Piczo

Ch. I
The pain was unbearable. It wouldn't stop, and it seemed to go on forever. With one last painful breath she heard a sound. Crying. Finally it was over. She felt a large hand slip under her back, helping her sit up. The baby, wrapped in a pink blanket, was gently handed to her.
"I know exactly what I'll name her," she said. "Qira." Kneeling beside her, Philo, the physician, looked down to show his respect as he said,
"My lady, Pharaoh will never allow this."
"Why not?" she asked. "It's my child, not his."
"Yes, My lady, but your brother..." She shot a sharp glare at him. "...His excellency, does not know?"
"He doesn't have to," she said, smiling at her newborn daughter.
"If His Majesty does not know, then you have no right to name it." There was a long pause; Ankhesunamun, searching for a response, and Philo, waiting for one. Finally he said,
"When will you tell him?"
Far from the birthing chambers, in the throne room, Priest Mose knelt then rose to speak to the Pharaoh.
"Golden One," he began. "You must not go to war. The people need you here."
"I hear you, Priest," he replied, reaching for a pear.
"Majesty, please. What if you don't come bck? Who will claim the throne?" At that moment a faithful servant of the king burst through the door, ghasping for breath,
"Your Majesty, I need to tell you something important."

Ch II
"Why have you returned?" Tutankhamun asked angerly. "You know the law."
"I had to," Ankhesunamun replied.
"Why?" There was a small pause.
"The people are starving."
"Lies! I gave the people grain last week. And how would you know of their health? You haven't been in the country for years. Do you know the crime you're committing?"
"Yes, brother, I do." Tutankhamun sighed, turned to two Nubian guards at the door and said,
"Take her to the dungeon."
"No!" she screamed as the guards grabbed her arms. "You can't do this to me!" Tutankhamun stopped them half way through the room, lifted Ankhesunamun's chin and looked into her eyes. They had anger and fear with a fire burning bright. He knew their father had corrupted her to understand his odd ways, but he could see something more. He hd never seen this in a woman's eyes before. Secrets, from a male family member. But the fire of her soul was burning so bright it blinded his eyes to look further. He knew he had to do something about this lying sister of his. He let go of her and waved his hand in a motion that told the guards he was finished with her.

CH. III
That night Tutankhamun lay awake for what seemed like hours, thinking about his father. He knew his father had abandoned all but one of the gods, and he knew the war was because of him. But is he still alive? He did not know. Then he thought about what Priest Mose said. "But I'm only fourteen," he told himself as he sighed. He turned on his side to see his favourite maid already asleep. And the guards had already had their nightly shift. "But what will I do with my subborn sister?" he thought.
Just then a sound was heard. Small, but loud enough to wake up all those who slept. Without a word, Arsinoë, the maid who lay beside him, retreaved a white loincloth and helped Tutankhamun tie it around his waist, then fetched his sandals so he could see what was making the sound. His four guards, following closely behind.
He made his way through the echoing halls until he reached a closed door. The door was locked.
"Open!" One of the guards said. "In the name of the Pharaoh, open this door now!" Shyly, a young maid of the age nine opened the door. She had never seen the king before so she shivvered from fear. Tutankhamun entered the room to find his old nanny holding a bundle. He demanded that she lay the bundle on the floor. She hesitated, but when one of the guards reached for his sward she obeyed. Tutankhamun walked up to it, looked down and said in a sharp tone,
"Whose baby is this?" With no answer he grabbed the collar of the nurses dress and repeated, "Whose baby is this?" Shaking from fear, the nurse answered,
"A...Ankhesunamun." Tutankhamun loosened his grip as she finished, "She is the mother."
"Is that why she's here?" he asked.
"Yes." Letting go of her, she begged, "Please, Golden One, please have mercy on the child."
"Arsinoë," he began, thinking of what to say as he spoke. "Take this baby, and..." he paused. "...and give it to me." He turned to the guards. "Khalif, take this woman to the kitchen and get her something to drink. Zylaqi and Aranoq, fetch my sister and bring her to the Throne Room." With that it was done. He had learned his sister's secret, and he was about to do something about it.

Ch. IV
Pasing back and forth, Tutankhamun craddled the baby in his arms, her little hand gripping onto his pinky finger. General Horemheb, the advisor Ay, and Priest Mose were there, before the dias upon which he stood.
"What's taking them so long?" He demanded abruptly. Stepping forward, Priest Mose said,
"My Good King, I am sure they are on their way." Arsinoë quietly appeared from behind a curtain and stood beside Tutankhamun, who, cautiosly handed the baby to her. Once resting upon his throne, everyone else found their pre-arranged place; Horemheb at the foot of the dias, Priest Mose next to the fountain in the center of the room, leaving Ay, who stood to the left of the throne, and Arsinoë, sitting to the right of it. Three scribes entered from the hidden door on the left and took their sats where they knew they could hear clearly all that was said.

