Nigkala Tales Pt. 12: Continuing education

"It is a powerful phrase in the culture. I learned about it months ago, and have been waiting for a suitable time. I wanted to have fun. And it is very appropriate. You want to place the objects in the way they used to be. You have the divine power of healing, and what you are doing is healing, that is, repairing damage. Think of the pieces as a broken whole, and imagine wanting to repair them. That will guide your hand, and help you to place things correctly. But be careful to keep the pieces separate, and don't 'repair' them too much, as you can actually undo the breaks. That would create a lot of questions you don't want to answer."

"You mean I could make them whole?"

"Yes. But try it out later on something else, unless you want to raise questions. Now have fun."

"Thank you, my Queen."

I picked up the first piece, and closed my eyes. Meditating, I focused my desire on finding its home. A feeling of a location slowly emerged, and I moved my hand to where it felt the best. Opening my eyes, I saw it was over an open space, so I carefully placed it there. I repeated this several more times, and it got easier each time. Then I came on a piece that wanted to be where another already was. So I set aside the one I was working on and picked up the one in the way and focused on it. It didn't belong there.

I was about to move it when I realized I had the tag number on the paper under it and on the master. I put both pieces aside and got the paper masters. I crossed out the incorrect tag on both papers, and put the correct one in. Then I moved the correct piece into place before working on the displaced piece. I soon got into a rhythm, but I was dismayed at how many I had gotten wrong. Yet at the end of the day, I had placed all but five pieces, and I had over ninety-five percent of each tablet. I made a final pass over each tablet, feeling each piece and assuring it was in the correct place.

The next day, I carefully extracted each tablet and put it all together by itself to make new paper patterns. While that went fast, it took the rest of the day to fabricate the forms. I called Evan to come the next afternoon to pick them up. Until then, I spent the time packing them for travel, and then waiting for Evan.

"You're finished? I can hardly wait to see them."

"Sorry, but you will have to wait some more. They are packed for travel. Come, you can bring down the empty crates while I bring down the packed forms. Oh, there were a few leftovers, and some missing bits, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised."

"You're killing me. Okay, lead the way."

I brought him to the spare room, and pointed out the smallest crate. "That has the leftovers. The rest have the old packing material I couldn't use and such. Nothing of historical value. While you clear out this room, I will bring the packed tablets to your truck."

We spent the next half hour loading it. We couldn't fit all the crates in. "Evan, let's leave the extra empties here for now and pick them up later."

"Yeah. They won't all fit, so that's probably best. I guess I'll have to wait another hour before I can even see the first one."

"Well... maybe not." I typed on my phone, and his dinged. "Read your email."

"Woah! Nine tablets? Wow. We thought there was only enough for six."

"When I first examined them, I felt there was enough for eight, but the sorting technique I use came up with nine. Keep scrolling."

"Nice. Hi-res pictures of each. Oh! Layouts with tag numbers. That'll help keep them straight. That is a lot of work."

"You did help some."

"Yeah, you read tags and I looked them up and said yes or no. Some help."

"You saved me at least an hour. And it did help. If you want to list yourself as assisting me, I won't mind. Now, stop looking at your phone. Time to get moving." I got into the passenger seat, and adjusted it as best I could. When we got to the museum, he got some helpers to assist. I got to watch as he played a little dictator, getting everything just right. The big moment came, and he asked me to reveal my work. All the helpers were in the room, knowing something important was about to happen.

I opened each form, but did not uncover it until they were all ready. "And now, prepare for a wonder. Ta-da!" I lifted the first cover and placed it against the wall. "Ta-da!" Second cover. I had seven more. Then I stepped back, and quietly told Evan, "While they are separated now, they are in the correct position. I'll leave it to you to assemble them for display. Enjoy your work." I just quietly enjoyed his look of bliss. He truly was interested in archaeology, and this meant a lot to him.

Suddenly, he turned around and hugged me. "Thank you so much."

"My pleasure, but remember what I said about focusing on work too much?"

"Yeah?"

"Your head is pressing my breast."

He quickly broke the hug and backed off. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. No harm done. Besides, seeing you this flustered is fun."

"You!"

I just smiled.

"Oh, never mind."

We basked in their glory for nearly an hour when Evan said, "Okay, everyone, show's over. We'll begin work on these tomorrow." Even started recovering them, and I assisted him.

When he was dropping me off, I suggested we load the rest of the empties, and he could unload tomorrow without having to come and fetch them on a separate trip. He agreed, and we loaded the truck.

A few days later, I got word that our director was scheduled to return to the set in two weeks. I had intended to get back to the set early, to help get things organized, but Evan screwed up those plans by announcing the assembly of the tablets. The next few days they were in the news, and there was lots of speculation about them. Evan got commended for taking the risk, and he in turn convinced them to pay me not only for the forms I made, but also for my time. He got me paid as an expert re-assembler, working full time while I had the tablets. So I invited him to dine with us at a fancy restaurant. He told me he is recommending me to be a guest speaker to a local university with a good archaeology program. He thinks the tablets and the translation will be enough to 'authenticate' my credentials in the field.

Those events are so formal; I wondered what I would wear.

But that is another story...