Thistle Chapter 2

Wait… I’m good, never mind.

Stepping off the plane into Washington D.C. itself just felt really good. My joints could swing freely again. Anyway, our first tour stop was the Smithsonian. When we got inside, I was amazed by the magnificence of the museum's decorations. We were told to wonder off as far as we wanted if our trackers were on. The trackers were just little red devices stuck to our shoulders and could be turned on and off manually or by phone. As I always do in museums I gravitated towards the ancient history section to check for anything Roman. I guess I'm not actively interested in my heritage but I like to see the Roman artifacts and wonder if my ancestors made them so long ago. I wandered over to a side plaque and read the inscription.

Although many are casted or mold replicas, many are real artifacts. Please do not touch anything besides the interactive exhibits. Of which none were going on right now. Ugghhhhhhhhh! I groaned in disappointment. But then something caught my eye, something shining. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a hoarder for shiny things or anything like that. It just caught my eye. I walked over feeling stranger and stranger with each step I took. It was like being startled over and over again, I was on edge. I realize there isn't anyway for the sunlight to come in here and nothing reflective to bounce off of. I took a final step forward, I could clearly see what it was. A little clay tablet on a necklace, it looked like an ancient dog tag. Then I remembered what Romans would do with new recruits who had to prove themselves, they were put on probation. Little probatio tablets like this were dispensed before they became members of the legion. This only increased my curiosity for why it was glowing. I reached out and poked it timidly, nothing happened. Just as I was letting go a sigh of relief, I blacked out.