Greed’s Punishment
Unknown. Undisturbed. Undiscovered by the outside world. At least, until now.
Explorer Matthew Weller had looked for this city all his life. And now, after only ten years of searching, he had found it. Cibola. El Dorado. The legendary City of Gold. It was all his. He alone discovered this city, so he alone would be the one to profit from it.
The city was filled with gold, practically made of it. The city gleamed from the brightness of the sun shining on the pathway and buildings. Matthew walked up to the nearest building. It was built like a pyramid with a stairway leading up to a main room area just below the roof.
He walked up those stairs to discover what was inside. To his delight, the inside of the building was also filled with gold objects, such as cups, tables and sculptures. If all the buildings were the same way, then he would be a trillionaire. He dumped everything out of his backpack and filled it with the surrounding gold. He emptied his pockets and filled those too. The entire time he chuckled to himself and mocked those who hadn’t believed in him.
“Who’s the fool now? I found the city of gold. You didn’t support me with the funds I needed to make the trips necessary or do the research. Instead you verbally bashed me, ruined my reputation, and called me a lunatic. You don’t deserve your wealth. You’re just a no-good bullying jerk. Who’s the rich one now? I am. I am and you’re not.”
Matthew walked all around the buildings and entered all of them. He calculated the wealth that he would have after selling most of it and keeping a bit of it for himseslf. He wouldn’t have to suffer again. No one would dare call him a fool. No one would dare insult him. No one would think him a lunatic. At least, not without repercussions.
Matthew thought about all the people he could get back at. He could rub his wealth and discovery in their faces. Thinking about it, he realized that if he went back and got his camera where he had dumped it out, he could take pictures of how the place was before he took everything from it. So he did. He took pictures of the inside and outside of every building from every possible angle.
Oh, the riches and respect he would get from this discovery. He was the only explorer to have found it in all the centuries of searchers. Who cared about those other explorers? Only a few of them had even returned from searching! He was the important one. Only the most brilliant mind could’ve found this place. That most brilliant mind was him.
One building was left to explore. But it stared eerily at him and he hesitated to explore it. The building was made of the most gold, and it looked to be worth even more than the other buildings combined. It was decorated in the most sculptures made out of gold. Designs were carved into the walls, at least on the outside. He couldn’t tell what the sculptures were made of. Some of them didn’t look like gold, and he somehow knew that the sculptures were not of beautiful things.
The building was the tallest of them all, standing at least twenty feet taller than the others. While the other buildings all looked somewhat the same, this one’s stairway went all the way to the roof, and it differed in the way it appeared. Standing in the center of the city, this particular construction dwarfed all the other buildings.
Matthew told himself that he just hadn’t explored it yet in order to save the best for last. But his subconscious knew that something wasn’t quite right about the building. Something was off. Matthew felt an overwhelming desire to leave and never return but he couldn’t move from where he stood. Something was pulling him in and making him head towards the building.
His feet took steps forward while his mind tried to battle them. His mind failed, and he grew closer and closer to the building. As he approached, the designs and sculptures grew clearer and clearer. They showed pictures of sacrifices. The sculptures were of bones and human bodies, and the ones that didn’t look to be gold were most likely real. When he realized what they were depicting and which building it was, he tried to look away and run, but he couldn’t. It was as if something supernatural had grabbed him and was forcing him forward. He reached the first step and began to hear voices chanting in a foreign language. However, even though the voices were speaking in a language he didn’t know, he could understand them as if they were speaking his native language: English.
“Here is our sacrifice. He has intruded on our home. He came here with selfish intent. Punish him.”
“NO! You can’t kill me! I discovered this place! I was going to be rich!” His feet kept betraying him, leading him higher and higher up the stairs to the roof of the building.
“You see! Wealth and riches are all he desires from here! Punish him. Intruders are not allowed and by decree they are to be sacrifices,” only one voice was speaking now and it seemed to come from behind him. But when he tried to look, he could not move. All he could control now was his brain and mouth, no other part of his body would obey.
“I just wanted to discover something worthwhile and become the richest man in the world! It was my dream! This cannot be happening!” Matthew complained and yelled out.
“You have disturbed our peace, and like all the others, you must be punished. You must be a sacrifice.”
“What others?” Matthew asked. “There were no others! I am the only one to have discovered this place! Its wealth should be mine!”
“Poor white man, in denial. Your pride blinds you. There were dozens who came here before you. All wanted to become the richest man or woman in the world. You shall meet the same fate as they did. SACRIFICE!”
“You don’t understand!” Matthew tried to protest.
“SILENCE!” the voice terrified Matthew and as he tried to scream out for help, he found that he could not even open his mouth. All he had now was his mind. All the other parts of his body had betrayed him. This was the end.
“Here is our sacrifice! He is the last intruder! Remember your promise!”
Matthew’s legs knelt on the gold rooftop and his head rested itself on a gold block. His mind tried one last time to make his body obey, but once again, his body did not respond. The last thing Matthew saw before being blindfolded was an ax of gold. The ax was raised. Seconds later, the ax was swung and his head was disconnected from his body. He was punished for his overwhelming greed. The thing he had wanted more than anything, gold, killed him.
There was a reason why few had returned from searching for Cibola, those few had never found it. And they were the lucky ones.
