I flew through the sky on my hoverboard without any destination in mind. I may have the best boss in the world since he sent me home early for my birthday. That was what I would have liked to think, but I only planned on working and getting dinner. So now, what was I going to do for the rest of the day?

As I thought of places to go, I heard my phone ring. Taking it out of my pocket, I saw it was Quintin calling. Swerving past a flock of birds, I answered the call. “Yo, what’s up, dude?”

“Happy birthday, ma dude!!” Quintin said. I could hear the loud music from a club in the background of the call. There were loud popping noises; I could only assume they were bottles being popped. I could also hear women screaming. It was most likely a bridal shower or a girls’ night out.

“Thank you. I see you’re partying as usual. What country are you in now?” Flying toward me from a distance was an airliner. I descended, letting the plane past, then ascended back up.

“I’m in Amsterdam! Gil, you have to let me fly you out. People are partying extra hard tonight. It’s absolutely insane! I can send a jet over and have you here in about two hours,” Quintin said. In the background, I heard a glass shatter, followed by a bartender telling someone to get down from the bar.

“Nah, man, you know those places are not my type of scene. I like to live a simple life. I very much prefer quieter places like museums,” I said, weaving around a cloud.

“Alright, man, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me,” Quintin said. We said our goodbyes and ended the call.

I just found out what I would do to pass the time. I swerved to the left and flew in the direction of the museum.

Arriving at the museum, I landed at the front door and stepped off my hoverboard. Picking the board, the nanobots in the board started to shape and morph into my wristband. Walking into the museum, I went to the front kiosk. As I read the tablet, I looked through the different ticket options. I noticed they had a special offer on the “Myths and Legends” exhibit. This seems interesting. Clicking the “buy now” button, I purchased a ticket. After receiving the confirmation QR code, I went to the exhibit.

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Arriving at the exhibit, I scanned my code and went inside. Each wall had a large statue of either a monster or what I assumed was a god. In front of each statue, there was a little stand with information about the person behind it. I walked over to a statue of a tall man with a beard and long hair. With his warrior physique, I would have thought he would have been clad in armor. However, he was only dressed in a sash across his chest and a cloth to cover his nether regions. The stand in front of it read “Gilgamesh: An ancient King of Uruk. He is part god and part human. He was considered to be the first superhero.”

“Now, if you follow me, we will be going to the gods of death section,” someone behind me said. When I turned around, I saw there was a tour being given about the exhibit. I walked over to join the group. The tour guide took notice of me, and we locked eyes. “Ah, just in time, newcomer. We will be going over my favorite god,” the tour guide said as he winked at me.

“The god of death has taken on many names and forms throughout humanity’s history. The ancient Egyptians called him Anubis, Scandinavians referred to her as Hel, and the Greeks called him Thanatos,” the tour guide said as he walked backward, pointing to the different statues of the respective gods. “Just a little fun fact: Eros, the god of love, is often mistaken for Thanatos and vice versa. These two beings are often confused with each other because they are both very beautiful, winged deities. The two Gods also exhibit duality because to understand pleasure, you must first know pain. Sigmund Freud wrote extensively about this, so if you want to learn more, I highly recommend reading some of his theories on the subject.”

We walked past the statue of the Thanatos. Next to the winged god stood a couple of girls with large bird-like wings on their backs. I broke away from the tour and read the panel: “The Keres: Female death-spirits. They were the goddesses who personified violent death and were drawn to bloody deaths on battlefields.” Oh my, I hope I never run into those vixens.

I turned around to rejoin the tour, but they were nowhere to be found. I walked all over the exhibit looking for the tour guide and the group, but I couldn’t find them. I really liked that tour guide; he seemed to be really knowledgeable, so I went out of the exhibit to talk to the receptionist across the door. “Hey, I was wondering what time the next tour is for the ‘Myths and Legends’ exhibit.”

The receptionist looked at me confused. “We don’t have any tours running today,” she said, scrolling through her tablet to double-check.

“Oh, I was just on a tour inside. There was a tour guide with a group of people.”

“Sir, you were the only person that walked into the exhibit this morning,” the receptionist said.