© Google – Nov 2014
Nadia tried to hide her tears as she witnessed the scene. “Oh, Abdus. Look at what they’ve done. How could they?”
Only a few of the other tourists in their party viewing the Nabatean Theater at Petra noticed the finely dressed Arab woman burying her face in presumably her husband’s chest. They hadn’t the faintest idea why she was upset and decided to ignore her.
All the others were focused on the gift shop at the far end of the theatre and what their young, enthusiastic guide was saying.
“I know, dearest. Our tombs. All gone. Erased first by the Nabateans and then by the Romans. Now the modern Jordanians make sport of our sacred tombs.”
“I need to leave, Abdus. The sight sickens me.”
“Stay, beloved. We were reincarnated to quicken the souls of the others. Someday, we’ll have an army and we will retake these ancient lands.
I wrote this for the What Pegman Saw writing challenge. The idea is to use the Google maps street view image above as the inspiration for crafting a piece of flash fiction no more than 150 words long. My word count is 149.
Today, Pegman takes us to The Nabatean Theater at Petra in Jordan. Apparently this was originally the site of many ancient tombs, but according to Viator.com a group of Arab people called the Nabateans, who once inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant, created the theater some 2,000 years ago, destroying many of the tombs there. The Romans expanded the theater in the early 2nd century CE destroying even more.
I found myself wondering what the dead in those tombs would think if they could see the place today.
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Love your take on this! Easy to believe this would be their reaction on seeing this. Clever and wonderfully evoked.
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Imagine if you were reincarnated thousands of years after your death to see your gravesite destroyed and turned into a cheap tourist attraction.
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Great take, and food for thought.
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Thanks, JHC.
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Great research on this one. I didn’t realize that had happened. This happens a lot. I understand London is built upon the Roman ruins of Londonium. Back at the Romans I suppose.
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In London’s case, I can’t say I blame them.
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A unique take on the prompt, written assuredly.
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Oops comment in wrong place. That’s what comes of procrastinating about whether to comment on the London comment.
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No worries. It’s easy to get lost in the blogosphere.
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Excellent take on the prompt. From the perspective of the dead this was simply realistic and believable.
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Thank you, Neel. Not everyone would consider reincarnation realistic.
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You’ve hit the nail on the head here – I’m pretty sure this would be the reaction of many reincarnated beings, seeing what we’ve done to their beloved and sacred places. Nice one!
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It could be very, very bad.
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