The Tale of the Town of the Temple and its Super Secret Gem

The rumblings grumblings and general crumbling of everything in the immediate vicinity started the moment Marley's fingers closed around the glowing green jewel. She wanted to yell something about booby traps to Maron but it wasn't necessary. She wanted to yell something about booby traps to Marin, but it wasn't necessary. He was so close behind her that when she stumbled back a few paces, she felt his chest against her ponytail. It was a good thing she had taken Kelly off of her back, and put her on his, mere moments ago. Kelly was the only person who reacted to the commotion without anxiety or terror. She gurgled and bounced from the little pouch on Marin's back as of she sensed the beginnings of a game. Marley and Marin ran as fast as their feet would carry them in search of the exit, which seemed to have moved. A large rock broke free from the cave's ceiling above Marin's head. Marley tossed the jewel up into the air to free her hands. She used them to catapult herself off the ground and give Marin a firm kick to the abdomen out of harms way. The Jewel landed in his lap as his butt hit the dusty cave floor. The sound of Kelley’s prattle was the only testament to her condition. With the rock between them Marley could no longer see Marin or Kelley.

"You okay?" She called out to him.

"Much better than I would have been," he called back.

“Nice save.” She smiled at his ability to make a joke, anytime anywhere. It appeared the giant ceiling hanging had made a way out.

"See you on the other side, stud," She yelled.

"Not if I see you first."

As Marley rounded the corner and neared her tall and slender partner in crime, she reached out and took Kelley in her arms. She looked into the same big brown eyes she saw in the mirror. Grinned, at the round little face she loved more than anything in the world. She kissed Kelley's chubby little cheeks. She meant to do it once, but couldn't help repeating the motion a few times.

"You are such a trooper," she told her. She felt Maron's hand on the small of her back as he kissed her temple. Kelley giggled between them grabbing at Marin's nose and lips. They made an exchange; baby for gem. Marley tucked their spoils away in the small pack that was strapped to her waist.

"Looks like we found it," said Marin.

"I'm sure this will upset the Elders even more than me striking out to find it without my warrior patch," responded Marley. Marin's face was concerned as he bounced Kelley and brushed a stray hair from Marley's eyes. Marley grinned at the little girl and placed a finger in her outstretched hand.

"We should set up camp nearby. No way we make it back to the temple before sundown," she sighed. Marin nodded his agreement and they set out in search of a good place to spend the night.

Marley was holding a large leaf out of her family's way when she had an idea.

"Know what would be fun?"

"I know you're going to tell me, and I simply can't wait." Maron stopped to kiss her as he passed under the brush she held.

"You should tell her the story of the stone,” she said falling into step with him.

“It may keep her distracted until I get the chance to feed her."

"Sounds like a good idea to me,” Marin replied. He gave Kelley, who rode comfortably against his chest, an Eskimo kiss before speaking to her.

“What do you say Kell, interested in the tale of the gem of innocence?" Kelley responded to his question with a giggling and bouncing that her parents could only assume was consent.

"Daddy's terrible with details, but his voice is like velvet," Marely mused from Marin's side.

"Lucky for you Mama remembers everything Daddy forgets," said Marin. Kelley turned her head as they spoke to her, always focused on the speaker.

"A long time ago. Way before we lived in the town of the temple there was an ancient ritual. Some might call it a ceremony. Back then all the Elder's were still learning to be the all seeing, all knowing batch of guys you know and love." Kelley and Marley laughed in Unison.

"She's a smart kid you know, I think she picks up on the sarcasm," observed Marley.

Marin looked into Kelley's eyes. "I am not ashamed of who I am," he said. This earned him a pair of rolled eyes from his pint sized Polynesian princess of a wife.

"During the ceremony the elders would place memories from their lives into a single gem. The gem was reserved for memories that had taught them valuable lessons. Some of the memories were beautiful, but some were painful." He paused to look at Marley

"Nothing to add?" He took her hand as he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

"You’re doing just fine, Papa Bear."

