Ancients Were Here

Nolan spots some rock wall paintings. 300 words

Ancients Were Here

“Hey Luce! Can you see what I see?” Nolan hollered.

“What did you find? Is it good? ”

“There’s a rock wall below that has some kind of drawing on it.”

“Where?” Luce said as she swiveled her binoculars around in every direction.

“Straight down under my feet.”

“Your feet are swinging like a beserk pendulum. Can you hold them still?”

“Forget it, I’ll repel down and look closer myself."

Luce opened her mouth to stop him. Being less experienced than her, she was afraid for him. The point was moot, because he was already gone.

She watched as he landed lightly on a crumbling narrow ledge. He pulled out his cell phone and began to take pictures. While doing so, he began to sway.

Luce held her breath as he finished. Hand over hand, Nolan began to ascend slowly.

“Pretty awesome wall paintings, I wonder who did them?” he said as he passed her his phone.

“I need a closer look at this one in particular,” Luce said as she enlarged one.

When she was sure what she was looking at, she tried to stop herself. But she began to laugh uproariously.

“What’s up? Why is it funny?”

“These are old, but far from ancient. They first were used during World War Two I think. The head with the big nose became known as Killroy.”

“Whose Killroy?”

“One of the original graffiti images. Usually accompanied by the words, ‘Killroy was here’. You can just see the writing faintly.

“Not drawings by ancient races then?”

“There may be some underneath the Kilroys but since they are done in spray paint, you’ll never reveal them.”

“What a bunch of jerks!” Nolan complained.

“Well, at least you know who Killroy was. I’m sure many of your peers don’t.” Luce soothed.