Chapter 29


Sam leaned back in her seat and sighed as she put her magazine down and gazed out the window at the billowing clouds. She guessed that they were now somewhere over the vast Atlantic Ocean. She turned to her right and grinned as she noticed Daniel lying back in his partially reclined seat, glasses perched on the end of his nose as he dozed away. In his lap was one of his notebooks from their expedition containing the notes he'd reviewed with her some twenty minutes ago. He’d been so excited about what they found that he couldn’t wait until they got back home before discussing it with her. Sam shared his excitement, although she suggested they talk in hushed tones or use euphemisms when mentioning anything that had to do with aliens. She wasn’t quite comfortable with talking about it on a packed flight of complete strangers.

She watched Daniel sleep for a moment longer and, without hesitation, removed the notebook from his lap and placed it back inside his carry-on bag under his seat. She then reached over, removed his glasses, and rummaged through his bag in search of his glasses case …

“What are you doing?”

Sam nearly dropped the glasses as she reacted in surprise. After she recovered, she looked over at him and noticed him watching her out of the corner of eyes framed by heavy lids. Something that barely passed as a faint smile flitted across his features.

Sam looked at him and managed a crooked grin. “I thought you were asleep.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” he asked innocently as he fully opened his eyes.

“The fact that you were snoring softly,” she challenged.

“That wasn’t me,” Daniel said, now sitting up and shaking his head. He held his hand out and gestured for his glasses, which Sam dutifully returned to him. He then turned back in his seat and gestured discreetly to an old man sitting behind him, wearing headphones and snoring softly.

“Well, you looked like you were asleep,” Sam said with a hint of defensiveness in her voice.

Daniel shook his head again. “I was meditating.”

“Get out of here! You meditate?” she asked, grinning.

Daniel blushed faintly. “Well, I guess it’s not really meditation. It mostly involves lying back, shutting my eyes, and taking slow, deep breaths. It’s not something I do very often, just whenever I’m stressed out or nervous about something.”

Sam’s brows drew together as she looked at him curiously. “Daniel?” she asked quietly. “You’re stressed out?”

Daniel’s blush grew. “No … well, not exactly. I’m just … so excited about our find and I can’t wait to start getting deep into it.”

Her brows furrowed deeper and she regarded him dubiously. His tone let on that he wasn’t exactly telling the truth.

“Okay, I have a slight problem with heights,” he muttered weakly as he shut his eyes in defeat.

Sam continued to look at him curiously. “Don’t you fly all over the place, Daniel? I would have thought …”

Daniel cut her off and nodded. “Yes, I do. But, I usually take anything but the window seat or I have the shade pulled down. I try to focus on something else to keep my mind off the fact that we’re so many thousands of feet up in the air.”

Sam nodded slowly before it dawned on her that the shade was up on her window. She quickly turned to her left and pulled the shade down most of the way. “Daniel, I’m sorry,” she said, ashamed.

“Please, Sam, it’s okay. You didn’t know,” he insisted.

“Wait. You didn’t have any problem when you took me over towards Pikes Peak that night,” she said. “We were at an elevation of more than a few thousand feet. We even stopped at that overlook.”

“I know,” he nodded. “It wasn’t a tight, enclosed space. If it was a narrow ledge with a sudden drop, I think I might have passed out. I’ve been in places like that when I was trekking across mountains during graduate school. While I didn’t pass out, there were times when I froze. I had to close my eyes and discipline myself to go further.”

“How does a fear of flying fit into all of this?”

Daniel lowered his head and glanced down at his lap. “When I was six, we were flying back from Egypt to New York. We were flying through a severe thunderstorm and there was a lot of turbulence. The plane shook so much I thought it was going to fall out of the sky. My parents tried to comfort me and explain that there was nothing to worry about, but I could still sense a bit of fear in their voices. To make matters worse, I’d just heard about a plane crashing on the news several weeks before. I was almost terrified, but all I did was sit still and shut my eyes. I tried breathing deeply and counting to 10, then 20, and then 100. I was still a bundle of nerves, but it did help to calm me just a little.” He paused and looked back up at Sam, noticing the sympathy in her eyes. “Anyway, ever since then I’ve been a little squeamish about flying. It’s not exactly a bona fide fear and it’s not something that’s recurrent; it tends to get worse when I’m excited about something. But, for the most part, it’s something that I can deal with.” He ended with a shrug.

