The Midnight Bazaar

The veiled woman walked along the path of moonlit cobble stones hurriedly, so as not to be seen. Her eyes were the only thing that reflected the light, and she had them cast down.

She was going to the midnight bazaar because she knew he would be there. He was always waiting by the third booth in the back among an array of sweet incense and drums.

A man walking along drunkenly was coming from the other side. He was not noticing where he was going and so when the woman and the man collided her face was revealed for a quick second. The man in a complete stupor questioned "Aren't you Miranda Abraham's wife?" but by that time she was running so fast she only heard the word Miranda.

She could not be caught. If one of her husbands associates found her, she would be stoned. Women were not supposed to be outside at this hour. This bazaar was for men and unmarried women only. She quickly stopped around a corner that beyond it was glowing furiously with the light of fire torches. She could hear the drummers playing and knew he must be around. She closed her eyes for a second and bit her lip in excitement. Then she smiled under her dark veil and crept slowly towards the third booth on the right hand side.

To get to this booth you had to go through swarms of men and women all calling out various things. There was an array of black market items: oils, incenses, drums, potions to make your love more potent, witch herbs, weapons of all kinds. She hurried and dug her way through to the one place she needed to find. At first she didn't think he had come but then she slid by the side and there he was, oiling a calf skin to put on a drum. He didn't see her but he heard hard breathing and so he looked up suspiciously. When he saw her, his eyes lit up. He stood up, grabbed her and threw her as fast as he could and threw her inside his tent.

"You have come my love. I didn't think you would be able to. We are exhausting our chances for good luck every time we see each other like this." He was breathing hard. She knew the sight of her excited him.

"I know" she whispered "but I have been going crazy, I dream of you every night. I cannot stand making love to my husband. He is an ogre and he smells so strange I can no longer make love to him"

"I am sorry Miranda, I know how hard it must be to marry someone you do not truly love" He caressed her face over her veil and looked to the door of the tent. "Wait here" he told her and left outside for a moment. A few seconds later he was back and following her outside through the back. " I have told Raymee to take over for me but I am afraid he is beginning to wonder. I am sad to think that we must not see each other for a while"

Her heart stopped for a brief second, and she bit her lip again but this time in utter despair. She slowly felt a trickle of blood and she licked it and sucked on her lip to try to mend the wound. She was trying not to cry as they walked out of the bazaar and over the hill but a single tear moistened her veil.

"I shall not come anymore" she finally said and he stopped.

"Please Miranda don't take it so harshly. You know that if I could I would marry you. I would love you for the rest of our lives. You are my soul, my happiness, I cannot live without you. That is why I must caution you to be wary of what we are doing. Our practices are turning heads and the walls have eyes. I do not want you to be punished."

At this she started crying and screamed but in a whisper "I would rather be stoned to death for making love to you then live a life of agony sleeping with Abraham" This last word sounded more like a curse than a name.

He held her and took her long into his arms then removed the veil to reveal her beautiful full lips. Her cheeks were stained with tears. Her eyes red and soaked. He looked at her then kissed her and his heart felt like it would burst. They kissed long and hard.

Then he took her and he walked along a stream with a small shack at the end. It was very battered and the panels of wood were consistently uneven so it made the shack look lopsided. It was old and rain had eaten through some parts of the roof. Inside there was a small hole for fire which he lit and a small grassy bed covered with a woven sheet. She removed her veil but she waited for him to undress her. She always felt such ecstasy as he removed each layer of clothing. And so when he had finished tending the fire he came over to where she was and slowly took piece by piece. Until she was almost naked except for her undergarments.

Back at the Bazaar the men were gathering.
"What do you mean you saw Miranda wife of Abraham heading out here tonight."
"it is true" the drunk man stumbled trying to regain his composure.
" but how can we trust this man? Look at him he probably will tell us next he saw her riding a pink elephant" at this all the crowd laughed.
"Well there is only one way to prove it. Lets go to Abraham's house. I am sure he will appreciate it if he knows that we are doing this for him." So the crowd swarmed over the house of Abraham. Where there was only a pillow instead of a wife.

When Abraham got up and got dressed Miranda and Ishmael were making love. He had just entered her and she had closed her eyes. Every part of her was in deep beautiful rapture. But somewhere deep inside of her she thought, "This is the last time with my sweet lover. I will never see him again" and a tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it off so as her lover would not see it.

The men were crawling everywhere looking for her. Past the armory, and the potion booth. Abraham was at the front. "Miranda! Come out you whore!!"
The few people who had no idea what was going on looked frightened at the way he was screaming. He could feel her blood on his tongue and he wanted to taste it. He had felt something was wrong. "She had been so rebellious lately." He grumbled as he went booth to booth.

He kept looking in the back of the tents until he reached a beautiful colored tent. