Alex and Jakob walked around looking at the different boxes. "This is stupid! How are we supposed to know what we're getting? I didn't come here for a lottery where I could get something dumb like giant ears or nothing at all."
"I don't think it's THAT random." Jakob told him. "I mean, the sign says we can TAKE one and if we don't want it, all we have to do is put it BACK under the box. So if we can find a way to look at the idols without removing them from under the box to begin with, then we shouldn't have to worry about that whole "take more than one and die thing."
Alex grinned at him. "I knew there was a good reason I brought you along."
The two examined the boxes. They were wooden crates with the bottoms nailed on. "We could try flipping the box over so the top becomes the bottom? No. That might not be a good idea. If the packing tumbles or something it could still roll out."
Alex shrugged and tipped one of the crates over, making sure to keep it shut.
"What are you doing?" Jakob asked, his voice rising some in pitch.
"Relax. I'm tipping it over, not opening it. Well, I will open it, but only a tiny bit so we can see if there's padding or anything that might come out if opened more." The crate tipped over onto its top, he lifted it up an inch. "What do you see?"
Jakob grumbled as he got down and put his head on the ground. "I can't really see anything."
"Use your flashlight."
Jakob scowled up to Alex but grabbed his flashlight and looked again. "Ummmm... It looks like some sort of cloth padding. Maybe sackcloth."
Alex scoffed. "Really? Who uses that anymore?"
"Um, you do remember that this was all packed here decades ago, right?" Jakob asked, shining the flashlight at Alex's face.
Alex felt his face flush. "Of course not. Can you see the idol in this crate?" Jakob shook his head. "Try using that plank to push up the cloth and see if you can spot the idol inside."
Jakob looked at where Alex nodded. Grabbing it and crawling back. "Lift the crate up a little more." Alex did as instructed. Carefully, Jakob slid the plank in and lifted the cloth up. "I think I see something. Lower that side and lift it at an angle to keep the cloth contained. Yeah. That's it. Okay, ummmmm.... Huh. That strange."
"What is?" Alex asked.
"The statue is like crystal with flex of gold. I thought the legends said they were gold."
"They did. What does it look like? And can you hurry? My arms are starting to cramp."
"Looks like a regular person but transparent with gold flecks. You can put this one back down and we can try the next box until we both find one we like." Alex lowered the box and shook his arms out Jakob moved to carefully tip the next box over.
The two spent the next few hours taking turns checking out idols. Some were easy to identify from the little they could see in the gaps, such as a massive fat guy, a tall one, a short one, and one with an extra set of arms. Others were less easy including one that was gold for the upper half and what looked like silver or rock for the lower half, a round one that didn't even look like a person and one that looked segmented. Many just looked like regular statues from what they could make out and they couldn't even make out the rest.