“It’s
like a painting… like portal to another world.”
She
was right. In the middle of the brown and aged plaster was a giant wall,
carved in cobalt and gold filigree. Swirls and ornate etchings blended together
to form a magical, woven window to the past. The center archway was accompanied
with two smaller porticos on either side and sea-colored mosaics brilliantly adorned
the gateway as sapphires would a gown. Looking at it again through her, allowed
Zeyn to experience its splendor all over.
“You
know… never, in a million years did I ever think I’d be standing in front of a
place like this. I mean, I didn’t even know to dream it, let alone live it.”
Zeyn
realized that the magic of the arch had transferred to the woman at his side.
She glowed with wonder and enchantment, and damn it, if he couldn’t take his
eyes off her. His voice softened of its own accord, as he said, “There’s so
much more to see.”
... He
placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her back to the 800’s. They wove
through the labyrinth of cracked walls and narrow alleys, dodging their way
through obstacle courses of people and animal poop, around traffic jams of
donkeys and broken carts, and wafted through the aromatic and prismatic
pyramids of spices. They took their time, and Claudia felt like a child at a
toy store. Everything called to her: the colors of the lights, the smell of
the leather goods, the laughter of the men, women, and children, and the awe of
the history.
The
weight of her bags and the oppressive heat vanished as her wonder grew. She
stopped herself from going into any of the shops, in fear her head might
explode from sensory overload. She knew she would have time for that later.
Now, however, she just wanted to experience the rush of going back in time.
Handmade leather shoes and slippers of every color and design hung in linear
rows like elaborate tapestries, and if she weren’t careful, she’d purchase
every single one. Bags and purses, wooden and ceramic bowls, earrings and
necklaces, dresses and scarves, fabrics made of rainbows, silver, gold, left,
right, up, down, in every direction. She was flooded by beauty and her heart
pounded with joy.
“Do
you ever get used to it? All the color? All the noise? All the chaos?”
“It
becomes a part of you. And just when it seems like you can’t take anymore, you
find yourself missing it when you’re gone. There’s just something about this
country that pulls you in.”
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