Unexpected Souvenir

Finland Mochi

Excitement fills you from head to toe when the site where the Astuvansalmi rock paintings are located come into view. You've spent years studying to be an archeologist, and this is the first opportunity you have to go out in the field as head archeologist. The plane ride from Helsinki to Ristiina had been nerve wracking since the plane shook so much. You were assured it would be just fine, but couldn't help but feel relieved when the plane landed.

A short drive later, you find yourself standing in front of a large rock formation that houses the cave paintings. You bounce around excitedly as fellow archeologists unload equipment from the van you took to get here. They shoot you annoyed looks but can do nothing except carry equipment to a small temporary shelter. Being head archeologist has it's perks.

It takes almost an hour to get everything unloaded and set up. You help out here and there, but your nervous excitement keeps you from doing much more than watch impatiently. Finally, your crew is ready to go. Some of them are natives to Finland, so you have to speak to them through a translator.

"Ask them which way the cave paintings are," you instruct the translator.

The short, mousey looking man does so, and turns back to you with an answer. "They say it's over that way." He points to an area a ways away from your base camp.

"Alright! Half of you with me, and the other half continue further down. Lumdin, you're in charge of the other group." The man you point to nods in acknowledgement.

Your group makes it's way to the place with the paintings. You're not quite there when a crevice in the rock catches your eye. It's almost not worth investigating, but your archeologist's curiosity gets the better of you.

"Tell them I want to check this out," you say to another translator. The first had gone with the other group.

He nods before conveying your message. While he does so, you get closer to the opening and judge whether you could squeeze through it or not. You assess the crack to be just big enough if you slip in feet first, so you carefully step into the cave. Your feet, then legs, then abdomen disappear into the hole. You give your team one last smile before disappearing completely.

The cave is larger on the inside than you originally imagined, but it's too dark to see much. You turn on a small, electric lantern hung around your waist, and the room immediately lights up. Colorful paintings decorate the stone walls of the cave, but they're not like anything you've seen before. They depict things that look strangely like Christmas trees and small men with little hammers in their hands.

You follow the paintings further into the cave when something unexpected comes into your line of sight. A tall door has been painted on the wall and is the most detailed thing you've ever seen. Archaic runes run along the length of the arching doorway, and you pull out a pad and pencil to copy them down.

"Fascinating," you murmur. Your voice echoes around the stone chamber eerily.

It takes you a few minutes to copy down the runes. When you finish and out your pad away, you go back to inspecting the odd door. What is it's purpose? Why was it painted? More questions ricochet around your mind, and that's when you notice something in the very center of the door. It looks like a hand shaped depression in the stone wall.

"What in the world...?"

You slowly reach out your hand and place it in the shallow dent. It fits perfectly. Suddenly, the stone under your hand begins to light up. You close your eyes to prevent yourself from being blinded, and when you opened them, a real door stands in place of the painted one. A coldness radiates off of the door as you reach for its brass handle hesitantly.