Dzidzor felt a cool cloth on her forehead. It did not do much to help with the headache though.

She did not want to open her eyes, she felt wasn’t prepared for what she might see. She envied those who forgot traumatic experiences when they slept and pitied herself. She saw everything with unnatural clarity.

The coiling snake.

The growl of a lion.

Fire.

The smell of burning flesh.

The tears that pooled on Nkosi’s eyes.

She decided that she needed to open her eyes, closing them just kept the images coming.

She felt herself lying down in soft cotton sheets. Everything smelled like spices, not the intense ones that made you sneeze your brains out but the mild calming ones, that made you want to fall asleep and never wake up.

She realized with a start that she wasn’t wearing her usual clothes, she knew for a fact that this is not how they feel. She groaned instantly with the movement and she felt hands push her back, speaking in an unknown language. She was pleasantly surprised to find that there was little to no light here.

“Lay down!” a scolding voice spoke in a strange accent “You need rest!”

The only source of light seemed to come from candles placed at vantage places within the humble room, and so it was difficult to see. There were no windows and the walls seemed to be made of stone. Not a single light bulb was mounted. She wondered where Lisa had taken her to.

“Lay down!” the scolding voice continued “you will get hurt!”

Dzidzor turned to look at her and gasped.

Her skin was the fairest she had seen, except those in the movies but with a shade of brown. Her hair had a loose curl texture and was tied in a low bun messy ponytail. Bits of her hair stuck to her face due to the sweat from the smelting heat from the room. Despite it all, Dzidzor did not feel the heat.

She reached out to touch her check. Her nurse flinched from the movement, but did nothing to stop the movement. It felt soft and oily to the touch.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I am not dreaming” Dzidzor whispered. Where has Lisa taken her to now?

She was far away from home.

“My name is Mariam” her nurse said, seeing her confusion “You came to us in a very bad shape. The gods sent you to us”

“The gods? Which gods?”

“Ra,” the nurse took Dzidzor’s hand from her cheek and unto her chest “god of the sun”

Dzidzor knew that she meant Lisa.

“Where am I?” the nurse smiled and said,

“Go out and see for yourself”

Dzidzor struggled to get up due to the weakness of her muscles but Marian helped her. She was stronger than she looked, although she only reached Dzidzor’s chest.

Dzidzor wore a simple dress, the color of khaki that covered her body well enough but then realized she wore no undergarments. The nurse did not seem concerned by this, supporting Dzidzor from her waist and pulling her up so she could stand. Miriam wore a similar apparel, with a red sash tied to her waist.

Little by little, they shuffled out to the only door in the room. The emerged into a big enclosure that looked like a market. Everything was made from stone, from the building hanging on the side of the walls to the ones that lined the dusty trail. In this enclosure too, there were no windows and she wondered how people were able to live here, without any ventilation. Sweaty people walked too and from within and without the neatly arranged houses. People from all ages, sex and sizes. She noticed a few people with her skin color engaging with the lot. Like the day and the night, they live together, in a soup that fascinated her.

She noticed it was just a big room, and looking up, the walls of the great room bent upwards, converging into a point.

She did not see a single door out of this place. How was Marian going to show her where she was, when she wouldn’t even be permitted to go out? Dzidzor begun to show some resistance to this strange woman, realizing not to trust her.

“Trust me”

“How am I supposed to know you are not going to harm me?”

“Oh,” the woman exclaimed sadly, looking into her eyes as though she was silly for having those thoughts “Only those who harm others, fear to be harmed themselves”

“We are walking towards stone!” Dzidzor exclaimed, bitter about Miriam’s comment. Why should she not be suspicious? From everything she has been through, trusting people she knew and love was dangerous. Imagine trusting someone she just met. She had probably not gone through what she has gone through before. Dzidzor begun to resent her and pried her arms away from her body. The motion caused her to feel dizzy but she knew she was strong; she will recover soon enough.

Miriam smiled sadly and allowed her hands to be removed from her body.

“Fine then, I will show you” Miriam walked surely to one of the walls and then walked right through it.

Dzidzor gasped in surprise, looking around her to see if others had seen it. Surely enough they had, but they just looked right away and continued their business, as if it was normal.

Dzidzor walked tentatively towards the wall Miriam had gone through. When she touched it, her hand went right through, like the wall was water.

Slowly, she passed her body through it and was instantly blinded by the glare of the sun. She doubled over in pain, her headache remembering to bash her. Hands held her instantly, hands she now recognized to be Miriam. Slowly she adjusted but nothing in the world could prepare her for this.

She was standing beside the Great pyramids of Giza.

Lisa has brought her to Egypt.