One Day In The Old Kingdom

by Jeff Baker

“You can see a lot from up here,” I said. It wasn’t my first day on the job, but I’d never been on top of the Community Facility Building. Some people called it “The Big Flying Saucer,” because it was round, had a domed roof and was about 200,000 square feet. Movable walls inside and theaters made it perfect for conventions and concerts. It had been state-of-the-art when it had been built about fifty-six years ago. But now the state-of-the-art needed repair, especially on the roof and I was part of the construction crew putting in new tiles.

“My Granddad used to tell me about seeing them put this building up when he was in Grade School,” I said.

“Yeah, my Granddad worked on this building back when it was being built,” Andres said. “that was in, like 1969. Way back when.

Andres and I were two of the newer guys on the crew.

“But I get what you’re saying,” Andres said. “This must have been what it was like working on top of the Pyramids in Egypt back in the Old Kingdom.”

“What Old Kingdom?” I asked.

“That was back when they were building the Pyramids,” Andres said. “Some writer started calling it the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom. Stuff like that.”

Andres didn’t like to show off but he had a degree in Egyptology. Couldn’t get a job, though. Me, I had a G.E.D. after I dumped High school.

“And you know what else?” Andres said.

“What?” I asked.

“Thousands of years from now there will be a couple of workers standing on top of a building they’re working on, looking out and shooting the breeze just like we are now.”

“And complaining about the Pharaoh,” I said. Andres laughed.

We kept at the work for a little bit longer. Fortunately, it was still late Spring and the heat of summer hadn’t kicked in yet.

“Whew! What time is it anyway?” I said.

Andres looked around. “Lunchtime,” he said.

“Good.” I said pulling my lunch pail over from where I’d stashed it.

And we sat there on the roof of the building eating our lunches, the view on all sides stretching to the horizon.

—end—