Night Security

Like Clockwork

I sit in my chair behind the desk. With a heavy sigh, I look around the empty museum lobby. I stand up from the chair and adjust my uniform. "Gonna go for a stroll. Watch out for the place, Teddy?" I salute to my old friend before grabbing my flashlight.

"Why do you do that? It's not like he can hear you," the voice says from the desk beside mine.

"Well, Steve, it doesn't matter if he can hear me or not. Spending many, MANY nights in this very lobby, these people become like your family," I smile and begin walking to the stairs.

"You're not going to that old Egypt exhibit again, are you?" The new night guard asks.

"Haven't you heard? Those walls used to old some amazing magic," Steve scoffs at me.

"'Magic'? I swear. You're nuttier than a jar crunchy peanut butter," He says.

"An old friend would've once said crazier than a road lizard, but I'll take that instead," I make my way up the steps. I press the button on my walkie. "Did I ever tell you about my old friends?" I ask Steve through the radio.

"Every night, it's the same story," he sighs.

"Do you get tired of my stories?" I ask.

"It's just hard to listen to the same fairytales about you running through the streets of London with an Indian woman, a Hun, a Royal Knight, a president, a cowboy, a roman, a monkey, and a pharaoh," He says blandly.

"You're forgetting someone," I mock, stepping through the halls.

"Ah. Yes. The Bravest Man You Ever Met. The Guardian of Brooklyn," he mocks.

"Okay, if you don't like that story, I'll tell you another. It was a dark night in the great city of Washington DC-" I begin.

"I don't want to hear about The Battle of the Smithsonian either!" He yells. I laugh.

"Okay. It as a snowy night in the lovely city of New York. Something strange was afoot at the Natural History Museum. It seemed as though all of the magic was being taken away, quite literally, I might add. For, alas, it was the Three-"

"Will you stop with the Three Old Thief's and the Fool?!" He gets frustrated.

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll tell you something that isn't a story. Next week, I'm going out to London again," I say.

"Again, you went just week before last," he says.

"And I will continue to go every two just to bother you," I laugh.



I walk through the empty British Museum, I'm the first one here. I bump into Tilly just as she's leaving. "Ah! Kamilah! Back again so soon. I have to say, that Pharaoh of yours is quite the chatter box," she laughs. I nod.

"That he is. Though, anything he says is worth a listen," I smile. She excuses herself and leaves. I walk into the Egypt exhibit. I walk up to the glamorous gold coffins. "Every two weeks, like clockwork," I sigh, sitting down beside Ahkmenrah. "It's been a year since Larry left. His replacement, Steve, not nearly as entertaining. Never wants to listen to my stories. Says they're all fairytales. I don't know what he'd do with himself if he ever found out my stories are true. If he ever knew the magic that tablet holds..." I sigh and look at the tablet on the wall. "I'm sorry I cannot come at night. I've tried every which way, but I simply can't. Back on the topic of stories, though, did you ever share ours? How we met. It's one of my favorites. Though, the part where I almost bled out in the snow isn't a popular part. The scar's still there. New York is quite quiet now. I still talk to everyone. Sort of how I am now. Cam thinks it's lonely and sad that I do it, but I don't see what's so lonely about it. I'm just talking to my friends, my family. Yeah, sure, they can't respond, but that's not what's important. It's not the words we exchange that hold value, but the connections we make. You know, I was sad at first, being back home without you. I was sad... Then, I got angry. I didn't know or what I was angry about, but I was angry. I then decided that I was tired of being angry and sad. So I stopped feeling for a brief moment in time. I then looked deep in myself and found what it was I was so upset about. I wasn't sad we had been separated. I wasn't angry at anyone for taking you away from me. I was just using those to hide what I was really feeling. I was happy. I hated myself for being happy. I asked myself 'Kamilah. How can you be happy when you know you might never see the one you love again?'. It wasn't that I was happy to be apart from you. I was happy to know that, after 4,000 years, you were with your family again and was happy. I was happy because I knew you were happy. My own feelings never mattered to me. Yours did. Yes, you could argue like you did that one night, saying the exact same thing to me. That my emotions were more important than yours, but that's just it. No one's emotions are more important than another's. That's how I found it so easy to let you go. I knew that my emotions and my wants should not outweigh those of your parents. I had you for so many years, it was time they had you as well. That's why coming here, every two weeks, and talking to you, it doesn't make me sad or jealous. It makes me happy," I sniffle for a second. "Ah, look at me. Crying like always," I search my bag for a tissue, but I can't find them. "You'd think after the first 20 visits, I would've remembered to bring tissues by now," I laugh to myself. I shake my head and wipe the tear away with my sleeve. "You know, I got demoted to just security guard again? Can really be head of a department that doesn't exist. McPhee offered to talk with his contacts down in Texas, get me a good job there, but I didn't want to leave my family. Not for some stupid job," I laugh. I end up talking to Ahk and his parents for a good 3 hours before it was time for me to go. "I'll see you guys in two weeks," I smile looking at the row of three gold coffins.