The Staircase Shaped Door

Chapter 3: From the Soil to the Stars part 1

Chapter 3

From the Soil to the Stars

Eight months ago...

Rolling over and smacking the snooze button, Bert thought his alarm clock seemed louder today. Lying in bed trying to wake up fully, he rubbed his eyes, wiggled his feet and slowly dozed back off to sleep. The alarm went off another time. He hit the snooze button and swung his feet out over the bed leaving them dangle like a flag up a pole on a windless day. He continued to wiggle his feet and limbs, trying to get the blood to flow to them properly. He wiggled and rotated them until the alarm tolled for a third time. He shut it off and walked downstairs. It was the same routine every day.

Bert heated up a cup of water in the microwave for one minute and forty five seconds―any longer, it would be too hot. He stirred in the instant coffee and opened the sliding door leading to the patio. He sat on his favorite chair and watched the sun rise over a beautiful hillside view. Bert always checked the cloud patterns to see if any surprise rain showers were in-store for the day.

Bert got ready for work and had a second cup of coffee with breakfast. It usually consisted of a piece of fruit or yogurt and eating a doughnut with the rest of his coffee was a must. Instead of writing his usual interesting fact or quote about the Winnebago tribe on the fridge in dry erase marker, he wrote I love you guys and hurried out the door. Bert always did something like this. It was the only kind of communication he had with his family during his summer hours.

Bert walked down the cobblestone path to his garage. The smell the fresh cut grass from last night's mowing hovered in the air. He noticed some roof shingles and a few pieces of siding were missing. "Well that's not worth the deposit." He sighed. "The windstorm must have blown them off." He unlocked the truck with his key-chain and drove off.

After ten miles of driving, the sound of the tires on smooth pavement turned into gravel pinging on his undercarriage. Bert was the first to arrive as usual. He came out of the tree-shaded road and parked. He stretched for a bit got out of his truck and took the walk-worn path to the dig's base camp. He skimmed through some of the charts and noticed a find has not been documented in two weeks. Being, the dedicate scientist he was. Bert decided to take a walk through some uncharted territories. Trenching through the tall grass of an open field, he felt a strange gust of wind creep up from under his feet. "Something must be here." He said aloud, glancing around the area.

A lake was off in the distance and endless woods lead to a towering hill. Bert strolled over the rich fertile area further and felt the strange wind again. He quickly marked the spot with a stick lying off to the side and walked back to camp. Bert gathered all the supplies he felt was necessary to start excavating and hurried back towards the new area. Three workers getting out of a car poll were surprised to see Bert hustling off out of site.

"Bert!" Steve hollered. Bert slowed down and came into view again.

"Why, are you wondering off away from the dig?" Steve asked, looking at him.

"Hey, Steve." Bert said, waving Steve towards him.