The Post-Deity Pharaoh
It only takes two heartbeats to realize I am not a god. ________________________ Thump. A single beat, a pump of blood through my body, a pulse. I had ordered my guards away. They were gawking and I was unnerved. It was a natural reaction, considering I was naked and they were not. I walked into the water, staring out at the line of ocean and sky, blueish-gray and blueish-white. It was a clear day - I could see and be seen for a mile up and down the waterfront. I remembered that I can control weather, like the spring rains that water our fields and free us from droughts. I have never been taught this skill, but I’ve been told I have it. So I told the clouds to rain. THUMP. I hear the second heartbeat in my ears. The ringing left after the beat gives the illusion that there is no crowd here, there is no noise, there are no street vendors with likenesses of my face and unlikenesses of my body - muscular Pharaohs with none of the weaknes...