To see the previous installments, click on the following links: #1, #2 , #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26

As I said before, life was quiet and blissful in that modest flat on Via Abundantiae, and in the bakery there was the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread every day; the bread that attracted customers from all over the city. Aemilia and I shared simple days, busy with the everyday and enjoying those little things that only lovers find precious: working side by side, dinners shared in the half-light, laughter at the end of the day. But there was an anguish, invisible to all but me, growing and creeping, full of menace, beneath the Pompeian soil.

I knew I had to say it. That one day I would have to reveal to Aemilia the terrible secret that gnawed at me, like a poison slowly creeping up into my soul. But how could I do it? How could I suddenly take away all the peace we had built up? With each passing day, I felt the burden of that truth grow heavier and heavier. It was a secret I had brought with me from another time, from the history books I once read in the future. A truth impossible for any mortal of this age, but true, immovable and cruel. The mountain that watched over Pompeii, rising from the green and fertile fields, was in reality a sleeping beast that would soon unleash its fury on the city.

That night, as we sat after supper with the light from the lanterns flickering softly in the gloom, I felt the moment had come. I saw Aemilia beside me, relaxed and carefree, her face illuminated by the golden light, and something inside me snapped. I couldn't stand it any longer.

”Aemilia, -I said in a trembling voice, trying hard to remain calm,- I need to talk to you about something...something important.”

She looked up, her eyes full of sweetness and innocence. And then, searching for words, trying to sweeten what was bitter, I began to tell her of the omens, of the subtle tremors that few noticed, of the rumours of a fire hidden in the bowels of the earth. I told her, in veiled words, of Vesuvius, which had hitherto remained still and harmless, and how it would soon rise with incandescent fury. But her eyes did not understand, and I feared she thought I was delirious or dreaming. So at last, I went straight.

”Aemilia, we must leave Pompeii, before it is too late. Vesuvius will bury this city and we will all die with it. This city, this land, all that we have built together…-my voice was muffled because the pain of that resignation was choking me,- all of it is doomed.”

I saw her face turn pale. At first, only silence filled the air. And then her hand, warm and strong, clasped mine. Tears welled up in his eyes and a slight tremor shook his lips. We would have to leave everything we loved behind.

To be continued

Header Image:

Vesuvius volcano erupts. Source: ondacero.es