(Originally posted at Writing.com)
“Come on, Carl!” from outside the bathroom, I heard Erin yell, “We’re going to miss the bus back to the
hotel!”
My name is Carl Ackerman; I’m 19 years old and a sophomore in college. I was spending Spring Break in southern
Europe with my best friend, Erin Cunningham. We’d just spent the day touring an archeological dig in northern
Greece; and I was using the bathroom prior to taking the bus back to the hotel in Alexandroupoli.
“I’m coming!”
Grabbing my backpack, I met Erin outside and we started heading towards the parking lot. We had 10 minutes
before the bus left; and we didn’t want to be left behind. The two of us were running down the path when I
suddenly tripped and fell to the ground.
Grabbing my knee in pain, I saw Erin running back to me. “You alright?”
Erin’s been my best friend ever since she moved next door during our sophomore year of High School. The two of
us shared common activities and it wasn’t a surprise when we became best friends.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Looking at Erin, I said, “I must’ve tripped on something.”
Kneeling down, Erin spotting something sticking out of the ground. “Yeah, I think you did.”
Turning to Erin, I saw her digging in the ground and holding up what looked like an old lamp. “What is that?”
“I don’t know.” Looking at her watch, Erin said, “We better hurry if we want to catch the bus.”
Without even thinking that she was essentially stealing a priceless artifact, Erin took the lamp and stuffed
it in her bag.
The ride back to the hotel took almost 2 hours; we both passed the time by sleeping. The two of us got back to
the hotel around 5:30 that evening. Walking through the lobby, I turned to Erin and said, “Want to get some
dinner later? I saw a nice restaurant from the bus.”
“Sure, that sounds cool.” Walking into the elevator, Erin said, “But let’s relax first; we’ve had a long day.”
The two of us got back to the room a few minutes later; and I sat down on the bed as Erin went into the
bathroom to take a shower. I was asleep in a matter of minutes; failing to notice smoke emanating from the
lamp.