The Truth Seeker, The Seer & The Heart

Chapter 1 – Kyle


1999 – Chamberlaine High,
Warwickshire, UK – Kyle, 8 years old

It was just an ordinary Tuesday. But for Kyle, it would be the day that set the course of his life and started him on a very unusual adventure indeed.
The school hall was unusually quiet. The attention of the entire form was focused on the man taking centre stage at the front of the hall.
Professor Christopher O’Hare was regaling the students with stories of his adventures as an archaeologist. He had a warm, booming voice. Standing at six feet tall, he had bronzed skin from working in the sun and sandy-coloured hair which tended to flop slightly onto his forehead. He had a friendly smile and knew how to tell a story.
He introduced himself by jauntily placing an Indiana Jones-style hat on his head, much to the delight of the students.
He alternately had the children gasping in shock or awe at his stories or laughing at some of the antics of his colleagues. His passion for his work as an archaeologist was contagious, sparking the children’s imagination at the wonder of the places he had visited.
Behind him was a white projector screen, which he filled with images of maps of Egypt, and colourful photos of pyramids, temples, sarcophagi, and jewellery made from precious gems.
He told them about the Kings and Queens of Egypt, and how the Egyptians lived and worked, and thrilled them with stories of rituals and magic.
On a table to his right on the stage, he had placed artefacts borrowed from museums and private collectors to show to the children.
Kyle listened with round eyes, straining his neck to see over his school friend in front of him at what might be on the table.
When the professor finished his presentation, he took questions from the students and asked if anyone wanted to look at any of the artefacts he had brought with him. Kyle’s arm shot up so fast it was a blur, and he practically bounced in his seat hoping to be chosen. The professor laughed at the number of hands in the air. ‘Unfortunately, I only have time to choose a few as I am sure the teachers are hoping to get you back to class sometime this afternoon.’
The professor pointed at a few raised hands, and then he pointed at Kyle. Kyle could not believe he had chosen him; he pointed to himself, and, at the professor’s nod, he got out of his chair with a bounce. Bubbling with excitement, he made his way to the front of the hall and up onto the stage. Kyle didn’t like to be the centre of attention, so it was noticeably clear how much the talk had interested him. He looked at all the artefacts on the table in wonder. Each piece had a white label underneath with typed information. There were small statues, coins, shards of pottery, and parchment with odd figures on, which the note stated were hieroglyphs.
In a glass-enclosed box, a necklace was shining at him. He had never seen anything like it before. Underneath, the writing said that it was an amulet that had been made to protect the wearer. Kyle didn’t know anything about jewellery, but he thought it was beautiful. The centrepiece held a crystal called malachite, which was a stripy green colour. It was encased in what looked like an eye. According to the note, it was the Eye of Horus. This was then surrounded by a flower. The note stated:

‘Malachite – Associated with Wisdom & Discernment. Worn to promote prophetic visions and green being a protective colour.
The Eye of Horus – Egyptian symbol of protection.
Flower – Jasmine – For love and protection.’