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Chapter 1 Frozen You never know the value of life until you’ve lost it “In today’s news, three people were found after surviving a devastating plane crash two weeks ago. They now rest and recover in Brookes Hospital, Alberta. Our prayers are with them to make full recoveries.” I listened to the news report as it spoke of the accident. It sounded like a dream I’d had. I was on my way to British Columbia, to spend a week or two with my Aunt Zaahida and uncle Abd-al-Aziz. Sitting there in seat 26 I thought everything was going to be perfect, at least if the baby behind me would stop crying. On either side of me sat my two sisters; Sameera, who thought she owned the world, and Djameela, who couldn’t care less about anything. I didn’t care much for their personalities, but although we never seem to agree on anything, I loved them very much. I remember feeling cold upon the plane, for the air conditioning was too high; also my arm and Sameera’s arm were fighting over the armrest, and her skin is always as cold as ice. It was twenty minutes into the flight that another plane came into view out the window. Sameera was telling us another one of her bad jokes when Djameela stopped her and said she had a strange feeling we wouldn’t make it to Aunt Zaahida and Uncle Abd-al-Aziz’s house. I thought nothing of it but she said she felt strongly about her statement, that something might happen to us. I don’t remember much after that until I awoke, my body surrounded by snow. I opened my eyes and tried to move but it was hopeless; scared, I thought I was frozen from the arctic-like surroundings. I saw something; a shadow, pass right by me. Then a man squatted beside me. “Can you hear me?” He rubbed my arms, trying to make me warm up. Reaching down, he lifted me up and carried me over to a sheltered place where he gently placed me on a mat and continued rubbing my body until I fully awoke. I rubbed my eyes and he held onto me so I wouldn’t fall over, then I asked what had happened. “There was an accident. The planes crashed.” I looked around and tried to climb to my feet so I could see where we were. “What are you doing?” he asked. “You need to lie down.” I turned to face him. “Where are my sisters?” “There is the other survivor.” He pointed to a woman lying next to where I was. If not for her chest moving up and down as she breathed, I would have thought her dead. “What?” I was shocked and terrified to see that the woman was neither of my sisters. As if I couldn’t control my actions, I stormed out of the small sheltered place, which I soon found to be the plane and screamed for my sisters to answer me. “What are you doing? You’ll die if you get too cold,” the man called from the destroyed machine. I ran for a long time, away from the plane and away from my fears. I don’t know how far I had gone until I saw the bright colours of green and pink. That was Djameela’s jacket and Sameera’s hat! I ran over to where they were and knelt, crying, for the two of them were holding each other in the other’s arms. I saw footsteps leading to where the two sisters lay, possibly meaning they had tried to get away from the plane. Oh, how I wished I could be held in their arms as well. My wishes took control of me, and soon I was hugging their bodies, ear to their chests, praying I would hear their hearts beat. I sat there for a long time, waiting to hear something; there was nothing, but still I waited. Soon after, the man who had helped me caught up and sat beside me, trying to help me find comfort; I felt none, but showed my appreciation by smiling slightly. It was dark now and getting colder, so he suggested we go back, but I refused to leave without my sisters. Since I was physically smaller and clearly younger by an estimated twenty years he heaved up seventeen year old Djameela and I piggy-backed five year old Sameera. We don’t know how long it was, for neither of us had a watch, but we both sat in silence for a long time when we returned. Both my sisters outside, for the man refused to have anything that didn’t breathe in here. Finally he spoke up, “My name is Judas Arrella.” I looked up, tears streaming down my face, but was able to speak, “Malik Baha.” He reached out a hand. I looked at it, for it was a pale white, fearful that he was catching pneumonia; but I responded with handing him my hand. I looked at them as they touched; his pale white skin to my naturally dark brown skin. He seemed not to notice the difference as much, or perhaps he chose not to. He continued, “I was on my way to Merritt to lead a preaching service in honour of Maribel Lee, who had passed away in a fire.” I paused. Was I ready to tell this man, this stranger, about myself? I looked at my sisters, then at him, and back at my sisters. Finally, I decided that there was nothing worse that could possibly happen to anyone, so I told him, “We were visiting family in Fort Nelson.” I jumped at the suddenness of the woman’s cough. “So, you’re a priest?” “Yes. And what do you do?” “I’m fifteen. I just go to school.” We sat in silence, after a while Judas tended to the woman while I curled up on the mat and eventually drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, I looked around; I must have appeared cold that night, for someone had covered my body with a blanket. The woman was no longer where she had lain the night before. Where was she? I scurried to my feet in a panic and looked for Judas, who was bowing his head to the icy earth. Wrapped in the blanket, I walked up to him to see what he was doing when I saw the woman laying before him. He continued his prayers, but when he finished he stood and turned to me and said, ”It’s just the three of us now.” “Three?” I said in confusion. “Your little sister has awoken, but is not well.” “Where is she? I want to see her now!” “Patience, my young friend. She is now inside the plane.” I ran in the sheltered