It’s a hot, sunny day in Cairo. Not that it is ever anything but hot and sunny here. My view as I rest my head is the Great Pyramids, built many years ago, but now attracts thousands of visitors to my hometown. My job is simple, really. I carry these tourists on my humped back through the desert, near the pyramids and then circle back to my current resting spot. Day in and day out, I live this menial life.
Some days, I feel like laying my head down on this scorching sand and drift away to another place and time…
The bleating of another camel awakens me. I must have been sleeping away my afternoon. I slowly open my eyes. Something feels different. The pyramids are still there, but there are fewer tourists walking around. In fact, they appear to be wearing unusual clothing. Not that the tourists wear normal clothing. They show up to Egypt in cargo shorts and fanny packs. An outfit that appears all too often and has become a frequent joke amongst us camels.
Wait. The pyramids look a little strange as well. They look… newer. Maybe there is some renovation going on. I must have missed the memo.
A strict-looking man approaches me. I look around, but there are no other camels nearby. He reaches my spot and tugs on my harness. I immediately stand, almost a reflex at this point. He leads me to the edge of the hill where I see an astonishing sight, gold artifacts being channeled from the pyramids to covered wagons. I thought all the gold was stolen from these pyramids. Where are they finding this stuff?
A man down the hill yells, “Carter, we found another chamber. Want to take a look?” Carter? That’s definitely not an Egyptian name, and not one of the owners that I am familiar with. This must be a dream. But it feels so real…
The man named Carter tugs my harness once again. Not a pleasant feeling at all. We descend down the hill towards the pyramid. I had never been this close to them before. Their sheer magnitude was breathtaking. Now I know why so many people came to visit.
We approach the opening near the base of the smaller pyramid. People were moving large gold items from the gap. Feeling of nervousness began to engulf my stomach. Maybe I had eaten some bad grass for lunch. Either way, the feeling wasn’t letting up as we moved in closer. We were actually going inside the pyramid. Now, this was getting a little weird.
Are we heading down this dark and narrow passage? This can’t be good! My stomach is going crazy. I have heard the stories of curses guarding these pyramids and tombs, and this crazy human is leading me into the depths of darkness!
Pulling my harness away from the man named Carter as quickly as I could, I couldn’t quite escape his grasp when we all felt a jolt from below. The ground was moving? No, the whole passageway was collapsing. I could hear distant screams, yelling in ancient Egyptian for help.
I’ve got to get out of here, NOW!
This is a dream, right? All I have to do is wake up…
Closing my eyes once again, I let out a snort of relief as I open my eyes to my original resting place, sunny Sahara desert. With my neck still down on the golden sand, I glanced towards the tourists with their cargo shorts and fanny packs. My eyes slowly drooped, not closing all the way. I will wait a while for my next adventure to the pyramids.