The professor noticed Kyle was transfixed by the artefacts, particularly the amulet. The other children had gone back to their seats and the hall was slowly clearing as they made their way to their classes. Kyle hadn’t noticed; he was so mesmerised by the amulet. The professor came to a decision. He asked Kyle if he would like to look closer at the amulet. Kyle looked at him with round eyes and nodded. Smiling, the professor passed him a pair of soft white gloves to wear to protect the amulet.
He put gloves on himself, lifted the clear case off the necklace, and removed it from its silk bed. He placed it into Kyle’s shaking hands. As Kyle looked at the amulet, he felt a tingling sensation moving up his hands, into his arms, and then through his whole body. As he looked up to question the professor, he felt dizzy. His peripheral vision grew hazy, so he closed his eyes. When the dizziness stopped, he opened them again, but he was no longer in his school hall. The sun was shining brightly in his eyes, and he shielded them with one hand as they adjusted to the unexpected sunlight. As they adjusted, he looked around him. He could see a river to his right with what looked like plants of various sizes and types growing in plots.
To his left, dotted around, he could see houses, although none like he had ever seen before. He blinked and looked up and nearly swore aloud with shock. Before his very, unbelieving, eyes, he was astonished to see a pyramid, just like in the professor’s photos. His mouth hung open in complete surprise. He closed his eyes, rubbed them, and looked again.
No, it was not his imagination, as there, in the background, dwarfing the landscape, was a pyramid. It didn’t look complete, as if it was still being built. He couldn’t help it; this time he did swear. He was interrupted from his swearing by a soft chuckle behind him, and, whirling around, he looked up at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She had kind, brown eyes and long dark hair, and she was wearing strange clothing which looked completely at home in her surroundings. She had a gentleness about her, and he felt as if she could look directly into his soul. He caught his breath as, smiling at him, she reached out for the necklace that he had forgotten he was holding. ‘You found it,’ she said, smiling. He was passing the necklace to her when he felt the tingling start in his hands again. He wanted to shout, ‘NO!’ He wasn’t ready to leave yet. But before he could do or say anything else, his vision blurred once more. He closed his eyes to combat the dizzy feeling, and when he opened them again, he found himself back in the school hall.
The professor looked questioningly at him, and he found he was slightly out of breath and his head was buzzing. Quite urgently, he thrust the necklace back at the professor. ‘You ok lad?’ he asked. Was that a gleam in his eye? Did he know what had happened? Before he had a chance to say anything, the bell rang indicating he should be making his way to class. He looked up and realised the hall was nearly empty of students.
‘Thank you, sir,’ he said, and was about to run off when the professor stopped him and passed him a leaflet on archaeology along with his business card.
‘If you have any questions,’ he said, indicating the leaflet and possibly the necklace, but Kyle could not be sure. Nodding his head, Kyle ran down the aisle out of the hall. He stopped off in the bathroom and splashed water on his face. Feeling less dizzy, he made his way to class.
He could barely concentrate for the rest of the day in school. So many thoughts and questions were going through his head. Had he really been in Egypt, or had he been daydreaming? Who was the beautiful woman and what was her connection to the amulet? So many questions. He looked up and noticed Mr Thompson looking at him questioningly. Realising he had been caught staring into space, he returned his attention to his textbook and tried to concentrate on his schoolwork.
He knew one thing for certain. He wanted to be an archaeologist when he grew up. He wanted to know who the woman was that he had seen. He … just wanted to know.
He could not wait to get home from school that day. As soon as the last bell of the day rang, he grabbed his bag and ran out of the door. Waving goodbye to his mates, he cycled home as quickly as he could.
When he made it home, he abandoned his bike on the drive and opened the door, leaving it wide open. Then, thinking better of it, he turned around and banged the door shut. Dropping his school bag on the floor, he discarded his coat and shoes in the middle of the hallway where anyone could fall over them. Calling ‘Mum!’ at the top of his voice, he ran down the short hallway into the kitchen, where he found not only his mum but also his dad. It was unusual for his dad to be home at this time of day, being a salesman, but he had a long-distance journey tomorrow, so he had come home early in preparation. Kyle had obviously caught his mum and dad kissing but chose not to notice, as he was too excited to tell them about his day to stop and effect his usual retching motion at the view of them kissing.
He told them very excitedly about the professor who had visited the school. He told them about how he was an archaeologist, had brought cool stuff for them to look at, and told them some amazing stories of his adventures. ‘He was like Indiana Jones,’ Kyle said to his parents. He told them about the cool necklace, and that he knew that he wanted to be an archaeologist when he grew up. Then, leaving them both startled, he ran out of the room. He ran back in to ask for a snack, grabbed his bag from the hallway, leaving his coat and shoes still in the middle of the floor, and then ran up the stairs to his bedroom which he shared with his older brother.
He emptied his pockets of their contents, rubber bands, marbles, and tissues, onto his dresser and was surprised to see what looked like sand in the palm of his hand. He carefully tipped the sand from his hand into a discarded, but empty, sandwich bag to keep.
Back in the kitchen, his mum and dad looked at each other in the wake of his whirlwind entrance and exit and smiled. Thinking that by next week he would probably want to be a footballer or astronaut, they thought nothing more of it.