"This ceremony went on for generations, until the jewel was full of things the old elders were afraid to let out among the people. They decided that the jewel should be taken far away so that only the elders and their peers would be exposed to its dangerous secrets." Kelley looked up at him patiently waiting for the next part of the story.

"From that day forward laws were put in place to keep community members of the meetings of the Elders. For the first time the Hall of Elders became the secretive fortress it is now. A few brave warriors were recruited to take the jewel into the wilderness. It was impossible to destroy it, so the only option left was to return it to the land that created it. The land was known to have magical properties that would keep the jewel protected. The warriors took the gem away so long ago that the people who live in the town of the temple now, doubt that it ever existed. Even some of the Elders themselves question whether or not the gem’s story is just a fable." Kelley was still listening to the story, but at this point she began to squirm. Marin took the pack and hooked it up to Marley instead. That seemed to do the trick.

"Now recently, people in the town of the temple have begun to doubt more than just old folk tales, but the elders themselves. There has been chaos among the people. This new generation of young people is a combination of people born elsewhere, and those too young to remember much about the town’s origin. These kids have begun to question why it is they should be expected to trust and obey the elders at all times. Perhaps the elders don’t have their best interest at heart. Perhaps they aren’t even all that wise." He stopped walking to point Marley towards a good spot to set up camp. She handed Kelley to him and converted the carrier to a blanket for her to sit on as they put things in order. Kelley sat on the blanket playing with pots and empty thermoses as her parents moved about her.

"This is where your Mama enters the story." Marin moved his pack in order to make room for the final steak on the edge of their tent. Marley took a step back and promptly tripped over it. Maron, seeing this, whipped around and caught her in a kind of dip. He saw an expression of surprise as he looked down into her face.

“Thanks… stud,” she breathed. The entire scene was very entertaining to Kelley who watched them from her perch and giggled, as she seemed to do at most everything. Suddenly her laughing turned to long loud restless baby sobs.

“Somebody’s hungry,” said Marley. She went to the blanket and scooped Kelley up. She popped a pacifier between the little girl’s lips. Marin joined them on the blanket a moment later; he was carrying a bottle. As Kelley ate they told her the rest of the story. Marley had stood before the Elders in the temple just days ago, and presented them with a proposition. She believed she could find and return with the gem of innocence. If she brought it back to the town at the temple it would serve as proof that the order of things was as it should be. If for some reason the younglings were right and this wasn’t the case… the gem could prove that too.

“Now the elders are mostly old gray men,” Marin said to Kelley. He was watching her drain her bottle over Marley’s shoulder.

“They doubted Mama could do the things she said because she’s a woman, and she’s young. They failed to recognize that she was the best in the historian business before they ever met her.” He glanced Marley’s way and she was smiling at his words.

“She was more like a bounty hunter of artifacts,” he finished. When Marin turned his attention back to Kelley, she was fast asleep.

“I think the elders are just afraid,” said Marley

“The legend of the gem says that it steals innocence and leave sorrow in its place. If the younglings come in contact with it…” she put the bottle down and looked into Marin’s eyes.

“We have to go back Marles,” said Marin. A nod was her only response.

Later, in the dead of the night little Kelley awoke between her sleeping parents. The glowing gem called to her from it’s small covering. She crawled around Marley to pull the strap on the gem’s bag. The gem rolled out and it’s green light danced across her face. Kelley placed one chubby hand on the gem and then the other. Its light grew and Kelley’s big brown eyes took on the same shimmering green hue of the gem. She saw them, the elders of the past. Saw them dance and laugh and play. Saw their pain and loss and flaws. She became them and lived their lives. She fought as them, lost as them, hit their wives and drained life from others in their name. She even looked at her mother, and dismissed her as too young and too female to make a difference. She pulled her hands from the gem and began to cry. Silently but from a place that was deep and tangible. The kind of tears you can feel in the pit of your belly. She had lost the ability to cry to communicate something simple. Hers were the tears of someone who was aware that her tears could change nothing, but who cried them anyway.