Desert Umbra

The Darkness

Rick. I thought annoyed with my brother and his shit. He had forgotten to pay our bills for our apartment in Cairo yet again. I had been expecting him back from his excursion across the desert with the French Foreign Legionnaires, I sighed upset with him because it had been days since his due back date. Of course, I would never breathe a word of discomfort to his face. I set the mail down on my desk near the window where the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. I took a deep breath, letting my eyes close and forgetting the troubles that clouded my mind. I let the rays touch my skin as they warmed me, the cool air that flowed through the apartment keeping a steady 70 degrees. I smiled opening my eyes feeling a bit refreshed, I brushed the mail out of the way to uncover the book that I had set it on. The book, its name I did not know as the writings were in ancient Egyptian. I was learning the dead language as my colleague Evelyn Carnahan was fluent in it. She took me under her wing at the museum teaching me the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, language, and history. I was never the studious type so the progress had been slow. However, I had always had a fascination with this area of the world, growing up in America was fine, but a strong connection had always pulled me here. I knew that one way or another I would find my calling in this beautifully rugged country. When I found out that Rick had been deployed here I knew I had to come with him. He was rarely around it seemed. It upset me as we had not been particularly close all these years we'd spent together. Cairo was actually where we were born, a cold dark orphanage not far from here. I did not remember much from that time, though I had the mark to prove I was there. The tattoo I had not asked for, I rubbed my wrist thinking about the carnage I was reading about and the dark history that surrounded the place we lived. The darkness was something that did not scare me. As a child, I reveled in it, while most my age would shy away from it. All my life I'd felt as if the shadows understood, they were there not to scare but to comfort. It felt odd remembering it like this, almost like a curse. But it never felt that way to me, it was normal. It explained my sleep schedule as to why this hour seemed like bedtime and the night kept me awake. The clock read 7:13 am and I knew it was time to get going. I sighed as I watched the sun poke its head finally over the skyline.

Time for work, I rushed around my room to my closet finding a long skirt and white shirt that I knew would be appropriate for my job as a tour guide in the museum. While studying was not my strong suit, memorization was. It helped that Evy would be there today categorizing the library, it always made my day go faster when she was working with me. It filled the gaps in the schedule that I worked. Sometimes I would help her with the categorizing and filing as needed, it was calming work altogether and very easy money. I left my closet as I finished dressing and went to the bathroom to put a bit of makeup on. I lined my eyes and smiled at the reflection in the mirror, she smiled back briefly. I dropped my smile and then headed towards the door reaching for my keys that were in a bowl where Rick and I put them. With one last glance towards the small space, I started my walk to the Museum of Antiquities. 

Authors Note: The chapters do get longer as we progress, I try to make them at least 2,000 words.