Sam looked at him and nodded. She leaned over and began stroking his hair. The action seemed to comfort Daniel and he exhaled deeply. “Are you okay now?” she asked.

Daniel turned to look at her and nodded. He gave her a faint smile before he glanced down at her free hand and covered it with his. Sam smiled back and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before she leaned her head on his shoulder. Within minutes, she was asleep. Her slow, even breaths put Daniel completely at ease. Moving carefully so as not to startle her, he slowly removed his glasses, folded them up, and affixed them to the crew neck of his shirt before his eyes began to droop and he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

******************************************************************

The day after they returned to Colorado Springs was spent helping Daniel move his things into Sam’s house. A larger place to live was included in their future plans, but they decided that finding something they both liked was sure to take some time. Of their individual dwellings, Sam’s was the largest and most practical. They rented a small truck to transport most of the necessities. The things he no longer needed, mostly household appliances, were donated to thrift shops or the Salvation Army.

They spent a bit of time deciding where to put various things, including small pieces of furniture and Daniel’s fish tank. There were a few silly disagreements, but they were resolved in the end with no hard feelings. Sam grinned to herself as she hung a few of Daniel’s artifacts up on her walls and placed the picture of Daniel riding a camel on the small table in her foyer. Daniel instantly blushed and asked her to put it back inside its box. He didn’t understand why she wanted lots of pictures of him cluttering up her home. She would have none of it and insisted that, not only was it also his home now, but she wanted them there. He resigned himself after she pointed to the various pictures she had of herself as a child, a few of them including her father.

Moving Daniel’s things and putting everything into place left them nearly exhausted. Sam was in no mood to cook and they weren’t about to go out for dinner, so they ended up ordering in. Over slices of pizza, they watched “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” – one of the DVDs that Sam had gotten for Daniel for his birthday – in Daniel’s DVD player that had just been set up.

That night, as he joined Sam in bed, Daniel noticed her sitting up with her hand on her chin and a faraway look in her eyes.

“A penny for your thoughts,” he said as he lightly touched her on the arm.

Sam blinked and turned toward him, noticing the concern lurking behind his bright blue eyes. She sighed and her lips edged up in a faint smile. “I was just thinking back over these past few months,” she began wistfully. “It’s amazing how things turn out sometimes. I was sitting alone in a coffee shop feeling sorry for myself. A guy bumps into me and spills hot coffee on me, in an act that I’m sure will ruin my day. Here it is, almost five months later and he’s sharing my bed.” She blushed faintly and adopted a slight grin.

Daniel’s blush matched Sam’s. “I was so afraid the girl I spilled coffee on would beat me senseless,” he chuckled affectionately. “If you told me that I would end up marrying her some months later, I would have looked at you like you had six heads and left you to ponder your preposterous statement alone.”

Sam suddenly looked away shyly and uttered a short, nervous laugh.

“It’s amazing how serendipitous love can be, isn’t it?” he continued. With that, she fixed her gaze back on him. She felt her heart melt when she took in his warm, loving expression. She smiled and nodded.

Not a further word was exchanged as they embraced and shared a slow, tender kiss. Their exhaustion prevented them from going much further than that, as did their unspoken agreement that they would hold off on pure, unadulterated passion until their wedding day.

As the kiss drew to a close, Daniel caressed Sam’s cheek with the back of his hand and bestowed one last kiss upon her forehead. He removed his glasses and placed them on the night table he’d brought from his apartment that now sat on his side of the bed. He settled down and snuggled up to Sam, dreaming of the day when they’d finally be husband and wife.

******************************************************************

Two days later, on August 27th, Sam and Daniel had separate events that were related to the wedding. Steven, along with a few of Daniel’s other colleagues in the Anthropology department at UCCS, had decided to hold a small, somewhat informal party for Daniel. Steven had jokingly termed it a “bachelor party,” informing Daniel that it was one of his last few days as a free man. Daniel would have reacted strongly to the quip if he hadn’t realized that Steven had meant it in a completely harmless, light-hearted way.

