I was so excited, I could hardly finish my breakfast. Today our class was going to take a trip to the museum with Egyptian artifacts on display. Jared and I had been talking about this trip all week. We had been studying Egypt and their Kings and Queens in our history class. I was particularly interested in seeing the coffins and their mummies.

It was almost the end of winter, and I was anxious for warmer weather and some new adventures. The last one had taken Jared and I to a cemetery, and scared us half to death. But something wonderful happened from that adventure, I now have a puppy!  A little black ball of fur with four white paws showed up from nowhere and pretty much adopted me. I named her Daisy, and I can't wait to take her with us on our next adventure.

It was still too cold to ride our bikes to school so Jared and I rode the bus. At Jared's stop he bounced up the steps and plopped down next to me rubbing his hands.

"Where's your gloves?"

"I think my dorky brother borrowed them, and of course I haven't seen them since. Mom's going to pick some up today, said the next time it happens Dustin will have to pay for them. "

He jammed his hands into his coat pocket. Suddenly his face changed, and he sheepishly pulled his gloves out. Oh no, he had blamed Dustin, this could be detrimental to his health!

To get the whiteness out of his face I started talking about mummies.

"So I went to the library and got more books about mummification. Did you know that they take most of their organs out and put them in jars? Then they make a hole above their noses and pull out their brains!"

For some reason Jared's face got whiter.

"That's gross. Why would they take out their organs and brains?"

"To purify the body, then they begin the dehydration process."

"Is that when it becomes a mummy?"

"Yup, they dry the body out, then rub oil and other stuff on it so they can preserve it. Kind of like when you cook a turkey."

That cracked Jared up, and finally got his mind off the possible dismemberment by his brother.

"I will never have another Thanksgiving where I won't be thinking of the turkey as a mummy. So what happens next?"

"They have long strips of cloth that they wrap around the body. Sometimes it takes a couple weeks before they're done. Then they make a death mask that looks like the person did when they were alive, and put it over their face. After that they put them in a coffin and then in their tomb."

"Jeepers, you really know a lot about mummies. That's more interesting than learning about boring old wars and Kings and Queens whose names you can't even pronounce."

"Totally, and. . . ." I paused dramatically, " I also read about mummy curses."

Now I really had Jared's attention.

"No way!"

"Way," I giggled back, enjoying the look of awe on Jared's face.

Relishing his complete attention, which included an opened mouth and drool sliding down his bottom lip, I started the story about an old mummy and his curse.

"This King had a servant, Ammon, who was in love with his daughter. The King told the servant and his daughter that if he ever saw them together he would kill the servant. One day a spy for the King lied and said he saw Ammon and the princess together in the garden. The King became furious and ordered the arrest of the servant and sentenced him to death. The horrible thing about it, he was to be wrapped up like a mummy and buried alive. Right before the servant died he placed a curse on the King and anyone else involved with his death."

"Holy cow," Jared slurped the drool off his lip, "I'm glad this is make believe."

Just then we pulled into the parking lot, and everyone got off the bus and went to their classrooms.

An hour later we were all back on the bus again, and this time our destination was the museum. I was more than a little excited!

Of course once we got there we heard all the rules and regulations for the tour, then a guide came in and we were off to see the world of Kings, Queens and mummies.

The first rooms showed all the things they had found in different tombs. It was amazing how new some of it looked after thousands of years. We saw old chariots, weapons and of course hieroglyphs, which was really weird Egyptian writing. Then came the room with the mummies. It was pretty awesome!

All around us were coffins, some open, others closed. Over each one were their names, and who they were when they were alive. Everyone was allowed to look and read at their own speed.

"Hailey, this one was a King when he was only nine years old. Look at all the gold from his tomb."

We were mesmerized by all the glittering gold and jewels that belonged to such a young boy.

Looking around I noticed a smaller room towards the back. I motioned Jared over and pointed it out. We casually made our way back while checking out other exhibits.

A red velvet rope stretched across the doorway.  I looked in, and there was was a sarcophagus with gold and jewels all over it. Jared came up beside me.

"That is totally awesome!"

We looked at each other, looked back where everyone else was then "accidently" went under the rope and into the room.

In the sarcophagus was a coffin, and in that coffin was a mummy that once was a beautiful princess.  The information said her name was Princess Ahmose.

As I looked around the room, I noticed there was another coffin in the corner but not lit up like the Princess' coffin. I wandered over, and could tell it was not someone special.  The coffin was just plain old wood with some hieroglyphs scratched on it. There was some information but I could barely read it since it was not lit up. Jared finally came over and joined me.

"What's this one?"

"I don't know, hard to read what the sign says. Look at the lid, it's slid a little to one side."

I took a step closer and the smell hit me, something old and rotten. I flinched and moved back.

"Should we move it a little more, maybe there's a mummy inside." Jared's voice shook with anticipation.

"Um, I guess we could, it doesn't look very heavy."

We stood staring alternately at each other and the lid.

"Okay," I tried to keep my voice from trembling, "when I count three we slide it down from the top."

"One, two, th-th-three!"

Silently and slowly the lid slide down, covering my mouth I staggered back.  To my horror I was looking at a shriveled face, it's lips pulled back from the teeth in a permanent scream. The smell was overpowering, and I started gagging.  Jared was frantically pushing the lid back over the mummy's face.

We stood back trying to gather our wits, my heart was pounding in my chest. By now my eyes were used to the dimness, and I could read the sign over the coffin.

"Jared, listen to this." I started reading.

"We believe that this mummy was Princess Ahmose's loyal servant.  Egyptian writings tell of his death by suffocation from being buried alive. He placed a curse on those involved with his death, and swore he would be brought back to life by someone reading the scroll of life. The scroll reads as follows:  Oh Amon-Ra, God of Gods – Death is but the doorway to a new beginning - We live today - We shall live again - In many forms shall we return - Oh Sacred One.

His curse written on the coffin lid warns:  Death. Eternal Damnation For Anyone Who Opens This Casket."

My voice barely choked out the last words.

The air became cooler, and once again a decaying smell filled the air. I slowly backed away and then it happened, the mummy grabbed me! I tried to scream but nothing came out.

"Okay you two, back to the group.  It's time to go, and we've been looking all over for you."

I could hardly walk, my legs felt like jelly, but I managed to follow my teacher out to the bus.

"What in the world happened to you?" Jared whispered when we sat down.

"I'm not sure, after I read that curse I felt the air get cold, and I smelled that awful smell again. It seemed like the mummy was alive, and then the teacher grabbed my arm."

Jared giggled while I glared at him.

"Well, you did say the words that were supposed to bring him to life, what would you have done if he'd sat up in the coffin?"

By now Jared was laughing so hard he snorted, that set me off, and we both snorted and laughed so loud the other kids started laughing at us.

Later that night, I thought about that old mummy, and a chill went down my spine. I read a little, then snuggled under the covers, and promptly fell asleep.

Something was standing in my room staring at me, it's eyes like two burning coals. I woke up startled and freezing. Wildly I looked around for the eyes, but nothing was in my room. Just a nightmare, I was safe and sound but still freezing. Holy cow my window was halfway up. I jumped out of my warm bed and ran over to close it.  What the . . . . . there was toilet paper hanging from my window and outside on the roof. I grabbed it to throw away, and realized that it wasn't toilet paper after all. My teeth started chattering, and my eyes frantically darted everywhere. Slamming the window I ran to my bed, and pulled the covers over my shaking body. It couldn't be, but I know what I felt and it wasn't paper. It was long strips of very frayed cloth, just like you'd find on an old mummy!