Word: bibelot

bibelot

\ BIB-loh; Fr.  beebuh-LOH \  , noun;

1. a small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity.

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                Two pairs of footsteps echoed in the dark corridor.  Clouds of dust rose and fell with each one, like the ghosts of those who previously inhabited the crumbling building.  The two men walked down the dark, dank corridor, the older one shining the narrow beam of his flashlight straight ahead with complete confidence, the younger moving his light around with nervous expectation.

                “A-are you sure there’s no traps?” Adam, the younger man said nervously.

                “I told you, no.  Trust me, I’ve been to a few ruins before.” Johan, the older man said, rolling his eyes at his young companions insistence that old ruins needed to have traps.

                “B-but you’ve never been to this one, right?”

                “Well, no, but—“

                “Then how do you know?  What if this place is the one that has them?  What if—“

                “Look kid, contrary to what happens in movies, these places are almost never trapped.  And if they are, they’re all rotted, broken, or have been triggered long ago.  Hell, finding a working trap is nearly as good as finding the actual treasure.  Why, I once knew a guy who found a fully functional trap door that hadn’t been activated yet.  The guy didn’t find so much as a gold coin but he still made a bundle just on that pit.  So yeah, maybe you’d better pray that we do find a trap.  It might be all we find here.”

                “You say that like we won’t find anything.  I though these places were filled with valuables.”

                “Only if you’re an archeologist or an anthropologist.”

                “But…”

                “I told you this when we started, if you were expecting to play Indiana Jones, do it in a video game or something.  Real treasure hunts are a lot less eventful.  I believe I also mentioned to very real probability that we won’t find anything.  It’s a safe bet that someone else beat us to it and looted everything we’d be interested in.”

                “Then why go on these hunts?  Wouldn’t you be better off getting a real job or something?”

                “Maybe.  Treasure hunting doesn’t pay very often, but it pays really well when it does.  If I’m lucky, I can make more in a day then most people make in a year.  Hell, I’m still living off the proceeds from my last find, and that was two years ago.  Plus, I like to travel.”

                Just then, the hall opened up into a small room.  The two beams of light searched around the room, only to find the scattered remains of clay pots.  Johan went over to one of them and picked up a shard, studying it intently before putting it down and sighing.

                “Too bad they’re broken.  Pottery is a lot more valuable when it’s in one piece.”

                “Can’t we just take the shards and put them back together?”

                “Too obvious.  Just about anyone worth their salt would see the glue right away.  We’re actually better off taking the shards as is.”

                “Kind of sucks that all there is here is broken pots.”

                “I know.  But we’ve also only just started.  This is only the second room we’ve been in, and the deeper we go, the more likely we are to find something.  Not much better, but it’s something.  Besides, if you really want to dedicate your life to this, you’d better be ready for some disappointments.”

                Johan left the room without taking a second look around.  Adam though, cast his light around for one more quick look at the dirt covered pots.  Suddenly, his light glinted off something in a small pile of dirt next to one of the larger gathering of pottery shards.  Before following his mentor, he went over to the pile and gently dug the object out of the dirt and held it up to the light.

                To his untrained eye, it looked to be some kind of gemstone, at least that’s what he hoped it was.  It was a small think, just a little bigger than a large marble, and was cut crudely, with simple tools, lacking the polish that modern stones were given.  For the most part, it was clear, but veins of blue, red, yellow, green, and purple ran through it.  Adam could feel his excitement bubbling up when he saw the stone.

                “Hey, hey, I found something!”  He called out.  He ran out of the room, running smack into Johan and almost dropping his treasure.

                “Watch yourself there.”  The large man said, helping the younger, smaller man to his feet.  “Calm down and show me what you found.”  He said, not really believing Adam found anything of value.  That is, until he saw the stone.

                “Nice huh?”  Adam said, holding the stone proudly, “I think it’s a diamond or something.” 

                “Maybe.  If it is, we can call this trip a rousing success.  But it might be nothing but glass or quartz.  Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still worth something, just not as much.”  He said, taking a jewelers lens from one of the side pockets of his overstuffed backpack.  He shined the beam of his flashlight on the stone and looked at it critically through the lens for a minute.  “Well alright then.  It’s a diamond all right.  It’s got some mineral flaws in it, but that actually makes it much rarer and more valuable.  I looks like it was being worked on, and probably not finished being cut, but I can’t be sure.  Good work kid, really good work.”  He said, trying not to let his own excitement show. 

                “So, this is good right?”

                “Oh yeah.  We can get a few million for this easy.  No idea how something like this didn’t get scooped up already, but I’m not complaining.”

                “So, what now?”  Adam asked, watching as Johan carefully wrapped the gem in a cloth he pulled from his pocket.

                “Now?  Now we get out of here and find out what this little guy is worth.”  Johan said, already turning to leave the ruins.

                “Leave?  Just like that?”

                “Just like that.”

                “But shouldn’t we keep going?  I mean, there might be more to find.”

                “Not likely.  One of the most important rules of treasure hunting is if you find something, take it and go.  We wouldn’t want something to happen to our find.  All it takes is one stumble on a loose rock, and it’s gone.  Better to just cut your losses in this case.  Besides, we made out real nice with this one, why bother wasting our time on the off chance there might be something else?”

                “I suppose so.  Still, it seems a shame not to try.”

                “Heh, well, you’re welcome to try, but I’m heading out.”  Johan said as he started heading down the corridor to the exit.  Adam watched the older man walk for a bit.  He turned in the other direction, considering his options.  He dashed after Johan, quickly catching up with his slow gait.

                “So, how are we splitting the money for that thing anyway?”  Adam asked once he had caught up.

                “Well talk about it once we’re out.”  Johan said with a sly chuckle.  Adam could only sigh and hope he got a good cut as he followed behind.

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So yeah, I'm a little sick right now, so forgive me if this one isn't as good as some others.  It's a little hard to really get a good handle on things when your nose is all stuffed up and your head is aching.  But, there are just some words that can't be passed up, so I took a chance and went for it.  Think it was worth it?