Seventh Seal

"University"

        Sunamii piddled with her mashed potatoes, stirring it first one way and then the other and as a result the gravy began to flow steadily away from the potatoes like an invading army towards the mixed vegetables. If she wasn’t quick they would be overrun, so carefully she placed a few of the green beans sideways in front of the other veggies creating a barrier.  The flow of gravy was momentarily slowed, but was still coming through the gap between the beans. Quick action was needed, using her spoon she slid the beans together so the edges touched at an angle forming a wedge directed towards the offending potatoes. With this action the gravy’s advance was brought to a standstill the veggies would be safe for now. Next she turned her attention to the mound of roast beef sitting off to the right of the vegetables. The gravy on the roast beef was keeping its position tightly around the base of the hill and posed no threat to the veggies. Taking a closer look at roast beef high hill, she wondered if it could be excavated without disturbing the gravy. Suddenly a giant dinner roll landed on top of roast beef hill, slid down the side and destroyed the barrier holding back the gravy, within moments the vegetables had been defeated.

        “If your not going to eat that..” Katrina said.

          Looking up, Sunamii could see Kat motioning for her to pass over her plate, a big smile played across her face. Sunamii picked up the invading roll and  tossed it back to Katrina. She deftly caught it with one hand and took a big bite from it.

         Katrina was Sunamiis’ best friend. They’d met eight years earlier as freshmen in High School, and from there the relationship grew to the point, that except meeting the right man, nothing could tear them apart. Of course neither was really looking for mister right at the moment; their studies took up much of their time. Another reason they were so close was the mutual support they provided each other to finish college.
 
        “Go for a second trip Kat” Sunamii offered “there’s always plenty left over, especially on Fridays”
 
          The cafeteria at the university was not known for its cuisine, in fact the only reason anyone ate here at all is they were either too lazy to pack a lunch or walk to the many establishments  set up just outside the campus. Despite all of this, Friday was also payday and many cashed their check and ate off campus.  Sunamii was actually of neither set; she had a free walk scholarship and tutored for extra money.  This morning had been hectic and as a result she left without packing a lunch, and wasn’t in the mood to walk across campus.

            “I think I will” Kat declared, then softer “If you are going to eat that, its better warm” with that, she got up and made her way to the serving line. Sunamii returned her attention to the battlefield; the war had been disastrous for the veggies. Gravy covered carrots and peas lay scattered across her plate, one bean was trying to escape by hanging over the side. With her fork she scooted it back onto the plate and set the fork back down.

              She pushed the plate back, she wasn’t really hungry anyway, and then she remembered the apple placed in her backpack the night before. After fiddling about in the pack a few moments she came up with the prize, a big juicy Washington Apple.

              “Oh I see!” Katrina had returned “Holding out are we?”

              Sunamii stole a look at the plate Katrina returned with “Oh I think you’re getting your share today.”

              Katrina sat down with her tray then noticed Sunamii still hadn’t touched hers and it wasn’t like her friend to not eat lunch. This coupled with her subdued manner the past few days caused her to be concerned. 

            “Sunamii is something bothering you?” she asked taking a confidential tone “No breakfast this morning, and now no lunch. Your gonna blow away in a strong gust of wind.”

            Sunamii smiled at the jest. “I just don’t seem to have an appetite today. I don’t think Ill even finish this” she said holding up the apple.

              Katrina knew something was bothering her friend, she had been quiet all day, and that was unusual for her.  They had been friends a long time, and she wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easy.

              Katrina reached over and set her hand on Sunamii’s. “Hey” she squeezed her hand “look at me” Sunamii realizing her friends change of attitude tried to lighten the mood by smiling. Katrina continued “When we get home this afternoon, you have to tell me what’s bothering you.” She paused waiting for a sign from Sunamii then continued “Okay? I’m serious. I can tell when you’re hiding something. We’ve been friends along time, you can trust me.” Sunamii smiled in an attempt to show it wasn’t that serious and to emphasize it, she took a big bite from the apple and waved it to Kat.

          “It’s really nothing, just some bad dreams.” Then not wanting to discount her friends concern added “but tonight I’ll share it with you, okay?”

          “That’s all I ask” Katrina released her hand after one reassuring squeeze “I hate seeing you in this funk. I want the playful Sunamii back” then unable to stay serious any longer added with a pretended pout “besides its unfair you didn’t have to eat any of this” motioning to her plate.

            “Speaking of that” Sunamii put on her best mischievous grin “I suppose you can have mine after all” and with that she pushed her plate towards Katrina, and took another bite of the apple showing as much pleasure as possible. 

            Katrina immediately began looking about the table, not finding what she was after gave Sunamii an evil grin and began lowering her spoon to the mashed potatoes.

