5 Minute Reads | Anthology

Live Mummy

By SofiaAWrites

Having time travelled to an ancient Egyptian period, I never expected to land on a mummifying bed. No matter how hard I tried to explain that I was still alive, people insisted on embalming and bandaging me tightly.

Some ancient priest-like egyptian tied me to the bed and drained me of my body moisture. I struggled hard but to no avail. Slowly I started to feel weaker and dehydrated. But I was still fully awake. I saw everything they did.

The priests produced a huge roll of fresh bandage that reeked a smell I couldn't define. I assume it had been soaked in some sort of substance used to prevent flesh from decaying. They placed my arms together on my chest and bandaged me so tight I barely could breathe. Wait, I still breathed? Yeah, I supposed I did. Why was I not dead, it was a total mystery to me.

Finished with the bandage, the priests carried me and put me inside the sarcophagus. They chanted ancient prayers that were horrifying enough to make a dead man alive. Or, a living man semi dead, in my case.

Then they closed the heavy lid with a loud thud and sealed it with more chants. I was left in darkness with no company except my own drying brain. I waited and waited for anyone to come and rescue me, but no help came. I finally fell asleep in desperation.

I woke to the sound of people speaking in a familiar languange. My heart soared for a moment. Finally someone was going to get me out of this prison. I tried to move my arms and surprisingly the bandage tore quiet easily. I did the same with my legs and I was almost free. Then the people I heard outside pushed open the lid of my sarcophagus.

After some more strong pushes finally my form was exposed. I shut my eyes against the sudden light. They were admiring me, making stupid "ooohh" sounds. Time to show them I was alive and well and hopefully could come back to my old life in my own time.

I decided to disclose myself and sit up. People around me jumped back and screamed in shock. I Looked around and found myself in the middle of a museum room that was full of people, probably archaeology students and professors. I realized I must have scared them to death to find someone alive inside the ancient sarcophagus. They started to run out of the room, stepping into each other's toes, screaming like babies.

Hey, stop, I'm not a mummy, I'm alive, I tried to explain. But apparently my dried throat and tongue couldn't form the words. Instead I blurted out strange frightening sounds of "arraggh brhgghhh orrgghh," just like in the movies I used to laugh at.

I stepped out of my coffin looking for something or someone kind enough to help me. But everybody kept freaking out and running away, some even shouted, "It's the curse, it's the curse!"

What, I'm a curse now?

I approached a man who looked like a brave intelligent man and tried to talk to him, but he passed out. I left the now empty room in search of a pen and paper so I could perhaps write down my explanation. But as I walked I became aware of my stiff movement due to dehydration and having been confined in a small space. I doubted my fingers were supple enough to write.

Several men with ropes and sticks came towards me. I didn't want to get caught so I ran as fast as my rigid legs could take me and fought as hard as my dessicated body could manage. But I guessed real mummies were not strong like ones in the stories.

They successfully cornered me, caught and tied me up with the ropes. I struggled as the men carried and pushed me back into the sarcophagus and slammed the lid back on with a strict order never to open it forever. I kicked on the lid from the inside but only effective enough to make audible noises.

Soon the museum put the sarcophagus on public display as "The Live Mummy" and it attracted a lot of visitors as some might be lucky enough to hear the mummy kicking from inside.