Member-only story
Rebuilding
Flash fiction about relationships new & old
Dusty palm fronds beckoned outside the entrance to the Egyptian temple. A sign proclaimed it was dedicated to the cow-headed goddess Hathor, protector of love and happiness and healing. A man and woman walked slowly under the archway, their eyes skipping over tan blocks nearly as tall as they were.
“Impressive,” she said to her husband. He nodded, stooping to examine a string of hieroglyphs etched on the walls of the long corridor that stretched down into the darkened interior. When he said nothing in response, she pressed, “Don’t you think? It’s impressive, right?”
He grunted and ran his fingers along the dried paint of the incomprehensible lettering.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to touch that,” she said.
After a pause, he took back his hand. But first, there had been that pause.
She closed her mouth on the words that popped up. Instead, she breathed through her mouth like she was nearing the end of her third trimester. Her therapist had said it would help when she got angry, although each time she did it, she thought she sounded like a phone perv.
Her husband straightened and stepped down a branch from the main corridor. He didn’t look back to see if she was behind him.