As for Sam, she’d received a call from Sara the day before, inviting her to lunch and then some coffee back at her and Jack’s house. Sam obliged, as she had to discuss the wedding plans once more with her and ask her an important question. She met Sara for lunch in a casual restaurant downtown. Sara practically gushed about the flower arrangements, telling Sam that she had made a very good choice and assured her that everything would look beautiful.

On the way back to Sara’s house, she noticed that Sam was quieter than usual. “Sam?” she asked as she gave her friend a quick glance. “You okay?”

“Hmm? Oh … yeah. I was just thinking,” Sam returned quietly.

“About?”

“I don’t know. Everything just seems to be happening so fast. I just wonder if it’s all … right,” Sam said uneasily.

Sara furrowed her brow as she swung into her driveway and parked. “You’re not having second thoughts about all this, are you?”

Sam’s eyes widened. “What? No, not at all! My love for Daniel is something about which I could never have second thoughts. As for the timing of the wedding, we both wanted to have a small, quick wedding so that everything would be over by the time the semester started. Neither of us have any doubts about that.”

Sara looked at her thoughtfully and a faint smile graced her lips. “It’s nothing but pre-wedding jitters. I went through the same thing. Of course, Jack and I married a year after we met, but it’s something that everyone goes through. Everything will be fine.”

Sam regarded her tentatively for a moment before a grateful smile spread across her face. “Thanks for the pep talk,” she said.

“Hey, what are friends for?” Sara said, laughing softly. “You’re more than welcome. Now, why don’t we head on inside for some coffee?”

Sam nodded as she picked herself up off the seat and exited the car. As they traversed Sara’s front walk, she looked back and noticed several cars parked in front of the house as well as the house across the street. She shrugged her shoulders, thinking that one of Sara’s neighbors was having a barbeque.

“Oh, darn,” Sara muttered as she fumbled with her keys. Sam waited patiently as she stuck the key inside the lock and turned the doorknob. Her eyebrows drew together as she entered the house behind Sara, noticing that all the lights were out and the shades were drawn. She stood in place near the door as she quickly lost sight of the other woman.

Before she was about to call out to Sara, the lights flickered on and she was greeted with a hearty, resounding, “Surprise!!”

Sam gaped at the scene before her. The house was decorated with white garlands and streamers and there were papier maché wedding bells hanging from the ceiling. As her eyes drifted back down and she faced forward, she noticed a small group of women. They consisted of her sister-in-law Lorraine, Sara with her mother and sisters, high school friends Jill and Janet, and a tall redhead whose face she could barely place until she recognized her as Sarah Gardner, one of Daniel’s colleagues in Anthropology and fiancée to Steven Rayner. Their expressions ranged from excitement to good old-fashioned warmth.

Time seemed to stop and Sam didn’t realize how long she’d been gaping at everything until she heard Sara start giggling. “Are you okay, Sam?” she asked, a hint of concern peeking out from behind the giggles.

Sam could feel the warmth coming into her cheeks. “Uh … y-yeah,” she was finally able to utter. “I … this is just … amazing, Sara. I just … I don’t know what to say.” She turned to her sister-in-law. “Lori, I can’t believe you came all this way.”

“Sam, it’s your wedding. Mark and I love you very much and wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she smiled.

“But the wedding isn’t until four days from now,” Sam said.

“So, we just extended our visit to Colorado by four days,” Lori returned. “We didn’t have to do much adjusting to our schedules and there is plenty for us to do here before Sunday.”

Sam smiled at her warmly as her thoughts turned to her young niece and nephew whom she missed with all her heart. She then turned to Jill and Janet and exchanged hugs with them. Still surprised to see both of them, she began to feel bad that they had come all the way from Maryland and Oklahoma when the wedding was still a few days off. They lightly admonished her for any feelings of guilt and reiterated how much she meant to them.

Last but not least, she turned and looked up at Sarah Gardner, who was watching her with a warm smile on her face. Before Sam could say anything, the redhead leaned forward and gave her a small hug.

“I can’t say I expected to see you here,” Sam told her with a shy smile as Sarah stepped back, “but thank you.”

Sarah’s smile grew. “That’s quite all right, Sam. You are marrying a good friend of mine. I haven’t known you very long, but I do know that you’re a very sweet girl. Daniel deserves to be happy and being with you certainly seems to make him happy. I have no doubt that you will make a wonderful bride.”