Chapter 2 – Amira


‘Amira?’ Amira turned at the pressure of a hand on her shoulder. Dragging her eyes away from the spot where the boy had been standing just a moment ago, she looked into the concerned eyes of her husband Abubakar.
‘Who were you talking to?’ he asked gently.
‘A boy,’ said Amira. ‘He was standing just there.’ She gestured with her hand which was holding the amulet.
‘Where did you find it?’ said Abubakar.
‘The boy brought it to me,’ said Amira. ‘He was wearing the strangest clothes and shoes. He had pale skin and the most startling blue eyes. He gave me my amulet and then he just disappeared.’
‘Do you think he was a vision?’ asked Abubakar.
Amira shook her head. ‘A vision wouldn’t have been able to give me this,’ she said, refastening the necklace around her neck. ‘I think the amulet brought him to me.’
‘I wonder why,’ said Abubakar.
‘I don’t know,’ said Amira. ‘But I have a feeling we will meet again.’
Abubakar gently took Amira’s hand, and they walked back into the house.




Chapter 3 – Emma


1996 – San Francisco, USA – Emma 5 years old

Chione woke up with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. Something had disturbed her, but she wasn’t sure what. Listening carefully in the darkness, she heard it again. With a start she realised it was their daughter Emma. She shook her husband Matthew awake and they quickly got out of bed.
Putting on her dressing gown, she hurriedly left the room, with Matthew close behind. She made her way along the corridor to Emma’s bedroom and turned around to Matthew with concern on her face only to find that he wasn’t there.
She went into Emma’s room and heard him enter behind her. She turned to him confused. Understanding her unasked question, he waved his phone at her. Emma was having another nightmare and was crying out in a language they didn’t recognise. ‘Brother, wake up, brother, Baahir, wake up please you are frightening me, please, please wake up.’
Chione went to comfort her, but Matthew put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looked up at him in confusion and he placed his fingers to her lips to silence her. Using his phone, he started to record what Emma was saying.
It only took a few minutes, but listening to Emma in obvious distress and not doing anything was breaking her heart. Thinking enough was enough, she looked at Matthew, and with a gentle smile, he nodded his head, just as distressed. Chione went to Emma who was thrashing around in her bed and gently cradled her in her arms. ‘Emma, Emma, wake up sweetie, it’s ok, it’s only a dream, mommy and daddy are here.’
Emma cried out again, ‘I will go for help,’ she shouted.
‘Shhhhh Em, shhhhh now, it’s ok, I have you, you are safe.’ Chione gently rocked her until she relaxed in her arms. Emma eventually quietened and fell back into a restful sleep. Chione and Matthew watched her for a little while and then quietly left the room and made their way to the kitchen. Matthew put the kettle on, and they sat at the kitchen table.
‘I wonder what she was saying. She sounded so distressed.’
Matthew glanced over at her from the kitchen counter while he waited for the kettle to boil. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘At least we have a recording now. Perhaps we can finally find out.’
‘It could be Arabic,’ Chione said. ‘It sounds a little bit like how grandma spoke when I was little, and we visited her. It has been so long since I have heard it spoken, I am not sure.’
Matthew placed a steaming cup of tea in front of Chione; she wrapped her hands around it, comforted by the heat. He sat down with his tea and replayed the recording on his phone.
‘I will speak to Mark our linguistic expert at the museum when I go to work tomorrow. Hopefully, he can shed some light,’ said Chione.
‘Good idea,’ said Matthew. ‘Come on love, let’s take our tea to bed.’
Chione gave him a watery smile, ‘Let’s just check on Emma first.’
