ARTICLE | PROMPTLY WRITTEN
The Dailies — Thurs, Jan 20th
The muse strikes at 3 am
a long, lost memory
We’d travelled across the Indian Ocean to Zanzibar. Two weeks of fun under the moonlight — at least for me. Jacqueline could enjoy both the sun and the moon. She was human, after all. Zanzibar held many mysteries. Legend foretold of portals to other worlds and mythical creatures found nowhere else on the earth.
One day while I slept, Jacqueline had been out at the market to buy fresh fruit. A seer approached her, handed her a scroll and a blue-violet gem, and told her to go home as quickly as possible. Frightened by the command, Jacqueline obeyed. When she reached our small hut, she trembled violently in the bed we shared. So much so that it awakened me. She handed me the unrolled scroll and the gem and then buried her head under the covers.
Although the language of the scroll was an ancient African script, I could make out most of what it said. I read it out loud:
This tanzanite gem, so rare and true
bears the gift of sight that will protect you
there are beasts of prey who mean you harm
this gem, when shown to them, will charm
should they fail to see…
