. They stopped and looked for her. They
could hear her but couldn’t see her. Finally Caliana spotted the scarab
beetle clinging to the wall. "There she is," he said, flying up to her
friend. "What a good hiding place," she congratulated.
"I scared the tourists. One thing
for sure they will never be able to look at that hieroglyphic the same
again.!" Sahara said, and the three scarab beetles burst out laughing.
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