Sam blushed faintly. Embarrassed, she looked down at her feet for a moment. “Thank you,” she repeated softly.

Before anything else could be said, Sara called out, “coffee’s ready!” She asked that everyone congregate in the kitchen where said beverage was waiting along with cake.

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Sam smiled at her friends just as she was about to open the last of her presents. She’d received a very nice, practical assortment of gifts so far. Some were quite heartfelt, including a small book Janet had given her. It had a translucent, light blue cover with an abstract, geometric dark blue shape resembling a dress. The word “Bride” was featured on the title page. Inside the front cover was a passage that read, “Your wedding is one of the most important events of your life. This little book will help you celebrate this special day.” It contained quotes about love and marriage, including a French proverb, “true love is friendship set on fire.” Sam’s face lit up when she thought of her and Daniel and how appropriate it seemed.

“This is from me and Steven,” Sarah smiled as she presented Sam with the last gift. It was square-shaped, about ten by twelve inches, and was wrapped in paper that was mostly white with soft pastel accents. Adorned to the front of the package, just above the card, was a piece of old lace wrapped with a blue, satin ribbon and topped with a shiny new penny – keeping in the “something old, something new” tradition.

Sam’s little smile faded and she appeared serious as she removed the paper and the gift was revealed to her. It was a piece of parchment – papyrus, rather – that was housed in a mahogany frame. Writings much like the hieroglyphs she’d just studied with Daniel were inked clearly on the papyrus. Sam’s eyes narrowed as she studied them and wished she knew what they said. Toward the bottom of the papyrus, written in English, was:

“Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson

August 31st, 1997”

Sam turned and looked at Sarah inquisitively.

The taller woman gave her an apologetic smile. “That’s hieratic script, a shorthand form of hieroglyphs,” she explained.

Sam nodded. “I wish Daniel was here right now to translate this,” she said half-jokingly.

Sarah gave a soft half-chuckle. “It’s an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian love poem.” She proceeded to translate for Sam: “I will never leave you my darling. My only wish is to stay in your house and at your service. We will always be hand in hand, come and go together everywhere. You are my health; my life.”

Sam sniffled and blinked rapidly to prevent any tears from being shed. She was clearly touched by the poem and by the fact that Sarah would offer her such a lovely, heartfelt gift. “I can’t tell you how much this means,” she said as she smiled at the redhead. “It’s one of the sweetest gifts anyone has ever given to me. I’m positive that Daniel will cherish it as well. Thank you.”

Sarah gathered her into a small hug. “You’re more than welcome,” she replied warmly, her voice muffled by the top of Sam’s head. “May you and Daniel have many happy years together.”

Sam stepped back, looked up at her, and smiled genuinely. She placed the plaque next to her on the couch amid most of the other gifts and turned her attention to Sara and Janet, who were in the middle of reminiscing over their days in high school.

**********************************************************************

“This really isn’t necessary, Steven,” Daniel said insistently as his friend guided him down the corridor to the Anthropology department’s faculty lounge.

“Of course you would say that,” Steven retorted. “Back at Chicago you wouldn’t let us throw a party for you when you got your Masters degrees, but we did anyway. You wouldn’t let us throw a party for you when you got your PhD in archaeology – we did anyway. And, you wouldn’t let us throw a party for you when you got your PhD in linguistics …”

Daniel nodded wearily and rolled his eyes as Steven continued, “… We did anyway. And, you showed up for each and every one of them. You can argue all you want that those bashes weren’t necessary, but there is no excuse for refusing a bachelor party. I mean, this is serious stuff!”

Daniel looked at him pointedly as they came to a stop just a few feet away from the faculty lounge. “And earning my degrees wasn’t?” he asked.

Steven shook his head. “You know what I mean.” His gaze shifted to the floor and he adopted a more humble stance. “Besides, as your friends, we really wanted to have a little something for you.” He glanced tentatively back up at Daniel. “Who’s to say that your wedding isn’t one of the most – if not the most – important events of your life? It’s something that should be celebrated.”

Daniel drew a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I know. You’re right. It’s just …”

“… That pesky overreaching humility of yours,” Steven finished with a wry grin.

Daniel shrugged and gave him a slight smile.

“Come on – food and stuff is getting cold,” Steven said as he returned the smile. “We’ve got some cake for later, too, and some beer on ice.”