They walked hand in hand to Emma’s room and were glad to find her sleeping deeply and restfully. They both kissed her gently on the forehead and made their way back to the kitchen to get their tea. They settled back into bed and, after a while, with Chione in his arms, Matthew tried to go back to sleep. They could not help but listen out in case Emma woke up again but finally fell asleep themselves.
Yawning, Chione woke up the next morning determined to find Mark when she got to work to see if she could find out what it was Emma was so frightened of.
Emma came into the kitchen looking sleepy but unaffected by her nightmare the night before. ‘Good morning sleepy head.’
Emma gave her a sleepy kiss on the cheek. ‘I had a funny dream last night,’ she said.
‘Did you?’ said Chione. ‘Can you remember what it was about?’
‘It’s a bit blurry,’ said Emma, ‘but I think it was about a boy. He was hurt. He had hit his head on a rock, and I couldn’t wake him up. Then you and Daddy came into the room, and I don’t remember any more.’
‘That’s ok Emma, sweetie. Nothing to worry about. It was just a dream.’ Smiling, she gave her daughter a hug and made her some breakfast.
Later, Chione picked Emma up from school and they walked home. ‘Did you have a nice day at school sweetie?’ asked Chione.
‘Yes Mommy,’ said Emma. ‘I painted a picture for you,’ she said, passing Chione a picture she had painted in art that day.
The picture was of a little girl planting some seeds in a vegetable patch. ‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling at her daughter. ‘Who is this of? Is it a friend at school?’
‘No Mommy,’ giggled Emma, ‘It’s Amira. You know Amira Mommy?’
‘Amira? That’s an unusual name. Is it a new girl in the street?’ Emma hadn’t heard her as she was happily skipping ahead towards home. Chione was sure she had heard the name before, but she just couldn’t remember where. She racked her brain trying to think of all the families in the street and whether any of their daughters were called Amira, but she couldn’t recall.
Shrugging her shoulders, she caught up with Emma and walked the rest of the way home. She helped Emma with her homework at the kitchen table and then started to prepare dinner. Chione then remembered Emma’s imaginary friend. She had walked in on Emma many times talking to someone she couldn’t see. She even spoke in what Chione had thought was a made-up language, but after Emma’s nightmare when she had shouted out in the same language, she had researched it by asking Mark at work and found it was a form of
Arabic.
‘Have you told me about Amira before?’ Chione asked Emma. At Emma’s nod, she said, ‘Is Amira your home friend? The friend you play in your room with sometimes?’ Emma nodded again. ‘Can you tell me about her?’
Emma thought for a moment, scrunching up her face in concentration. ‘She is from far away where it is hot and dusty. She wears funny clothing,’ she said, giggling. ‘But she thinks I wear funny clothes. She plants seeds to grow food. She is very smart and knows the names of lots of plants. She says she helps her daddy grow them. She has long dark hair and wears funny white clothes.’ Emma lost interest in the topic and went back to her drawing at the kitchen table. Chione decided to leave it for now and went back to cooking, but she decided to pay more attention when her daughter was playing in her room.




Chapter 4 – Amira


575 BC – Tara, Egypt – Amira, 5 years old

Amira woke up with a start, her heart pounding. It was just a dream, she told herself. But she knew that wasn’t true. She knew the difference by now, no matter how young she still was, between a dream, or even a nightmare, and one of her visions.
She heard raised voices and her mother crying in the other room. She shot out of her bed to listen to what was going on.
It turns out her brother had snuck out to see his friends in the middle of the night. This wasn’t unusual, but it was now mid-morning, and he hadn’t come home yet.
It was not the safest place to be out at night and she could tell that her parents were worried. She knew she had to tell them her vision but hated the looks on their faces and wariness around her when her dreams come true.
…