          “What’s that device invented by Pythagorean for bringing down enemy walls?” she raised one eyebrow, her spoon now fully loaded “hmm. Give up?”

            “Don’t you dare” Sunamii said frantically looking around for something to use as shield “I’m warning you”

              There battle was interrupted by a visitor approaching their booth.
               
              “That would be the Catapult” came the voice of Mark Scrivener, one of the tenured professors at the university “I always wondered if the students ever stopped eating here what we could do with this stuff. Do you think I can get a grant for discovering a method for weaponizing it?”

            “Mark!” Katrina lowered her weapon, and scooted over making room for their new guest “Your back! Sit down; tell us about your trip to Boston”

            Mark accepted the offer and sat down beside Katrina and set his briefcase on the floor. He was in his early forties, with no grey showing.  His wavy dark hair was cut just above the ears. He presented an attractive appearance, and broke many a heart when they discovered he was married, and happily for the past twenty years.

            “I’ve only got a minute. I didn’t expect to run into you two here. To lazy to go for pizza huh?” he chided then continued “Anyway, the client wanted my opinion on a site in Jordan, he only had photos, nice images but not the same as being there. From what I could tell it does look promising.” He paused, then added confidentially “I think this could be good for the University, as you know we haven’t had our hands on any new discoveries in quite some time and his particular find was unearthed just last month, and the location and level of the site could make it the oldest in the region”

            Sunamiis eyes lit up at the thought of a new discovery, her earlier troubles suppressed for the moment. She’d had a love for Archaeology for as long as she could remember. Another subject that she and Katrina had shared interest in. It was amazing the number of things they had in common.

            “Just how old are we talking here?” Sunamii was excited now “ Early dynastic?”

            Mark enjoyed seeing her eyes light up. “He made me sign a confidentiality agreement before even showing me the photos. He’s a very odd fellow. But I will say this, and keep to yourselves. It might be contemporary with the Uruk period. Ill let you chew on that for awhile. Now I really need to go see the dean. He’ll be just a little miffed that I didn’t come to see him straight away. But when I saw you from the corridor, well you know you’re my favorite pupils”

            With that he slid out of the booth, and bent down to retrieve his briefcase.

            “Will you be teaching this afternoon?” Katrina asked

            “After meeting with Ben I’ll be putting together my official opinion of how this discovery may benefit the university. Ill be back on Monday, you two enjoy your weekend” With that he departed.

            “Did you hear that?” Sunamii asked, still excited about the find “This could very well rewrite a lot of what we know about the ancient Semites”

              “But why the secrecy?” Katrina wondered “How can the site be a secret? There must certainly be archaeologists studying it now. I would think the Government of Jordan would have control over the area. Not some businessman in Boston.”

              “I don’t know” Sunamii said “Mark didn’t sound suspicious; he only said the guy was odd. He’s our resident expert on the laws concerning antiquities, I am sure if he thought there was a problem he’d say so.”

         



         The poster in the Motel lobby read “Modern Methods of Survey Archeology using Non-Evasive Techniques” by Professor Andre Solari in the Waldorf room. Katrina paused momentarily to read the announcement, a large black arrow beneath the title pointing to the right.

         “That’s a mouthful” she said, then turning to Sunamii “You sure this the right place? I thought I saw a pool as we were walking up”

         Sunamii smiled at the jest “non-evasive techniques?” she shook her head “What’s archeology if you don’t dig?”

         Katrina nodded her approval “That’s right!” she edged closer to Sunamii “I say we blow this joint and hit that pool” motioning behind them.

         Sunamii was tempted, she understood the need to properly survey a site, but it seemed as if lately more and more work was done to preserve sites for future generations to dig up with their better technology.  This was one conference she wouldn’t mind missing, but sadly she and Katrina had volunteered to represent the University this afternoon and it did get them out of class.
 
         “It’s supposed to run two hours” Sunamii pondered “Maybe after an hour…”

         “Now your thinking” Katrina said “let’s sit in the back, easier to sneak out”

         With a game plan in place, the two women marched off towards the Waldorf room. Upon turning a corner they noticed a tall gentleman with dark wavy hair conversing with a few others by the double doors leading into the room.

         “Do you think that’s the speaker?” Kat asked, her curiosity peeked “he is amazing looking”

         Sunamii noticed him right away, her heart skipped a beat. He was wearing an Armani suit and had a face that resembled those seen on roman statues. Why must all the good looking men be foreigners?

         “If it is” Sunamii sighed “I may want to stay and make sure we don’t miss anything”

         “Of course” Katrina still floating “We can always swim another day”

         As the women got closer, the gentleman in the suit looked up and caught Sunamiis eye and a brief smile crossed his face. Sunamii returned it.

