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THAT SAME NIGHT
THE NILE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM, FREMONT, CA
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SELENE WAS BEWILDERED. She found herself in what seemed to be a very dark box. The odor of musty air filled her nostrils. She did not know where she was. Just a moment ago she was eating lunch with her friends, and in a flash, she found herself feeling like she was in a confined space.
Never did she fear easily, but this was something she had never experienced before. She had nothing she could relate to except what she thought death might be like if she were placed directly in the dirt. But that couldn’t be. That was never her destiny.
The darkness consumed her. She couldn’t see anything around her, but she did know she was in a laying position which added to her concern. She decided to find out how much she could move, that is if she could move at all. She lifted her right arm and instantly felt a coolness on her hand. What was that sensation she thought? Quickly withdrawing her arm, the coolness went away. Determined to make sense of it all she lifted her left leg. Again, the sensation of coolness was felt on her foot. She carefully placed her foot back down.
It was time. Selene had decided she would attempt to sit up no matter the cost. She took in a deep breath and pulled herself up. Her body reacted as the cool air hit her form. It was as if she emerged out of some kind of nightfall in to a dimly lit room. Light shown through some square glass objects on the far wall. Unlike the palace fortifications Selene had live in all her life, these walls were all awash in pure white. No artwork. No paintings whatsoever.
She squinted to evaluate her surroundings. Selene could make out several tables similarly all in white with hanging oblong metal and tubular items directly above each one. Many of the tables had items strewn across them as if someone had been working with them and just left the items where they laid.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, Selene was driven to explore her surrounding further. Swinging her feet over the table’s edge, Selene sat for a moment and beheld the opposing wall. There she could see racks and racks of various objects from vases, to familiar objects. Everything was dusty and very old. She recognized that the scents were coming from these items. That gave her some comfort as this must be the origins of the odor that she first drew in.
One article on the nearby shelf caught her attention. She slowly and quietly walked over to the rack. It was a golden crown that once was worn by her sibling. It consisted of a thick band of pure gold about two-inches thick in width. It no longer shined as the gold was tarnished with age. The band was plain with no jewels or inscriptions. The front of the crown held an emblem of a serpent emerging as if coming from center of the king’s forehead when worn. Though she had married her brother, she had also had him killed. How did his crown get here? She speculated.
Abruptly she stopped. She heard something. Was someone or something in the room with her? She wondered. A humming started that seemed to come from above her. She started to feel cooler air moving about the room. At the sound she spun around to look and see who might be there. The room was empty. Her eyes focused on what she thought was the table she just hopped off from. But it couldn’t be. The table had bones arranged in such a way you could make out the head, arms, ribs, and legs. A flatten skeleton was laid out on the table. Selene did not know what to make of everything she was seeing and why she found herself here.