One hundred times at least, I would say. He may have told me many more times than that. Curiosity had finally gotten the better of me though, and I was determined to examine the enigmatic thing.
On approach the structure had maintained an indifference to my inquiring eyes, keeping its openings beyond the reach of my climbing stare. Having come around the side I saw immediately the broken corner of the plain, squat building he had spoken to me of. A door carved away to just the point where a man might enter into the heavy presence of the walls.
Now, looking in through the door, I was hesitant to venture in to the claustrophobic gloom. The barren floor stretched low before me, seeming to hunker down beneath the thick ceiling above. Across the way I could see a glowing light coming down from above like some ethereal moss growing on the wall. Stepping fully into the room now, some misshapen stairs sat waiting in a shaft of light from above - a ramp extended up as if a causeway for this bright flood, and I followed. The entire back half of the monolith was carved clean from top to bottom, leaving only, as it seemed, enough to hold the various workings of the stair and ramps. Ascending on, I could see the source of the light up above but as I came to the level it was still quite beyond where I could reach.
The walkway led along the next wall, soft light from the outside mapping my footsteps through a slot at floor level. The walls seemed to be thinning out with my progress inward, and the intensity of the light beyond the next wall beckoned brightly to me.
Coming at last around the corner I could see that this was indeed the end, and all the secrets of the building suddenly revealed themselves as I looked among the various openings. Up above me, a small vertical corridor cast a blinding white glow into my eyes. I was at last to see the Enlightening moment he had told me of..
The old man watched from the distance as, with a rush of hot, gusty air, the silver orb spun blindingly down from the sky. With a whirring and churning of machinery inside it opened its belly and noisily plucked something up from the chute at the top of the building. He thought he heard a muffled cry of surprise, but then it could have just been the squeaky closing of the metal doors as the ship closed up and spun slowly back up into the sky.