Heart Breaking Discovery
Ramirez couldn't help but wonder if something dangerous was lurking behind his walls. His heart felt like it was about to pound through his chest as he anxiously scraped at the wall until the full picture of the markings came into view.
He gasped as he dropped his tools and fell back. He couldn't believe his eyes, he'd never seen this kind of thing before. He had to find answers right now. But he had no idea that the answers would only break his heart. Everything was about to change.
A Life Changed
Lucas Asicona Ramirez was renovating his family home in Chajul, a humble village in the mountains of Guatemala in Central America when he discovered something that would change his life forever.
It started like any other renovation day. He woke up, devoured some break, poured some coffee, and got to work.
No Ordinary House
He was working in his kitchen, stripping layers of old paint from its centuries-old walls. To have a very old house was normal in their village. Many families passed down their dwellings from generation to generation.
But when Ramirez decided to install wood and piping and fix its deteriorating painted walls, he was about to find out that this was no ordinary house.
Generations Lost
As Ramirez chipped away the paint, he wondered how many hands had done the same thing and how many families each layer of paint represented.
He was lost in thought, lost in a world long past, and lives so linked to him that he never met. He could almost feel a connection to them through the wall, but what he couldn’t feel was the strange material setting his hands on fire.
Hands On Fire
Suddenly, Ramirez dropped his tools and looked at his hands. They felt like they were burning! He raced to the sink and washed them in cool water.
As the burning sensation eased, he examined his hands closely. “What was that all about?”, he thought. His hands seemed to be a little red in color but nothing else was wrong. Was it an insect bite?
Drawing A Blank
Ramirez walked back over to the wall and examined it. He was looking for termites or something that would explain what just happened. But he couldn’t find anything.
Eventually, he shrugged it off and went back to work. Maybe whatever bit him was gone now? But Ramirez had no idea that that was no insect bite, and whatever it was, was about to get much, much worse.
Strange Mark
Ramirez continued with his task but as he peeled away another layer of paint, the sensation came back. He tried to ignore the pain and carry on. But then he saw it and stopped cold.
It was a strange mark, uncovered by the paint he just chipped away. Curious, he touched it. His finger ignited with pain. Something was seriously wrong here.
Stifling Discovery
Confused, Ramirez washed his hands again to ease the pain and then continued to work on the piping in another area of the wall. But as he was working, he made a stifling discovery.
Looking at the marking on the wall from a distance, he realized that there was much more to it than meets the eye. He scuffled over and carefully resumed scrapping, minding not to get anything on his hands.
New Fear
Ramirez’s village is full of ancient ruins, and stories of historic discoveries. He wondered if that was what this was too. Full of revived excitement, he got to work.
It wasn’t long before Ramirez realized these markings weren’t random. But as he chipped, a new fear crept up in his mind. What if this wasn’t meant to be found? Did his hands burn as a warning?
Curses And Warfare
Ramirez's heart began to pound as he thought of the curses and chemical warfare of the past. If someone really didn’t want this to be found, maybe that might explain the burning sensation.
Were there dangerous chemicals inside his family walls? Ramirez’s mind was racing. What message could be so secret that someone would put chemicals on it?
The Big Reveal
He scraped anxiously until a full picture of these markings came into view. With a sharp inhale, he dropped his tools and fell back.
He had never seen anything like this. In all the days he had lived, cooked, and ate inside this kitchen, he could have never imagined something like this was dwelling in its mysterious shadows. What was it?
An Ancient Depiction
Ramirez found an ancient image depicting people with patterned cloaks, heeled shoes, and strange tools and instruments in their hands.
Once he realized that these drawings could be a historical discovery of special significance and that he must have been allergic to the paint, he stopped what he was doing immediately. He didn’t want to damage his only incredible find. But this was just the first of many.
What Was It?
Ramirez raced to tell his family about his ancient discovery and soon, word spread. It wasn’t long before archeologists flocked to his door to finish his abandoned excavation.
Their unveiling took weeks, but what was more outstanding was that the ancient images weren’t just found in the kitchen. Hidden inside the walls of Ramirez’s entire home was an epic mural. But was it and what did it mean?
Something Strange
It became clear to historians that the images in Ramirez’s home depicted an ancient Ixil Mayan civilization that once ruled Mesoamerica, dating the work back to the 1500s.
However, as they examined these images closely, they noticed something very strange about their clothing. And the explanation was far more sinister than Ramirez and his family could bear.
A Dark Past
The murals painted scenes of the Mayans interesting with the Spaniards who were brutally colonizing the area at the time. To think that such a dark chapter of history was recorded on his walls made his stomach churn but he also thought that this made it more important for him to protect them, so people never forget.
What do you think? Would you like something like that living inside your walls?