“What do you mean a hunch?” I asked skeptically. Daddy motioned me toward the couch. It was a black leather couch that I had known since childhood and despite the many trials of spills and scratches it had gone through it showed little to no wear. I sat down, Daddy following.

“You know how Granny is always talking about our Egyptian ancestry?” he asked.

“Yes, every chance she can get.” I looked around. Our house was filled with artifacts and memorabilia that Granny had given us. Our living room was like a miniature Egyptian art museum. She had ‘blessed’ us from paintings, to sculptures, to pottery, and even old books. She said they were from her childhood where she grew up in Egypt or passed down many generations from our ancestors.

“There was this book she gave me…” he said. “In it, it explained of--”

“Magical Egyptian gods that could teleport?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Khonsu.”

“Khon- What?” I thought back. I think I heard Granny say that name before “Didn’t that have something to do with the moon?”

“Yes.” He got up and went to the hall closet where he dug out an old worn book. It was a dreary maroon color with a golden spine emblazened with a spiral design. “This is Khonsu.” He showed me a picture of a young man wearing traditional Egyptian headgear which displayed a disk resting in a crescent shaped moon. I stared at the picture dumbfounded.

“What does this have to do with me?”

Daddy sat down again and put the book in my hands. I caught a whiff of iron coming from the book. It reminded me of the smell of blood. “I believe you are the reincarnation of Khonsu.”

“Reincarnation…”

“It’s when your soul--”

“I know what it is! It’s just that this is--silly!”

“Khonsu was known as the moon god. The moon has watched over the earth since the beginning of time. It has always been there for every decade of man and beast. Khonsu could travel through the sky using the moon, day or night, as the moon never disappears, the sun only blinds it from our sight. I have the theory that Khonsu could travel through the sky but also time.”

“Travel through time?”

“Yes. When you disappeared, did you see anything unusual?”

“The entire experience was unusual. I was surrounded by an entity of silence, devoid of color. I can’t explain it. And then I saw something familiar. A lion maybe, but it was weird.”

“Hmmm.”

“Why didn't you ever tell me this, Arthur?!” my mother asked.

“Simple. I didn't think you would believe me.”

“And you think I will?” I asked.

“You’ll have no other choice.”

“What do you mean?”

“Along with this hunch, I think you’ll have many more instances of disappearance.”

“I’m--going to bed.” I said, both mentally and physically exhausted. It was like I had been dropped in some sort of young adult fantasy novel.

“You should get to know that book inside and out. It may help you. You have no idea what is going to happen.” I nodded my head in compliance, but I just wanted to get upstairs and wake up from this ‘interesting’ dream.

I headed upstairs, lugging the book to my side and my bookbag on the other. Great, another textbook to carry around. I dropped both things on the floor upon entrance to my room, making a loud thud. I sheepishly removed my school shoes and crawled into bed fully clothed. I had spent all too many nights sleeping in my gray school uniform after cramming for a test; its pleated skirt and cropped vest were like a second pair of pajamas to me. I wrinkled my nose into my pillow and drifted off to sleep, halfway dreading what was to come yet halfway ecstatic in a sense.

What if this wasn't a dream? What if I really was some reincarnated god? What sort of powers would I possess?

#