This is a short four-chapter book meant for children. It tells the story of a smart, young boy who creates a time machine and embarks on a trip with his father, a historian, around Colombian history. They will explore the pre-Columbian period, the C...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Thomas lifted his arms with a sound of triumph; he had built a time machine, which made him the first person ever with the ability to travel in time! Thomas had always been interested in visiting the past of a beautiful country: Colombia. He wanted to learn all about it! But where to start? He couldn't go on his own, or else he wouldn't understand anything. Fortunately, his father was a historian, so he quickly called his dad.
"Daddy!", Thomas shouted.
"What's wrong, darling?", his dad answered.
"I have built a time machine and I want to go to Colombia. Would you please come with me?", Thomas asked.
"Sure, son!", said his dad.
They quickly returned to the time machine, set the year to 300 A.C and jumped right in.
Thomas couldn't wait!
...
Year 300 A.C, Guatavita Lagoon, Present day Colombia.
"And right now, the future Cacique, covered in gold, must enter the lagoon!"
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard. Two strange-looking people landed in the middle of a tropical bush, and quickly got to their feet. It was Thomas and his dad, but no one seemed to mind their presence. The tanned, shiny-clothed people continued their doings.
"Daddy, who are those people?", asked Thomas.
"I think we are witnessing a Muisca ritual.", explained his dad, while adjusting his glasses. "These people are part of an ancient tribe that used to live in Colombia, and right now they are choosing their new Cacique. They are performing a ritual in which the aspirant, covered in gold, enters the lagoon all the way to the center. My son, a lot of legends about this exist in the present day! This is incredible!"
His father walked away from the bush and gestured his son to follow him.
"The Musicas come from the Chibcha family, along with the Caribes and the Arawaks. They are believed to have been in these lands since the year 500 B.C! Thomas, nowadays people all over Colombia have blood from these tribes running through their veins."
Thomas could only imagine what the traditions of these people meant to Colombian people.
As they walked on, they got to a part where various people were giving shape to a mud-looking material, and others who were caressing the soil as if their son lay underneath it.
"What are they doing, daddy?", said Thomas, pointing to the people he had seen.
"Oh!", he said, approaching the people excitedly. "The Musicas were great at making clay artifacts, sometimes they even made little figurines out of gold! Some of them can even be found at the Gold Museum in Bogota! They were very talented people, if you ask me. They were also great at making their own food, finding nice little gems and metals in their own land, clothing-making, and they were very spiritually interesting."
Thomas frowned as he looked away from the people.
"What do you mean by 'spiritually interesting'?", Thomas asked innocently.
"Well, dear son, as a double major in Folklore & Mythology and History, I can confidently tell you that the Muiscas have some of the most interesting stories I have ever encountered. They range from gods to nature and all kinds of things! Do you want me to tell you some of them, honey?"
"Sure, that'd be so cool!", Thomas responded.
"Where do you think all this land came from, Tom?", his dad asked, as he sat on top of the green grass.
Thomas turned his head around, as if he were looking for something to answer the question.
"I don't know, maybe they bought it from someone?"
His father let out a brief laugh.
"Not quite", he said. "The truth is, no one really knows where everything comes from, but these people had several ideas!"
His father turned to look at the sky.
"One of them is the story of Bague, where a grandmother's screams created gods, and seeds and rocks created stars, and dreams created movement! A more known one if the story of Chiminigagua, an all-creator as we can see in various cultures, who gave life to everything we know and to his wife, the Moon. One of the versions, native to the region of Sogamoso and Tunja, says that the creators were two Caciques, leaders of these tribes, and that they became the sun and the moon. This event is still celebrated in the present day in the month of December, being the Huan holiday."
Thomas' eyes were shining with curiosity.
"These people seem to be so interesting! But, were they as intelligent as we are right now?", he asked.
"Well, that is a complicated question.", he answered. "If you mean to ask whether they had the same technology we do nowadays, of course they didn't. But they were probably a lot wiser than us, Tom. They knew how to value water, since they gave their water sources a sacred meaning. They were also the pioneers of things we use nowadays. For example, their game zepguagoscua, eventually evolved into the game called tejo, which is played all over the country of Colombia.
"Wow", said Thomas, as he stared towards the huts that spread out over the green grass. But then he realized something. "Wait. Where did all of these people go?"
His dad's expression darkened, as if he had been hoping his son would not ask such question.
"If you want to know the answer, we're going to have to travel further in time. Press my ring."
Thomas did as he was asked, and the time machine appeared out of thin air.
"On to the 16th century!", shouted his dad, as they disappeared.
