Title: Echoes from the Past

Author: Sue Corkill

Category: TeaRoom Challenge response

Status: Complete

Rating: G

Content Warning: None

Season/Sequel info: Set before the series starts

Spoilers: Stargate, the Movie

Archive: Heliopolis, SJHW

Summary: Sha’re’s thoughts regarding a discovery she makes.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Feedback: Cheerfully accepted.

Author’s notes: I’m still responding to this early day’s challenge/exercise of writing about "any time in one of the character’s pasts that would be a defining event" (to quote from mot). This short snippet of Sha’re’s life finally demanded to be written.

Copyright © M. Susan Corkill, January 2001

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ECHOES FROM THE PAST

Kneeling down and getting comfortable, she pulled the mortar into just the right position. She took a handful of the maize and placed it in the well-worn trough of the stone. Taking the pestle, she began grinding the maize, using the rhythmic motions she had been taught by her mother, techniques that had been passed down through the generations of women in her family, just like the mortar and pestle. The familiar rocking motion and the sound of the slowly pulverizing grain allowed her thoughts to drift far away from the daily chore of grinding flour. Realizing her motions were slowing down as her thoughts wandered, she made a conscious effort to pick up her speed. She didn’t have a moment to spare today, as she had wasted precious time by going to the secret place again last night.

She had taken Skaa’ra with her, with the strict promise he was to tell no one, not even Narek. They had crept away after the evening meal, while their father was busy with the other elders; his attention focused on determining the status of ore production for the upcoming tribute to Ra. The light of the two moons provided enough illumination to guide them to the rocky outcropping that arose so unexpectedly out of the desert sands.

Located merely a half-hour’s walk from the encampment, she was surprised no one had found the caves before. Or maybe someone had, and had kept it a secret, just as she had done. She found the entrance the first time quite by accident, while setting snares for the small desert hares that her father liked to eat so much. Spying some tracks, she followed them to where they disappeared into some brush by a fissure in the rocks. While pushing the straggly bushes aside she discovered it wasn’t a fissure at all, but a crevasse, which was tall and wide enough for her to creep through. She might not have explored any further, except she had seen the eye of Ra painted on the wall just inside the opening. Her heart had started pounding, was this sacred ground? Her thoughts continued to race, why was it hidden then? Why was it so far from the temple? Curiosity overcame her instinctive caution, and she ventured in as far as she could with only the natural light that managed to filter in to see by. Through the dim light available she could just make out a larger chamber. Realizing she would need a torch to investigate further, she returned once more to the outside. She studied the rocks carefully, memorizing the location of the opening, then finished setting her snares, vowing to come back later and explore the chamber.

"My daughter, where are you going?" Startled, she realized he had seen her pulling on her cloak.

"My father, I saw promising sign today while setting my snares." She had felt uneasy lying to her father, but reasoned it wasn’t a total lie, as she would check the traps. He nodded his consent. Taking a torch she headed out into the desert. Oh, what she discovered that night filled her with such longing and awe. Chamber upon chamber, some natural and some obviously hewn by man. And the walls! Most were blank, but several chambers had pictures and strange symbols on their walls. She had been fascinated. It was forbidden to make any images, except those few Ra allowed, yet here were hundreds, maybe thousands of images. Who had done this? She only stayed a short while that first night. And she did have success with two of her snares, which somewhat assuaged her guilt at deceiving her father. Some instinct inside her warned her she must be very careful with whom she shared this wondrous discovery.

Over the weeks that followed, every chance she got she explored her find. The figures on the wall seemed to beckon to her. She wished she could understand what they wanted to tell her. Sometimes she made-up stories about what she saw drawn there. How she wished that there were someone who could explain the images to her………. Realizing she was grinding the meal to a pulp, she scooped it out of the trough and had just put the last of the maize in the mortar when she heard Skaa’ra’s excited voice.

"Father! Father!"

She rose and went to stand at the entrance of the cooking area. Skaa’ra stood in the courtyard, gesturing and talking to their father. She could tell he was excited, but also scared, he could barely get the words out. Something about strange men at the mine and one who wore the symbol of Ra around his neck. At the mention of Ra her father’s face also became somewhat alarmed. If these men were emissaries of Ra, they were early for the scheduled offering. She watched as her father quickly began organizing Skaa’ra and the other men present to go and greet the visitors.

He glanced in her direction, "Daughter, fetch your sister and bring the water jugs. We must prepare to offer our finest hospitality to these visitors, lest Ra hear otherwise." He strode off then, she knew he went to get his official raiment to wear when meeting these strangers, as befitted the leader of the tribe.

Sha’re obeyed her father, an excitement building within her as she raced to her sister’s dwelling. Visitors, and one wearing the symbol of Ra! This unexpected visit would mean a special feast to honor their guests. Her mind quickly inventoried their food stores as she hurriedly made her way through the narrow passageways to her sister’s home. She smiled to herself; yes, it was a good thing she had spent the morning grinding the maize instead of stealing away to her secret place.

THE END