Argonaut
1. Classical Mythology. a member of the band of men who sailed to Colchis with Jason in the ship Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.
2. (sometimes lowercase) a person in quest of something dangerous but rewarding; adventurer.
3. a person who moved to California during the gold rush of 1849.
4. (lowercase) paper nautilus.
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Jerry looked nervously at the entrance to the old, half
crumbling ruins. He shifted the backpack
he wore a bit, more out of nervous habit than it actually needing the
adjustment.
“Isn’t
it a thing of beauty, Jeremy?” Mr. Telldale asked in his deep, resonant
voice. Jerry swore the large man was
making his voice more dramatic, even though they were the only two people
there.
“That’s
not quite the word I’d use to describe it.”
Jerry replied. He didn’t feel the
need to tell his employer what word he would use.
“Oh come now, this is a true
marvel. An undiscovered ruin of an as of
yet unknown civilization. And we’re
going to be the first people in recent history to plunge it’s depths. We’ll be famous!”
“Okay,
yeah, I guess that sounds good. But
couldn’t we have brought someone else?
Someone who knows what they’re doing?”
“What’s
the point of that? Bringing along a
professional would only lessen our accomplishment. Everyone would say we succeeded because of
our help. This way, everyone will know
it was by our mettle that we discovered what we inevitably will. Why, we’ll go down as modern day Argonauts,
no doubt about it.” Mr. Telldale puffed
out his already large chest with pride at future deeds.
Jerry
had to think about that one for a bit.
He knew that word from somewhere.
A movie he saw awhile ago. Then
it came to him.
“Uh,
weren’t the Argonauts famous for fighting monsters?”
“Among
other things, yes. They were great
adventurers who conquered that which nobody thought they could. And so shall it be for us.”
“Yeah,
I don’t think I want to try fighting a monster any time soon.”
“Nonsense. There won’t be any monsters. Why, I’m sure there’s nothing harmful in
there at all.”
“Spiders? Snakes?
Bats? Other poisonous bugs? Maybe a few bigger things that’ll just
eat us instead of poisoning us?” Jerry was picturing the two of them being
eaten by some wild animal while being bitten by a large number of creepy-crawly
things. It wasn’t a pleasant image.
“Don’t
let your imagination run wild, Jeremy. We’ll
be fine, I’m sure of it. Besides, we
come well prepared for any emergency.”
“Are
you sure?”
“Absolutely. I dare you to name one thing that we lack.”
“A
flashlight, a cell phone, a GPS, bug spray, maybe a gun. I can keep going if you want.” Jerry said,
counting each item off on his fingers.
“P’shaw,
we don’t need any of those. Modern
luxuries, nothing more. Our ancestors went
forth and did things without those fancy things. We can surly do the same.”
Jerry
did not share in his boss’ confidence.
He would have rather turned around and gone back to the nearest
city. The fact that it was nearly two
hours away was only a minor deterrent.
It would still be preferable to whatever was in the ruins, that was for
sure.
“Okay,
yeah, but that doesn’t mean we have to, right?
I mean at least the bug spray and
the gun, just in case.”
“We
each have a good, solid combat knife, and plenty of oils the locals use to keep
the insects off. Those will be
sufficient for us.”
“I’d
rather have a gun.” Jerry muttered.
“Now
then, let us be off!” Mr. Telldale said
in a particularly strong, dramatic voice.
“Glory, fame, and adventure await us!”
Mr.
Telldale walked quickly into the opening.
Jerry groaned and followed behind, regretting every step he took.
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I'm sure they'll be fine. Probably. Maybe.
Will you continue?
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