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Well of SoulsHer naked shoulder turned sideways as she slid between two green boulders and disappeared like smoke in darkness. Earlier, hot dust tingled in my nose like freshly cut spice. Earlier yet, dawn grew among declining stars. Abbas spoke beside me as we turned our horses onto a blank slate of desert sands. “Jonathan, you will see today the great treasure of our people.” I rubbed my sleep-burdened eyes. “Worth arising so early?” Maryam murmured from my other side, “It is.” Abbas continued, “Water flows from this well even in dry years like this one.” Maryam nodded. “The women of the well sometimes wander far.” “Women of the well?” I asked. “Bah!” snorted Abbas, “An old wives’ tale!” Maryam shook her head. “No, Abbas, a promise! It is their tears, tears of both joy and sorrow, which bring back the rains. When their journeys end so will the drought.” Abbas muttered, “Bah!” Dust yellow as turmeric billowed from beneath the horses’ hooves as we hobbled them in the shade of two sandstone slabs leaning together. Maryam scampered ahead of us into a slit in the hillside. I followed Abbas into the opening. Coolness enfolded me. Pools stair-stepped away into a cavern’s depths. Waters trickled from one to another like words meandering from grandmothers' lips. Maryam’s voice chimed like distant bells, “This way!” Abbas shouted, “Wait for us!” She looked back, her eyes teasing like starlight on a midnight sea. "Wait, Maryam!" She cast off her robe and ran. Abbas called again, “Wait!” Her naked shoulder turned sideways as she slid between two green boulders and disappeared like smoke in darkness. I never saw Maryam again. Abbas and I rode between newly planted fields toward the city. Gathering clouds, round and heavy as mares’ bellies, deepened dusk behind us. Robert is an experienced SF writer. His novella Vienna Station won the Galaxy prize and was published as an e-book. It is available for Kindle on Amazon. He co-wrote “The Man Who Murdered Mozart” with Barry Malzberg a few years back. See more of his work here. #ShortStory #Fiction #CreativeWriting #WellOfSouls
Comments
Ed Haskell
3/31/2014 07:13:39 am
The shivers grow with each reading. Comments are closed.
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