Baalbek

Baalbek Lebanon

Lina stood at the old gate to the ancient ruins in the shadows, making sure no one spotted her before she climbed through the busted metal poles. Two steps inside when another explosion rocked the area, the ground shaking and making her knees buckle as she collapsed. She hated war. Hated what it had done to her country, and hated the deep divide between the Lebanese people. Christian fought Muslim, Sunni fought Shite, Druze fought everyone, Civil War was just bad any way you looked at it.

The shelling was growing closer now, and Baalbek would be in trouble if they didn’t watch their bombing. Through every earthquake and previous war, this place remained, the mystical, the beauty, though it began to crumble with age since no one deemed it important enough to preserve.

Turning on the tiny flashlight from her cigarette lighter, Lina made her way back to the Temple of Bacchus, to the one corner where no one could see them, not that she expected anyone to be sneaking in here like she and Adam did. Everyone around them was caught up in the ugliness of this war, as old friends became the enemy, neighbor were bitter rivals, you could trust no one. If her family found out she was here now, and with him, they would probably kill her or disown her. It was that simple. A Sunni girl did not, under any circumstances, become involved with a Christian boy.

She sat on the cool stone step, her hand moving over it, delighting in the different textures that met her skin. Brushing away enough of the dirt and sand, it’s smooth surface could be found, and she loved the feel of it. There was something so comforting about this place. The enormous pillars that stretched so high into the sky as you strained your neck to stare at their size, wondering how anyone could have made such a thing. To the faces of lion’s carved into the stone with such detail. There were also likenesses to Cleopatra and Marc Anthony here.

Lina loved it here, this ancient place that was like a glimpse of history etched out in time for her to explore. Every chance she had she came here. She probably knew this place better than the ones who sold tickets in better times. From the moment, she stepped through the gate at the age of five she was mesmerized, consumed almost but the sheer magnitude of what she was seeing. Her siblings always grew bored here, too much walking, stifling hot midsummer, breezy come winter with the heavy rains. While they would hang out by the natural spring that poured water through a wall, she would disappear into its depths, imagining what life must have been like back then, what Baalbek truly was so long ago.

She missed the days of school when she could consume as much of its history as possible. War made going to work impossible most days. The only comfort Lina found was coming here and spending time with Adam. Adam shared her passion for this place, they would walk around for hours, sharing stories, laughing, pretending they were Cleopatra and Marc Anthony, ruling over all the people in the land. It was silly, Lina knew, but it was a wonderful escape from their surroundings.

Another bomb exploded and Lina flinched. Usually, a stream of sound would proceed the explosion, but bomb makers were becoming more clever, having the element of surprise on their side. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing it was further than the last one. Adam was late, and she hoped that nothing prevented him from making their date.

Tonight, they were going to back to the remaining six pillars at the Temple of Jupiter. She wished she had her camera so she could get some great shots of everything up there, but batteries were hard to come by. Besides, there would be no way to explain who took her picture late at night. Keeping Adam a secret from her family was in her best interests.

Just as she stood to head back to the entrance, believing they would have to do this on a different night, Adam appeared.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said.

Lina stepped forward and hugged him close. “Not a problem.”

“The shelling was scaring my sister and I had to take care of her first.”

Lina loved that about him, loved how he took care of his family and made everyone feel like they were a priority to him.

He held her tight for a moment longer than usual and fear clutched her heart. Before she could ask why he grabbed her hand and pulled her along beside him as they walked from the Temple of Bacchus toward what was left of the Temple of Jupiter.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

The walked in silence until reaching the staircase and he sat. “Lina, I need to tell you something.”

A sense of dread washed over her. She something was off. She took a deep breath, preparing for some bad news. “Go on.”

“We are going back to Beirut in three days.”

Her heart plummeted. Once he left, there would be no one to meet here, no friend to find comfort in as the stupid war continued to rage on, no one to get caught up in the mysteries of Baalbek with. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She was thankful for the dark night that hid her face, not wanting to him to know how much this news pained her.

She sucked in a ragged breath. “Well then, we’d better make the most of tonight. Shall we? I want to make it up to the bottom of the pillar tonight from this side if possible. I’m pretty sure I can make it up the first two rocks myself, but I’ll need a boost on the last one. No sense walking around all of this to the stairs on the other side.”

Adam laughed. “As you wish.”

Together they climbed the tall stones and made it to the top of the Temple where the last of the remaining six pillars stood.

“I love it here,” Lina said.

“Me too. I know it seems like I’m going away forever, but I’m not. We still have a home here, and I’ll be back to visit when I can.”

Lina shook her head. “I don’t want to think about it or make promises to each that we might not be able to keep. Tonight, I just want to pretend that we are Cleopatra and Mark Anthony, that this place isn’t crumbling and in need of restoration.”

The full moon cast a light glow around the ruins. Adam moved in front of her and bowed. “Mi lady, shall I escort you to the Great Court?”

Lina lifted her chin like a true regal lady. “Yes, you may.”
Adam held his arm from her, and she rested her hand there. Together they walked around in the dark, escaping from life outside of this moment in time, losing themselves in the world they created inside the ancient ruins.

WC: 1197

Written for "Short Shots: Official WDC Contest"   by Writing.Com Support