It was such a struggle to be cooped up within those four walls when all she wanted was to out there in the Real World being a real Archaeologist.
She imagined herself digging through the sand at excavation sites, the sun beating down on her, collecting ancient relics and artifacts.
But, as everyone knows, you have to learn to walk before you can run.The sun was hot and glaring, and the excavation was encouraging far too much dust up in the air. Her skin was flush with sweat, which gave the dust something to cling to.
Wiping the back of her left hand across her face, Tamarra stood up for a minute to relax.
They were out in the desert, and had been for about three days now. She had never been so excited about working before!
In the past several years, she had done her own treasure hunting and had collected a wide variety of relics.
However, Egypt was quite particular about who was allowed to come into its land.
In her undergraduate studies, she had loved learning about the Egyptians, and so desperately wanted to really get out in the world and hunt down ancient relics.
In order to make that dream happen, she signed up on a dig with her old university, and now, finally, here she was, standing in Egypts sandy lands.
However, the hunt wasn't going well. They hadn't found anything of interest in the past few days, and excavation leader wondered if the area had been picked over by thieves. Tamarra was still enjoying the search, but she could tell that the boss was worried.
If they didn't find something soon, the university might revoke their funding and cancel the excavation. They continued working throughout the rest of the day, but just like the previous days, the search proved fruitless.
That night, they bunkered down into tents set up around the excavation site. Exhausted by the work, Tamarra climbed into her sleeping bag and fell into a dreamless sleep.
The sounds of rhythmically beating hooves woke Tamarra up. Cautiously, she peeked out of her tent, trying to keep as much of her body hidden behind the tent flap.
A group of people were riding through on horses. Every one of them was quiet, and scouring the ground carefully as they passed through the site. The thieves! Apparently, the excavation leader had been right about the area being raided.
She watched them silently, as she was sure they were armed, and she daren't make a sound.
Eventually, they seemed to give up, and as the sun began to rise, they scattered quickly back into the desert.
When she was sure they had gone, she gathered her tools and went over to the area where they had been looking. If they were willing to come back to this place where a full crew was sleeping, surely, they must have left something valuable behind.
An hour passed. Then two. The others were waking up, and she barely managed to nod out an acknowledgement to their good morning!
Digging a little deeper, her tools made a sharp clankling! sound. Putting them away, she dug with her hands, making sure not to damage whatever lay here. It didn't take much effort before she scooped the jar out of the sand.
It was a dark gray, and looked like it was made of painted clay, though of course it would require closer examination. Faint scratches showed writing on the jar, and she consulted a small dictionary to decipher what it said. Heart.
A wide smile came to her face as she realized what this meant.
Sir! she called out, waving her free hand. I found something.The excavation leader rushed over, and so did many of the others, and he realized the value of the find.
Amidst their praises, Tamarra nodded to herself, bubbling inward with pleasure. The excavation would continue to receive funding, and she would have many more days to enjoy the Egyptian sands.
Credits: Profile by Ziva