I DID NOT WRITE THIS! This is a direct copy of the story written for me as part of the TSA christmas exchange. Reposted with writer's permission.
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Mythic Musings
By Devin Hallsworth
For Jonas
The museum is a lovely place at night, or at least Sennel thought this one was.
Cozily dimmed down lighting, friendly security staff, relics and treasures from all four corners of the globe on display. While every budding archaeologist might dream of being the one that brushes the dirt of some newly unearthed discovery, working in a place like this had its own allures.
Walking reverently through the ancient Greece section of the museum he stopped to grin at some of the displays he had helped set up since starting work here. No, he had no complaints at all about a career in a place that would allow him to bring his childhood love of mythology to others.
Using his keys to gain access to the staff wing he set his briefcase on his work desk in the middle of the barely lit warehouse that stored all manner of carefully labeled and archived archeological finds.
As he sat down and took a moment to clean his glasses he found his eyes drift across a large shipping box that hadnt been there when he left for home this morning.
He grumbled and strode over to where the shipping manifests were posted on the wall. Sure enough a new item had come in and he had been completely uninformed about it. Taking the clipboard off the wall he read as he walked back to the mysterious box.
It was definitely intended for the Greek section of the museum, a life sized statue of the Greek muse Calliope found at a new dig site that seemed to be in great condition.
Sennel grinned boyishly as he read. "The Muse of heroic poetry herself? Well its an honor to have you here Ma'am considering we owe Homers Odyssey to your talents as a muse." He giggled as he set the clip board down and fetched his unboxing crowbar, hammer and other useful supplies.
It was his job to inspect the statue for any damage it might have suffered while being shipped over seas and it was a job he was honored to be trusted with.
Luckily the packers had done their job right, the statue was in perfect condition. He wiped the sweat off his brow and took a moment to stand back and grin at the ancient statue of a woman with a writing tablet in her hands.
He dusted off his hands and decided to take a break as he thought over and rethought his next steps in helping this ancient statue with its new lease on life. He walked out of the staff wing and walked toward the main visitors lobby where all the vending machines were as his thoughts churned over the task ahead of him.
So enthralled was he with his thoughts of work that it wasn't until he had put his change in the machine and began to reach in to grab his snack that he noticed the two Humanoid robots dressed as ninjas standing over the body of an unconscious security guard.
Sennel and the robots stared at each other for a few seconds before one of them started clanking towards him at which point he ran screaming back the way he had come.
***
He wanted to slam the door behind him but he had enough sense of mind to quietly close and lock the door to the staff wing instead. Falling back against it and panting from exhaustion. "That thing was fast! Why was it so fast?" He gasped in between. "Why... why was it dressed up as a ninja if its so loud? Why.. WHY IS IT..." He clamped a hand over his mouth and switched his monologue to internal mode. 'Why is it in a museum?! Are we getting robbed?' He thought.
The word Robbed crystallized a plan of action in his head immediately. Diving back behind his desk he grabbed the phone off his desk and watched the door as best he could from hiding.
"911, what is the emergency?"
"HELLO! You have to help me. My museum is being invaded by Robot Ninjas!"
"Sir, prank calls will result in criminal charges being laid against you."
Sennel trailed off for a moment as he realized what he had just accidentally blurted out in his panic. "Ah... NO! Wait, sorry! I meant people! Real people with guns, not very metallic at all. Can you please send a patrol car or a swat team over like right away?"
"One moment sir." The operator said with a heavy sigh. Sennel held out hope right until she came back on the line. "Sir I just talked to security for the Museum you are phoning from and they say everything is just fine. How long have you been working today sir? Is there any medication you may have forgotten to take today?"
"IM NOT CRAZY!" He shouted into the phone and hang up before she got smart and told them which phone he was calling from.
"That sounded incredibly convincing." A wry female voice said to him.
Sennel glanced in the direction of the voice as he put the phone back up on the desk he was hiding behind. "Well its the truth!" He replied back to Calliope.
He stared at the door for a long minute waiting for Robot Ninja's to burst through it before thinking to take a second look.
"On second thought maybe I am crazy." He said to the flesh and blood woman who looked the spitting image of the ancient statue he had finished unpacking earlier. "I was pretty sure I was sane though last time I checked. On second thought how do you check for sanity?" He mumbled to himself as he curled up into a fetal position.
