Malik awoke with a start. He had slipped halfway off the bed in his sleep and now had his knees on the floor though his head and arms remained resting on the bed. Lethargically, he slid to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes, blinking sleepily. He glanced at the clock. He had slept for about an hour so Isis would probably have dinner ready soon. It was her week after all.
He ran into her at the grocery the next day, shopping to see if there was anything in particular he'd want to make during his week of dinners. He was looking for the microwave dinners when his cart hit something solid. He glanced up and realized that he had accidentally hit another cart-her cart. They both stared at each other for a few moments, paled, and then blushed. Asenath took a few deep breaths and finally spoke. "Malik…I," she stopped. "Do you have time to talk, maybe?"
There was something strange going on. "Yeah, okay."
They bought their things in silence and stepped outside the store. "So where d'ya wanna talk?" asked Malik.
"I dunno…"
"The park again?" he suggested.
"That far?"
"It's not too bad, I've got my motorcycle."
"Well, for your information, I walked here."
"I'll let you ride behind me…just this once."
"All right."
A few minutes later, Asenath was starting to regret agreeing. Malik wore no helmet whatsoever, nor had one on hand to offer her. Even worse, he only barely abided by those rules they called speed limits. He also seemed to view each and every speed bump as a challenge rather than a warning. By the time they reached the park, she was shaky and her normally perfect hair was rather chaotic. Malik parked and helped her off, trembling with suppressed laughter. "You okay? I know I told you to hang on, but it felt like you were trying to crush me."
She nodded mutely, still trying to calm her heart.
"Well, at least be thankful I went slow. Usually I go kinda fast."
"Th…that was slow?"
"Uh…yeah."
She slowly straightened. "Let's go find a bench…or the playground…anything stationary, really."
He laughed this time. "Okay."
By the time she was out of danger of hyperventilation, they had found a spot under a large tree. They sat there for a while, neither saying anything, until Asenath broke the silence. "Malik…do you think dreams can ever hold any significance or meaning?"
"You saw it too, then."
Her eyes turned to meet his.
"You saw ancient Egypt and the shadow games. You knew the costs of the lust for power last evening."
She bit her lip. "I woke up around six."
"So did I."
"Can you always believe what you see?"
"Not always."
"Then…"
"I don't know." He sighed. "Yet, somehow, I think it was me in the hallways and the one they found in the tomb."
She nodded. "I saw that part too. Somehow, I think it was me that died in that lonely room back there."
Malik shivered. "If the pharaoh walks again, it's possible that so do we in the same way."
"That means we were dead," she mused.
"Yeah…"
"How weird…"
Silence.
Suddenly Malik slammed his fist into the ground. "It's not fair!"