Daniel’s smile was erased from his face as his expression turned fearful. “Beer?” he asked uneasily.

Steven chuckled, suddenly remembering an incident that took place while they were both graduate students. It involved Daniel having vast quantities of beer forced upon him. The consequences were amusing – amusing for everyone there but Daniel, that is. “Oh, yeah, how could I forget? I’m sure we have some Cokes back there so you won’t feel left out.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said dryly.

The dark-haired man nodded and flashed him one more grin before he knocked quickly on the door to alert everyone of their presence. As Daniel followed Steven into the room, he heard the strains of world music and was met with people greeting him and offering congratulations along with warm smiles. He did a quick survey of the people inside and found all of his good friends and colleagues from the department. There was one older gentleman there whom Daniel couldn’t quite place until he recognized an unmistakable scar on his right cheek. At this, the younger man’s jaw dropped.

“Oh, my God,” he murmured. “Dr. Jordan?” he asked in disbelief.

The man nodded and took a few steps forward. “It is good to see you, Daniel,” he stated genially.

“But … this is … I mean … how did you …” Daniel trailed off as he fumbled for words.

Dr. Jordan laughed softly. “I’ve been here in town on business the past three days. I ran into Steven earlier today, he mentioned the wonderful news to me, and convinced me to pay a visit.”

Daniel continued gaping at his old research advisor from Chicago, still at a loss for words. He noticed everyone’s curious expressions and a shy smile soon found its way upon his face. He lowered his head and protectively wrapped his arms around himself. “You guys didn’t have to do this, you know,” he said quietly.

“Standard issue,” Steven whispered as he leaned in toward one of the graduate students.

“But, thanks all the same,” Daniel continued, not having heard Steven’s quip. “This is one of the happiest times of my life, and –“

“No offense, Daniel, but let’s save the speech for later. We have some hot food ready and waiting here,” Dr. Robert Rothman cut in with a teasing grin.

Daniel blushed faintly and nodded. “Right,” he said quietly with a crooked smile. He walked over to the long table inside the lounge, upon which a bounty of food from a local Mediterranean restaurant sat. Before deciding what he wanted, he glanced around quickly at the décor of the room. There were a couple of different colored “Congratulations” banners hastily hung on the walls, as well as several decorations that appeared to be balls-and-chains. He regarded them oddly.

Steven suddenly appeared at his side with a can of Coke and a plastic party cup that featured the same ball-and-chain motif. Steven grinned widely at Daniel as he waited for his reaction. Daniel merely poured the soda into his cup and then looked at Steven curiously. “What’s with the whole ball-and-chain fixation?”

“Oh, that was Steven’s idea,” Rothman piped up.

“Figures,” Daniel said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Well, you went right along with it,” Steven said defensively. “I thought it was appropriate for a celebration of Daniel’s last few days of freedom!” He turned back to Daniel and chuckled somewhat sheepishly.

“Ha ha ha, gentlemen,” Daniel deadpanned. “You really think that’s funny, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Sam and I are in a totally mutual relationship. We wouldn’t think of the other as a ball-and-chain in a million years.” He folded his arms and regarded them sternly until one side of his mouth lifted up in a slightly crooked grin. “I actually feel bad for you two,” he continued, addressing Steven and Robert. “Perhaps you’re jealous or dissatisfied with the current state of your own relationships and have done this in attempt to make yourselves feel better.” His eyes twinkled and he smiled evilly as he watched his friends’ reactions.

“For Hathor’s sake, Daniel, we were just joking around! Lighten up!” Steven scoffed.

“’For Hathor’s sake’??” Daniel repeated, slightly amused at the sound of his friend’s euphemism. He shook his head and then adopted a more conciliatory expression. “I know. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just a little overwhelmed by how fast things are going. I have a lot on my mind right now.”

Steven looked at him thoughtfully. “I’ll bet. So, how did the expedition with Kevin and Jennifer go?” he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“He didn’t tell you?” Daniel asked curiously.

Steven shrugged. “He didn’t really say much, other than it went well and he’s satisfied with what he found …”

“It did go very well,” Daniel suddenly interrupted excitedly. “Everything went according to plan and he’s very happy about what we discovered there. That burial chamber is one huge treasure trove, Steven.”