The Muse leaned over to watch him panic behind his desk. "If you are crazy this is a rather boring kind of insanity I must say. Not really something anyone would want to include in any great stories."
Sennel glared back at her. "Well Im sorry but stuff like this just doesn't happen in real life! Robot Ninjas invading museums and wierd ancient Greek statues becoming people isn't supposed to happen."
Calliope blinked. "It isn't? Neither of those hardly sound all that weird to me though Im not familiar with the first one. Who were these swat teams you were trying to reach anyway? Are they the people you contact to deal with Hydras and Gorgons and such?"
He shook his head. "Hydras and Gorgons don't exist in real life."
Calliope stared at him. "Maybe you really are crazy. What about Minotaurs? Basilisks? Chimeras? Centaurs? Nymphs? Satyrs?" She asked with suspicion in her voice.
"No, its just people! Humans. There are no Centaurs in the world. No Mermaids, no Pegasi, no Phoenixes, no Sirens, no Werewolves, no.." He ranted before getting cut off by Calliope.
"Were Wolves?" She asked.
"Yeah Were Wolves. You had them back in your day, people who turned into wolves? Lycanthropes you called them. The etymology of the term Were Wolf was derived way after your day somewhere in Gothic Europe. North America had similar creatures that they called Skin Walkers."
"You seem like you know quite a bit about mythological creatures." She observed, seeming slightly distraught now. "And yet you claim none of these exist in the world today? It appears I was right when I said you are a victim of a very boring insanity."
He glared back at her and stood up. "Well at least its an insanity that's rooted in reality! That doesn't sound right..." He shook his head. "Look, as much as it would be great if stuff like Were Wolves existed today they don't. And neither do you. Actually I should probably stop talking to you because its probably not great for my sanity."
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why Were Wolves specifically? Am I mistaken or do I detect a hint of favoritism?"
He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yes there is a bit of favoritism involved. A lot of European folk lore sort of depicted them as ravenous monsters sent by Satan to earth but Ive always been fond of thinking of them as being big brothers of wild wolves. The same beautiful gray coat..." He said with a grin as his paws scratched an itch on the back of his furry neck.
"Strong and powerful legs for chasing down prey and moving cross country for hours on end." He continued as he stepped out of human shoes and paced on two digitigrade legs.
"Not to mention that if I was a werewolf these stupid Robot Ninjas wouldn't stand a chance of robbing ANY MUSEUM THAT I WORK AT!" He growled, punctuating this statement with a slammed paw on his work desk, cracking the wood severely and sending enough noise through the warehouse the Robots finally wised up as to his location and were now trying to open the locked door.
He was filled with panic for a few moments before getting distracted by the muzzle in front of his eyes. After a frenzied inspection of his body he came to a conclusion and turned to stare at Calliope in awe. "Did you do this?"
Calliope grinned. "Well this insanity of yours seemed like it could use a fun dash of old world mythology."
Sennel stuttered. "But..b but I cant turn into a werewolf, that would mean that Im crazy!" He said as he felt his new body through paws that hadn't been his until a minute ago. As his mind raced a new feeling of cold determination soothed his mind. "No. Im not crazy. This stuff really exists. I HAVE to turn into a Werewolf and defeat the Robot Ninjas invading my museum! Its the only way to prove Im NOT CRAZY!" He growled, racing for the door in a frenzy of teeth and lycanthropic muscle as the robots finally kicked it in and started pouring in.
***
Sennel delicately brushed the dirt off the cracked pot he had unearthed. This dig site was easily the hottest one he had worked at yet but it was worth it. Egypt was quickly proving to be the highlight of his career as an archeologist thus far.
He grinned up at Kendra as she handed him a canteen full of water. As he drank he stood up and stretched his aching limbs out, eyeing the setting sun lighting up the desert horizon.
Kendra followed his gaze. "Do you want to close the dig down for the night?"
Sennel smiled and wiped the water off his muzzle. "We have still got a couple hours of time to work in today." he said to the Sphinx before turning to the mish mash of mythological creatures and dusty humans working to unearth this ancient Egyptian ruin. "Come on people, step it up a bit! Weve got myths to bring back to life!"
