The hot desert sun beats down from a blindingly blue sky as you stagger across the burning sands. You have been traveling for hours, hoping to find some place to rest, some protection against the burning sun.
You stop and unshoulder your backpack before fishing in it for your water bottle. You bring the vessel to your lips and savor the coolness of the water as it flows over your parched lips. Somewhat refreshed, you trudge on.
Cresting the top of a hill, you pause and scan the valley below. Your heart quickens for before you lies a glistening pool of water. Tall, green palms sway at its shores but even more impressive, beyond it rises a stone temple, its pillars and walls painted brightly with ancient symbols. People move upon its stairs and flags wave in the sky above it.
You freeze. Have you somehow been transported out of your own time? How does this clearly ancient structure still exist here in the secluded desert?
Cautiously, you creep forward. Sounds rise to meet you, music and voices, the sounds of animals and the cry of water birds. The whole complex bustles with life and activity as servants rush back and forth carrying baskets and jugs and colorful birds nest among the trees.
You descend the gentle slope, sand slipping beneath your hiking boots and come to stand beneath the cool shade of the trees. The water glistens before you like a mirror, broken only by the occasional ripples as a fish breaks the surface.
The temple is even more magnificent from here. Its white stone gleams in the burning sun, great murals painted upon its exterior walls showing the deeds of gods and kings. Statues stand guard at the gates.
Something brushes up against your leg and you look down to see a gray spotted cat twining around your ankles. She raises pale green eyes and gives out a plaintive, "Meow."
You reach down and stroke her ears but she slips away into the long grasses by the shores of the pond, disappearing in a moment. When you look up, your jaw drops. Where a moment before there was a stately temple, now stands only a ruin, only a few columns and scattered stones marking the location of the formerly great structure. A few tents stand nearby, so you stumble forward and a man in work clothes raises his hand in greeting.
You approach and he seems concerned that you're out in this heat, offering you something to drink and a chance to rest in the shade of his tent. You enter and find a hammock gently swaying beside a folding table. On this table sits a candle, the flame flickering. A fragrance rises from it, ancient cedar timbers and cool earth, drawing your mind back to the shores of the pool. You sink into the hammock and let it rock you to sleep, dreaming of your vision of the past.
Mythologie's Desert Mirage candle is part of our seasonal Sands of Time collection, inspired by Ancient Egypt, debuting May 26th.
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