Echoes Through Eternity. AJ Korvinus

gazed at Neshi who stood partially impressed. The Overseer chuckled and walked away. Men showed his despise with a hard spit in the dirt.

      The day was long and exhausting. Ra had passed over the body of the great sky goddess Newt. He was finally entering her mouth and blackness would cover Kemet. Every night the sun god would journey through the body of Newt, and in the morning she would give birth to Ra once again. I too would be reborn in the coming day, after my body had rejuvenated during the night. The orchestra of snoring and whimpering did not bother me for I was accustomed to the sounds of exhaustion and suffering. We had gathered around the marshy oasis to rest under a starry sky. I lay on my reed mat beside Men and another young labourer like myself, Rensi son of Meru. He was born into a long generation of miners from a small settlement near the old capital of Amunemhaat-iti-tawi. Like his late father and his father before him, one-day Rensi was destined to befall the same fate … and like his forebears, his name will be forgotten forever. It was inevitable, none of us were immune to the dark blanket of oblivion. Our work, however, would be admired for a thousand years to come but those whose blood and sweat made it be - their names … our names will never be uttered again. It was a miserable fate but we had accepted it.

      I could hear conversations among established workers mocking the newcomers and Neshi’s ruthless attitude towards them. To their advantage, Men had not heard their tasteless remarks as he was fast asleep. I, on the other hand, did not care. My drowsy eyes gazed into the blackness of the sky, admiring the clusters of stars like countless needle holes littered across a dark veil. As always, in my moments of solitude, my foolish heart revived the old and reminded me of the new memories, again and again. No matter how hard I tried, I could never forget Tawri. As my eyelids gradually shut, visions of her enchanting beauty stared back at me. After many seasons away I had finally laid eyes upon her once again. It was, perhaps, for the last time. There was no escape from the feelings I held for her. Soon I would see her again … but only in my dreams.