         He turned from his companions to face Sunamii and Katrina “You must be the two ladies from Northwestern?” he smiled again, and then to Sunamii “Andre Solari” he extended his right hand “I hope I don’t put you to sleep with my presentation. It is not the most popular of subjects.”

         Sunamii took the offered hand “Sunamii Bennet” she replied “And I am fascinated with the non-evasive approach to Archeology”

         “It’s a shame everyone doesn’t feel the same way” he pondered “You would be surprised by the number of back hoes and other heavy machinery I have seen lately. It seems anymore its race to be the first one to recover something astounding, regardless of the cost…”

         Sunamii did take archeology seriously, and was taken aback by Andre’s comments. “You are joking, right?” she exclaimed “Back hoes?”

         “Oh no” Andre replied, “Don’t misunderstand, most sites are still excavated the old fashioned way with a hand shovel and brush. But the numbers of sites excavated for profit are growing, and yes they do employ heavy equipment.”

         Sunamiis sensibilities were shocked “All that history lost. Is there nothing that can be done?”

         “I am hoping I can impress upon those gathered today how much more efficient an operation will run if we spend more time planning and using non-evasive techniques.” Then turning to Katrina he said “and you must be..”

THE FOLLOWING WAS ADDED AS HUMOR TO ENTERTAIN THE WIFE AND NOT RELEVANT TO THE PLOT (it means something to Katrina)

              “Katrina” she replied, a frown appeared as if recalling something “Just Katrina”

              Andre was momentarily puzzled “Yes, I do recall the list of attendees” he said waving a sheet he held “One person was missing their last name. Now that you’re here, I can add it for the records” He reached into his pocket for a pen.

              “You will have to take that up with the author” she declared “He hasn’t seen fit to give me a last name yet”

              Andre gave Sunamii a perplexed look, to which Sunamii shrugged, turning back to Katrina Andre added “I am afraid I don’t follow..”

              “Ok, Look” Katrina was getting upset “I’m the second character mentioned in the book. Sunamii has a last name, albeit a stupid one” she turned to Sunamii who became wide eyed “Sorry, but its true. And you” she said indicating Andre “have a full name, even a fancy one,  Andre Solari” giving her best Italian accent “but me, nothing!”

                Sunamii took Katrina’s hand “I am sure it’s nothing” trying to reassure her “besides this is not the time or place to bring it up.”

                Katrina would not be dissuaded, she looked around and spotted a housekeeper exiting an elevator with her cleaning cart “Pardon me, usted habla ingles?” she called to the woman.

                The cleaning lady stopped and turned to Katrina “Si, I speak English”

                Katrina smiled “May I ask your name?”

                The cleaning lady became nervous “I am so sorry” she looked about to cry “Have I done something wrong?”

                  “No, no of course not” Katrina reassured her “I am just curious, I enjoy meeting new people and I try to make a game out remembering names, that’s all”

                  The cleaning lady gave a sigh of relief “This job means a lot to me” she said, “I have two small ones” then pointing to her name tag “My name is Maria Sanchez”

                  Katrina turned back to Sunamii “See!” she pointed “even the cleaning lady has a last name” then turning back to Maria “I am sorry, you see I don’t have a last name”

                  Maria startled “You have no last name?” she shook her head “Where I come from everyone has at least three names and some have many. My son, God bless his soul” she crossed herself is “Juan Miguel Armando Sanchez.”

                  “Is he a character in the book?” Katrina asked the woman

                  “Lo siento” she said “I do not know which book you speak of. I really must get back to my duties.” She paused before leaving “I shall pray for you, perhaps you will meet a man to give you a name.” she nodded towards Andre “Perhaps this handsome man would give you a name”

                “I..but..” Andre stammered

                  “That’s not the point!” Katrina placed her hands on her hips “I don’t want to get married. I want a name. I want to be something besides a sidekick and comic relief”

                  Sunamii was unable to hold it any longer and laughed, Katrina turned to her with furrowed eyebrows “It’s not funny!”

                Andre who had been watching all this time, had an idea “check your purse” he said motioning the bag on her shoulder “There might be something in there with your last name on it”

                Katrina was startled to find the bag, “Where did this come from?” she held it out as if it were a snake “Oh my God, I would never own anything this tacky”

              The pocketbook was huge, composed of many different colors and no two matched.  “Well, it’s certainly…”Sunamii tried to keep a straight face but failed “colorful”

              Katrina wrestled the huge bag off her shoulder and lowered it to the floor. It was large enough to fit two bowling balls. She sat down in front of it and unzipped it to look inside.

            “Did you pack a change of clothes?” Sunamii teased

            Katrina glared at her and returned her attention to the bag and reaching in side pulled out a large reference book, and sat it in her lap the title read “How to win friends and Influence people” by Dale Carnegie.

