Curious Workmanship

                  The old bridge fascinated Leila. Not only had the trip been filled with flora and fauna, now the adventure teemed rich with history. The excitement she experienced felt unusual for Leila. She works hard at downplaying most things in her life. Her entire persona is maintaining a calm, cool attitude. Yet, she couldn’t explain how she felt other than being excited for everything, to the point of almost wanting to cry out in joy from the excitement. Leila felt out of place, feeling so much emotion, yet her logical mind convinced herself that the hormonal imbalance of her teenage years contributed to the outpouring of excitement.

                  Leila’s turn to cross the bridge came up. They planned crossing only a few at a time to be safe even though the bridge looked to be extremely sturdy. Her mind raced with the fascination of whomever built the bridge ages ago. The fact that they would know how to create such structures amazed Leila. Lili stepped on the bridge, and Leila felt a sudden shift of emotions. Was the bridge unsafe? Was it a strange premonition about upcoming events? “Absurd,” she thought to herself. Leila rationalized that her heightened emotional state made her more susceptible to being afraid of heights. One side of the bridge sat exposed to the outer cliff, a sheer drop-off into the canyon below, although heights never bothered her before. She didn’t fear falling over. She knew her mind controlled every step she took. She just felt uneasy.

                  To distract her emotions, Leila focused on the facts. Curious how an older civilization could build such a stable structure, she examined the bridge. Leila marveled at the extremely large wood planks and the thought of an ancient civilization that could move and secure such large timbers. She noticed the curious workmanship the builders of the bridge used to carve holes out of the solid rock to lodge the planks deep within the cliff side. She noticed the carving of the stone created an unusual appearance, as if the wood planks were thrust into the rock like a mound of dirt. Leila laugh in her mind, as it made the rock look like a soft material, versus the solid rock face.

                  Then, farther down the bridge, she noticed another unique carving in the rock. A place where the handrail leaned up against the cliff side seemed to have the rock billowing over the edges, giving the stone an ooze like appearance, slowly traveling around the handrail of the bridge. The rock looked more like a tree growing around a solid object, as if the bridge had been made of stone, and the rock wall was a tree. She wondered why the builders didn’t craft the handrail around the rock and instead carved the rock to make room for the wood.

                  These questions and observations filled Leila’s mind. How could anyone build such a functional and sturdy bridge, yet even more intriguing to her was why they would? What reason did anyone have for traveling into such a desolate and difficult terrain? Surely treasure hunters wouldn’t have the time, nor resources, to build such a bridge.

                  Suddenly, with a physical gasp, her grandmother’s words come rushing back into her mind. Jonas was looking for an ancient city. Could this be from the ancient world? Is this how they traveled in and out of the valley? Could it be true that an ancient civilization lie buried in their backyard this whole time? The evidence seemed all too real, yet too difficult to digest or accept.

                  Her mind raced considering the possibilities and soon arrived on the other side. Her thought process became slightly distracted, realizing that on the other side, the trail simply continued as it looked previously. She imagined the previous path came to a complete ending, and further travel would be more challenging. But the path continued on the other side of the cliff face. It appeared that the path was one continuous path build into the side of the mountain, except for the blockade of a cliff face wall. A typical landslide, or falling rocks, would make sense, yet the rock was solid. Most of the others didn’t even notice, although it bothered Leila how strange the rock formation appeared to be. Leila nearly spoke up, but her thoughts were cut short by a shrill, growling screech coming from the foliage above.