Steven gave him a protracted stare, just a bit surprised at how excited Daniel was suddenly getting. “It must be if it warranted another trip back there as soon as you arrived home,” he finally said.

Daniel nodded. “Not only did it give us new insight into burial rituals of that period, but we found something really incredible – something that could …” He trailed off and abruptly shut his mouth, not wanting to go into detail just yet about what he and Sam were studying. He noticed the curious raised eyebrow Steven was giving him.

“Something that could what?” Steven asked as his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Something that could be very interesting, but I have to see if it actually pans out,” Daniel replied carefully. With that, he walked over to the garbage can and deposited his paper plate.

“Pans out?” Steven repeated incredulously. “What pans out?”

Daniel evaded him for the time being and joined in on a conversation that Dr. Edwin Kleinhuis was having with a few graduate students.

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As the party drew to a close and everyone began dispersing, Daniel scowled slightly as he looked down at the few gifts he’d received: ball-and-chain cuff links and a set of mugs that featured ball-and-chain designs wrapped around the outside, with the chain attached to a pink heart inside the bottom of the cups. He snorted and pondered the likelihood of him and Sam selling them at a garage sale.

“Nice gifts,” a voice interrupted as he felt someone pat him on the shoulder. He quickly looked up and found Ed Kleinhuis giving him a friendly smile.

Daniel gave him a sardonic smile in return and nodded. “Yeah, that’s Steven for you,” he said wearily. “It’s a good thing he’s such a good, old friend of mine, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked him to be my best man,” he quipped.

The older man laughed quietly. “I told him that he’d gone a little overboard. Oh well, it is the thought that counts, right?”

Daniel nodded reluctantly. “Right now, I’m trying to imagine what Sam will think when she sees these.”

Ed chuckled before reaching over to give the younger man a hearty handshake. “Congratulations again, Daniel,” he said.

“Thank you,” Daniel said softly. After saying goodbye to the other Doctor, he made his way out of the room and looked thoughtfully down at his gifts. He couldn’t help chuckling when he thought about how Sam would react to the ball-and-chain theme. He was sure she would have some objection to the idea, just as he did.

He also thought back to his conversation with Steven and how he almost told him about their discovery. It instantly brought back some feelings of guilt for being apart from her for so long, as well as nearly demanding that she come with him back to Egypt. Quite a few days had gone by since then, but he was still ashamed over the petty argument that they had. As he made his way out of the building and toward the parking lot, he decided to rectify the situation.

******************************************************************

Sam sighed as she started up her car and pulled away from Sara’s house. It had been a lovely day and the bridal shower had been a pleasant surprise. She certainly hadn’t been expecting one, or much of one, as everything was on such short notice. The fact that her sister-in-law and good friends from school came all this way to be with her was really touching.

A faint smile formed on her face as she thought back to her conversation with Sara after the guests had all dispersed. She asked her best friend if she would be her maid of honor. Sara was deeply touched but also a bit skeptical, wondering how Sam can have all of this in a small chapel. Sam assured her that she and Daniel had talked about it with the minister who presided there. They’d concluded that, with the small number of guests they were having, it would be possible. She also told Sara that, yes, they wanted to have it done quickly, but still wanted to retain some traditional aspects.

After a final run down of what the wedding was going to consist of and a final congratulatory hug, Sam was outside and loading her car up with the gifts. She had asked Janet, Jill, and Lori to be her bridesmaids and they had all accepted. She smiled to herself, pleased that things were turning out well.

As she neared her house, she realized that Daniel had already returned home, as was evident from his car parked along the curb. She pulled up in her driveway, opened her trunk, and gathered up the large shopping bags that contained her gifts. As she made her way up the front walk, her brow knitted in confusion when she realized all the lights were out. If Daniel was home, the living room light should have been on at least. Was he already in bed? Sam quickly checked her watch and realized it was only 8:30 PM.

She dug her key out of her purse and fumbled for a moment with the lock. “Daniel, I’m back!” she called out as she put her hand on the doorknob and swung the door open. She stepped into the foyer and shut the door behind her. She looked around and her eyebrows drew together as she studied the scene in front of her.

The room was pitch black and Daniel was nowhere to be found.


A/N: the source for the ancient Egyptian love poem can be found here: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/liter.htm


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