Mushrooms of Zanzibar pages

Orkie's Journal 30 September 1971 (2)

Sept 30, 1971

ORKIES' JOURNAL, 30 SEPT. '71

At the crack of dawn I arose to find that the incredibly lumpy matress I was sleeping on was, infact, old Leaper. He must have spilled something on me during the night & I found it necessary to change into some dry clothes.

Since everyone else was asleep, I walked over to the Temple entrance alone. A vast sense of excitement welled up in me as I stood before the dark entrance: every fibre of my body was tingling & then, -- Oh, No! Not again! oh, I say -- Damn: - Blasted Rum Luck!

Changing into another set of dry clothes, I ran at top speed toward the Temple entrance again & the momentum carried me past the stone opening & I found myself standing inside the musty structure, the rising sun streaming through the portal behind me.

Half buried in the sand on the floor were bits of old sacrificial pottery & the ghastly remains of some poor luckless mushroom fancier of ages past, his yellow skull grinning foolishly up at me.

On the rear wall of this chamber were some extremely interesting engravings. These were, apparently, directions of how to actually find this very Temple and inscribed here by some unknown & forgotten Pertian artisan. (these were really some fine examples of early Pert Charts.)

I wondered why this chart, of sorts, should give directions to a place where its author was obviously at when he was etching: but then I realized that the modern day Poles were descended from the Perts.

All at once, at the end of the chart, I narrowly missed falling into a great, gaping hole in the floor. With my heart pounding. I peered over the edge of the opening into the blackness below. Prom the black depths below came a sickening slithering sound and loud, long, chilling Hissss! I instantly ..............

(Well, Gang, I had to complete this Journal entry also. Orkie's notes stop above & mine proceed from here.

AKIMBO).

We awoke to find Leaper snoring under two sets of wet explorers' suits & Orkie gone. Although I had hoped he might have wandered off into the desert I knew that the damned fool was in the Temple. I woke the others & we entered the structure & sure enough, there he was: passed out cold & soaking wet, lying beside a large opening in the floor.

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