Life along the NIle

"Isis! Where are you?" My mother called from what sounded like the kitchen. I was sitting on the river bank watching and waiting for my brother to come home. The sun was setting, so the crocodiles weren't feeding, making it safe for me to sit so close to the water. As Rah descended into the underworld, beautiful colors dominated the sky and cast a rainbow shadow over the Nile. All of a sudden I heard my named called again, only from a different voice. "Isis, set away from the bank, you will no doubt be eaten be crocodiles sitting that close!" It was my father calling, and behind him my brother,Amun. Each of them carrying a stack of fish that would be cooked for an evening meal. They dragged their boats onto shore and my father whet off to tend to the fields. Leaving me and my brother alone. "How is mother, has she been frantic all day?" He asked, his eyes smiling. "Of course she has, I've never seen our home so clean. I scrubbed the floors for so long my fingers bled." I looked down at the shredded remains of my hands. Amun looked and smiled. "You know how important it is that we impress the landlord. Almost as important as the flooding of the Nile. Without it, we can't survive." "Amun, bring your fish in before it spoils, I won't have the landlord getting sick!" Called our mother. We each grabbed a handle of the basket and walked through the palm trees to out home. The next day started as any other. I woke up and helped my mother prepare morning meal. Then my brother and father when out to hunt and catch fish while mother and I tended the animals. Our small farm housed a pig, three goats, and a very pregnant cow. We straightened the barn and tidied up the fields. Everything had to look perfect for the landlord, or we would have our home, farm, money, and life snatched away from us. And that could not happen. Over the horizon I can see a figure coming toward us by camel caravan. My mother dashes into the house to most likely to do some last minute cleaning. My first instinct is to run and hide in the barn. But something inside me knows that my place is in the house with my mother, eagerly awaiting the return of my brother.