The sun glared down on them as they walked over to a white van with a red hollow circle painted on the side door along with an old pottery rounded vase that had a few chips at the top right corner that represented the logo of Amir's Excavation Business 'AEB'. Amir was around 6ft tall and dressed in a loose blue shirt with a red tie and wore a dark blue head covering/cap and also wore small dark grey tinted circle sunglasses.
"Alright Sapphire, let me fetch the case with the tools. I just have to unlock the van." He got out a set of keys with a battery operated remote for the lock system. Hearing a double beep, he reached out and opened the passengers' side of the front seat. Bending over he reached in to bring out a large silver and white case with red lining around the edges.
Setting the case onto the table in front of the van a few feet away, he closed the door of the van and turned to the intrigued girl. "Right, these are the perfect tools for any beginner Archeologist. First we have a miniature pick axe - good for digging at hard stones surrounding the object, basically fleshing it out. Next is a shovel and bucket of course for removing any dirt in the way of the dig, and we also have a spade already at the site from the original dig done by the main team. Sieves are very handy for sifting through the dirt for smaller items such as bones or precious objects like jewels or broken up items. Trowels can be used for a similar purpose as a sieve but for a quicker rougher job. And of course a few different sized brushes to clean off the remaining dirt from the items you find. Did you get all of that?"
Sapphire nodded excitedly, "Yes Amir! Pick axe, shovel and bucket, spade, sieve, trowel, and brushes."
"Excellent! Now, here's a notebook and pen just to jot down what you think you've found and we can do some extra research to be sure." He patted her on the left shoulder as reassurance, "I'll show you where you can start digging ok? Just be careful because we have already uncovered some pottery that has some broken pots as well."
Sapphire smiled, "Ok I'll be careful not to touch or dig near them."
He grinned and thought, 'Hm, there might be a future in this industry for you after all.' and led her to a safe area of the pit outlined with a border of rope. "Ok Sapphire, this looks like the best spot you can start. It's untouched by the team so if you find anything, that means you're the first one to touch it ever since it was buried there over time."
"Wow..." she breathed in awe of realisation. She knew she found the perfect hobby, one that could be filled with truly momentous occasions. Perhaps even create history itself! She loves solving mysteries so this sort of work would be perfect for Sapphire as a career. She knelt down and set out her tools she was given.
As she began to dig she looked up briefly to find her father talking with a man wearing a black headscarf with a red square logo on the end of it. 'Hu... wonder who he is?' she wondered quietly to herself and just as she was about to look back down a roll of thunder cracked in the skies above.
"Not too long out here Sapphire! Storm's coming." she waved at him in reply,
"Ok dad!" The man in black looked over and glared an evil stare at the girl in the white t-shirt and shorts. "Hello sir." She was taught to be nice to everyone so she took the chance to greet him but all he did was huff at her and move his focus onto her father. 'Rude!' She snared behind their backs but went back to digging.
She had been at it for about 10 minutes with the shovel and still found nothing but stones. She almost got bitten by a black spider but thankfully she squished it on the ground just in time. "....and stay dead!" She panted slightly from the digging and smacking at the spider.
"Phew, this is harder than it looks..." Sapphire grabbed a quick drink from her drink bottle that her dad had given her a few minutes earlier while she was digging. The water felt very soothing on her dry throat and it even dripped down her neck cooling her skin.
But when it hit her chest she flinched, "Eek thats cold!" She dropped the bottle and wiped the water from her chest, only to realise the water was still leaking from the lid and sliding down into the hole she'd dug.
"Oops, great.. now the lid's dirty. Oh well... at least the ground got a drink haha." She laughed nervously but failed. It wasn't until she looked back at the hole to start back at the digging that she realised a pool had formed in the bottom of the hole and seemed to be growing.
"Hu... that's weird."
Just then, the ground near her bare knees began to shift and move beneath her. She watched in surprise as the water had softened up the ground and weakened the solid dirt causing it to crack. "Hey Amir?" She called out but he wasn't anywhere to be seen - at least close by.
'Is it suppose to be cracking like that?' She thought as she started to slowly shuffle back on her lower legs but that only made things worse.
To top it off, lightning flashed around the campsite with a double flash and then a split second after a third one hit forming as a fork lightning striking just inches away from Sapphire's knees in the exact hole filled with water that was starting to dry up slowly. "Ahh!" She felt her hairs stand up and had goosebumps running all down her arms and legs from the electrical charge.
Mr. Stone rushed out of the large white tent with some other men including the one in black, "Sapphire! What happened?"
"Ye-yeah I'm ok dad! It was just... lightning." He seemed to calm down a bit but then it hit him,
"Wait lightning?! Are you hurt?" He started to run toward her,
"I'm fine dad! It's just..." But then the ground shook and cracked louder so that everyone could hear it. She held her breath, "Dad?" She looked up at his face that screamed horror.
"Don't move Sapphire." Amir called out, he'd shown up from behind the bulldozer. He must've been tinkering with it since his hands were covered in black oil powder. The air had grown very still as the suspense surrounded all members of the team.
"But...I..."
"Nope! The slightest movement or loud noise could trigger a collapse if I'm right about what's happening." Amir sounded deadly serious so she stayed as still as she possibly could.
"Amir, what do you mean?" Mr. Stone asked with concern clearly noticeable in his voice.
"I believe the pit was actually on top of an open air pocket. So like a cavern but only lined with rock walls and a solid dirt ceiling. I'm surprised it took this long before it began to collapse with all the digging we were doing. Sapphire's work must've been the final straw." Lightning filled the space around them with a flash of brilliant white light for a split second and everyone froze.
"Oh no..." Amir had a look of pure terror painted all over his face that broke Mr. Stone's concern,
"WHAT? Just tell me Amir!"
"Thunder always comes after lightning, if it does then-" BOOM! Thunder suddenly roared extremely loud right above them and even shook the ground under their feet.
"Dad...." Sapphire felt the ground shook so rough it scared her, and then the ground crumbled towards her spot. Gasping in horror she looked up quickly at her dad and Amir pleading for help. They raced towards her to try and grab her before it fell in. But they were too late...