Young In America | Barns Courtney

Silver and Gold

After finding another four clover shaped stone, I kneeled down once more and started digging. I used my hands and the dirt came away easily just like before. Eventually I got the stone out of the ground. It was another crescent moon, just like the one on the larger stone. We cleaned it up and I wondered how these two stones could be connected. I placed the second stone on the larger one, right next to the other crescent moon. I held the large stone flat in my left palm. Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from the sky. It was almost like a large plane or something was landing. As I looked up I noticed that it was completely dark outside.

As the sound got louder the sky started to change. It got lighter and lighter outside until it was daylight again. However, the sky was still covered in gray clouds. "What the fuck just happened!?!" I exclaimed as I looked all around me as if I would find the answer. Barns and Agam looked just as dumbfounded as I probably did. "It's nine o'clock in the morning... It... It's the next day." Agam said after glancing at his cellphone. We all looked at each other with confused looks. "Let's... um... let's put these in the car. We can dig deeper with the shovels just in case there's anything else to find." Barns said. "Look, I didn't sign up for this. What the hell is going on?!" Agam said. He looked genuinely afraid and freaked out. "It's okay, Agam. Don't worry about it." Barns replied, but Agam didn't look reassured. He just let out a deep sigh.

We grabbed the shovels and took turns digging where we found the stones. Each hole kinda filled with water and there were strange gray colored worms. At first I thought they were baby snakes, but they weren't thankfully. In each place we dug we found cylindrical containers. Both of them were the same size. I opened one and was shocked at what I laid my eyes upon. I took my dirty glove off and pulled a golden sword. "Whoa." Barns said in awe as Agam gasped loudly. The sword was adorned with various different designs down the blade. They looked like ruins and symbols. The handle was also intracitly designed. As I looked at the sword there was something within me that said 'It belongs to Barns.' So I handed it to him.

He took the sword and studied it. The look in his eyes told me that he felt as if it had belonged to him as well. I put my glove back on to open the second container. I took the glove off yet again to pull out a silver sword this time. It too had ruins and symbols down the blade. As I held it in my hand a strange feeling filled my stomach. It was like the silver sword belong to me. It felt like some kind of bigger and grander thing had been set into motion. I looked over at Barns who was already looking at me. We looked into each other's eyes and I had a sense that our fates were intertwined. "So what's next?" Agam asked, bringing me out of whatever had a hold over me. "We have to take a closer look at everything." Barns said.

"This is insane. We don't even know what we found and what any of this means!" Agam said as he helped us gather everything up. We put the swords back into thier cylinder containers before walking towards the car. Barns opened the back and I placed the containers next to the stone we found. Barns and Agam loaded up the shovels as well as the flashlights. The drive back was silent and awkward. I think all of us were trying to figure out what had happened. It felt like we had experienced something that only happens in books or movies. I glanced at Barns every now and then. He was leafing through book pages during the drive. The only sound was coming from rustling pages.

Eventually we reached the Inn and Agam parked the car. All of us helped take everything inside. We covered the stone and cylinder containers with a blanket. We didn't want anyone to see what we were taking inside with us. But I'm sure it probably looked very suspicious to onlookers. We went into my room and sat everything down on the table. "I'm starving. Maybe if we get some food we'll feel better." Agam said with a deep sigh. "Make sure to order lots of coffee." Barns said as we sat down. Agam paced the floor a little as he ordered us food. My stomach growled with hunger as we waited. Barns left once and came back with more books.

I watched as he placed the books onto the table. I noticed that they were the ones I had picked up for him as well. He leafed through pages as Agam paced the floor. Barns then took each sword out of its container. He laid them onto the table where there was room. Agam stopped his pacing and walked over to see what Barns was doing. "So... what exactly is all of this?" He asked, motioning his arms towards what was on the table. "I don't know, but hopefully we'll find out." Barns replied. A few minutes passed of awkward silence. A knock on the door took us by surprise for a moment before we remembered Agam ordered food. I stood up and walked over to answer the door. I thanked the delivery woman for the food and wished her to have a good day. Then I brought everything into the room after closing the door behind me.

We opened the takeout bags and divided the food. All of us ate without saying anything. The only sound was rustling book pages, which was coming from Barns. 'What the hell actually happened last night?' I wondered as I chewed on some broccoli. What are those stones and why did it speed up time when I held them in my hand? Why had there been containers buried in the ground with swords in them? Everything was so strange. It was hard to describe how I felt about everything. It was obvious that Barns knew more about this than he was willing to admit. But I decided not to press him for information. I awkwardly glanced from Barns to Agam and then at the swords laying on the table. Now that I could see them better I noticed all the ruins that were carved into the blades.

Most of the I recognized due to my interest in astrology. "Have you found anything in your mountain of books?" Agam broke the awkward silence. "No." Barns replied with a deflated sign as he leaned back into his chair. He stabbed at his food with a plastic fork. Then he ate a few bites of it as he too looked at the swords. "Look, I have things I have to do. I can't stay here all day. I'll text you later." Agam said after a few minutes. We said out goodbyes and he left. I finished eating and tossed my trash in the trashcan. A knock on the door took us out of whatever trains of thought we were having. "Housekeeping." A female sounding voice said from out in the hallway. "How are we going to hide these?" I asked in a whisper.

As if on cue there was a strange whooshing sound. The swords had shrunk down and had turned into necklaces. "What the fuck?" Barns and I said in unison. I picked up the silver one while he picked up the golden one. We glanced at each other for a moment before we placed the necklaces around our necks. He hid his books in the backpack he had given me. I handed him the stone we found and he put it in the bag too. "Come in." I said once everything was hidden away. Barns and I walked over to his room while we waited for the housekeeper to clean mine. "You know more than you're than you want to tell me... don't you?" I said, and an apologetic look filled his blue eyes.

++++++++++++++++
A/N: Thanks for reading!! Remember to vote, comment, share, etc. :) <3