            “My guess is” Andre smirked “you’ve never read that”

            Katrina shot him an icy look and continued digging through the bag until she came up with a wallet.

            “There you go” said Andre triumphantly “mystery solved”

            Katrina opened the wallet, and her face darkened, she was beginning to seethe. “That’s it!” she stood up her fists clenched “I quit!”

          Sunamii was stunned by her sudden change in attitude “what is it?” she asked “Do you have a last name?” then it struck her “It can’t be that bad….can it?”

          Katrina tossed the wallet to Sunamii and folded her arms across her chest.

          Sunamii caught it and turned to Andre who moved up beside her. She carefully opened the wallet to reveal a drivers license. The name read Katrina Snagglepuss. Sunamii broke out laughing, then seeing her friends glare caught herself and ever the optimist tried to put a positive spin on it. “At least you have a driver’s license”

          “Laugh it up you two” Katrina said

          Andre held his hands up in front of him as if fending off an attack. “I had nothing to do with it” then reaching for his pin he turned to Sunamii with a smile “Is that Snagglepuss with two S’s?”

          “Do not write that down” Katrina ordered “because I quit the book!”



          “You’re what?” Came a voice from the end of the corridor. Katrina turned to see David approaching “You are going to quit my book?”

          Katrina gathered her courage, and turning to face him fully, put her hands on her hips “That’s right!” she stated “I refuse to participate..SNAGGLEPUSS!”

        David smiled, “I thought it was rather cute” then turning to Sunamii and Andre “Wouldn’t you agree?”

        “Well, it’s unusual” Andre admitted “but considering its origin, perhaps fitting” then turning to Sunamii he whispered “is that with two s’s?”

          Sunamii briefly nodded to Andre, then she turned to David “I think the whole situation just has her flustered…. Right Katrina?”

          “First off” explained Katrina “Snagglepuss was a pink lion who lived in a cave and couldn’t keep his affairs in order, secondly I hate the color pink, I can’t stand caves and I have no idea what affairs I even have.” turning to David and idea struck her “I think I will become a vampire…you like vampire shows don’t you?”

          David was caught off guard “Yes, but there are no vampires in this story”

        Katrina gave him her wickedest smile “There are now” she began searching the corridor, and noticed a bellhop approaching “I think I will start with that man over there” she said pointing in the bellhops direction.  “I will leave you to explain the body”

        “Katrina NO!” Sunamii shouted

        “Hold on” David stated waving his arms “Let’s not do anything rash”

        At that moment David realized he had done Katrina wrong. He looked upon her in a new light now, and knew he had to make it right.

        “There is no need for you to become a vampire” he said motioning for Katrina to come closer “I am going to set things right for you”

        Katrina immediately relaxed and her eyes began to water “Really?” she said “I can have a last name? A good one..and maybe some other things too?”

        David gave Katrina a hug, “I will let you pick your own last name.”

        Katrina beamed “You’re not joking right?”

      “Nope” he smiled “And Ill let you choose a few perks as well”

      Katrina turned to Sunamii and Andre “Did you hear that? I’m going to pick my own name”
Sunamii was happy for her friend, and gave her a big grin, and Andre began scratching through something on his sheet.

          “Okay” David said to Katrina “while you’re deciding which name you want, are there any advantages you would like to have?”

          Katrina looked up to David “advantages?”

          “Anything” he said “Within reason of course.”

          “Can I be rich?” her eyes lit up “Can I come from a family with money?”

          “Done!” David said cheerfully “You have a generous allowance and your ‘fortune’ is held in trust pending your graduation”

        “You hear that?” Katrina said to Sunamii “No more cafeteria food”

          With a little apprehension Katrina said “Can I have a super power?”

          Sunamii who had been listening all this time and happy for her friend finally spoke up “Now wait a minute…” she interjected, but David raised a hand cutting her off and gave her a knowing wink. Sunamii became thoughtful.

          Putting his hand on Katrina’s shoulder, “Yes, I think that is a wonderful idea. However, I can’t reveal it at this time, but rest assured you will be extremely happy”

          Katrina was about to break down “you have made me so happy, I feel like I’m somebody now. Thank you” she said giving David a hug “Can I have more time to think about my last name?”

        “Sure” he replied “take your time, oh and here.” He said handing her some keys “the keys to your Lexus parked out front. No more walking for you young lady”

        “Is it the LFA?” the top of the line performance car made by Lexus.

        “Don’t push it” David warned with a grin

        “Can’t blame a girl for tryin’” she reached up and gave David a kiss on the cheek “I won’t let you down”

        “Well before I go” David said “I have to wipe your memories of the past twenty….”
Katrina interrupted “One more thing??”

        “What Katrina?”

        “Can you make Sunamii an orphan?”

          Sunamii was outraged “What?!”

          David laughed and disappeared