area and looked for her pink hat; soon to find that it was lying next to her. “Sameera?” I said, reaching for her cold hand and I held it up to my body to warm it up. Although she barely moved, she was breathing; but that was not enough! I wanted her to say my name. Judas approached me from behind. “Why didn’t she make it?” I asked him. “The woman, I mean.” “Malik, the woman woke up last night.” I turned to face him but remained on my knees to warm my sister, who seemed to be coming to. “She saw you last night. I told her to keep it but she insisted on giving you her blanket.” He paused. “She froze.” Again we were silent for a long while. After what seemed like hours Judas looked at me and bluntly said, “If we stay here we will die too.” “How do you suggest...?” “We should try the radio. We’ll leave hiking as our last option.” I looked back down at Sameera then up at the priest. “No,” I said, “Look at Sameera. She needs to see a doctor right away. We might spend hours looking for a radio that ends up being broken.” Judas seemed surprised by my speech, but he seemed to be listening. “Listen, Malik, I only want what’s best for your sister. But there is no way. I mean, look outside.” He paused for me to take a quick glimpse. “We are surrounded by mountains. You and I may be able to make the hike along, but someone will need to carry your sister. We haven’t eaten anything in two days and we are both very weak. There is no way.” I looked, once again, out at the cliff covered mountains, then down at my sister who appeared much better. “Then what do you suppose we do?” I asked. “Search through heaps of broken metal until we find a radio that might not work?” I looked at him. “I just want my sister to get better, and if that means hiking a seemingly impossible hike then I’ll do it.” Judas sighed, knelt down to pat him on the back and said nothing. We spent the rest of the day preserving what little energy we had left, looking for anything we could use as a makeshift sled; but neither of us said a word. It wasn’t until the next day that Sameera said the first word since the arrival on the mountain. “Malik?” I had fallen asleep at her side but was awakened by the small gesture when she reached and held onto my hand. I looked up at her but couldn’t see her well through tear-filled eyes. I reached my one free arm around her and began to sob. “Malik?” she continued asking. “Yes, Sameera?” I finally replied. “I don’t want to stay here any longer.” Her voice sounded hoarse. “I want to go home.” I tried my best to reassure her. “Yes, Sameera, we will go home soon.” When I heard a thud I looked out, only to see Judas with his makeshift sled made of the backs of chairs, plastic moulded into shape as a hoop, and rope from the back of the plane. I carried Sameera to the sled and gently placed her on it. I was about to reassure her that everything would be ok, but Judas spoke first, “We should walk that way,” he said, pointing in the direction of the smallest cliff. “Then we won’t have to climb as much.” He handed me the rope that was tied to the sled so I could take the first turn to pull. We had been walking until mid-afternoon when we saw a rabbit run from a burrow by one tree to another. I had a feeling I knew what Judas was thinking, and I didn’t like it in the slightest. He didn’t need to look far to find a fairly strong stick, for we were surrounded by trees. He climbed the tree closest to us and made his way higher until he found one that he though wouldn’t break easily. After snapping it off he snuck up to where he saw the rabbit last and, with a strong arm, threw the stick. I don’t want to explain what he did with the rabbit after that. Just thinking about it makes me queasy. Now with full bellies we set out again, trying for the same direction we started in; this time it was his turn to pull the sled. The sun and moon often flew over us so quickly we became dizzy, and at one point I even fainted from exhaustion, but Judas kept me on my feet and alert most of the time, frightening me with thoughts of what could be in the forest right this very minute. Also, thankfully, he pulled the sled most of the way until we saw smoke rising from between the trees ahead of us. Unsure of what it might be from, we cautiously stepped closer to it, careful not to make any sound in case of something dangerous. But we were relieved to find a small cottage, the smoke from the chimney. We ran as fast as we could up to the door and knocked, praying we would be let in. After introducing ourselves, the woman let us in. We found a comfortable couch for Sameera and I, and Judas helped himself to the chair next to the window. The woman asked us how we had come all this way into the mountain and when we told her our story she insisted that we eat her homemade chicken stew. Happy to once again have full bellies with something that we didn’t just catch ourselves, we soon fell asleep. I don’t remember anything after that, until I heard a beep every second; the beeping didn’t bother me, for I felt warm, lying on a soft surface and covered by a warm fuzzy blanket. I jumped when I felt something touch my cheek and opened my eyes to see it was Judas. “Glad to see your awake, little buddy,” he told me. “Where are we?” “Brookes Hospital.” “A hospital?” “Yeah, the doctors say we are very lucky to be alive.” “Alive? Why? What happened?” Judas sighed and turned on the television to the news channel where I could see a man sitting at a desk and to the left of him was a picture of an airplane. Judas turned up the volume so I could hear. The man said, “In today’s news, three people were found after surviving a devastating plane crash two weeks ago. They now rest and recover in Brookes Hospital, Alberta. Our prayers are with them to make full recoveries.” I listened to the news report as it spoke of the accident. It sounded like a dream I’d had.

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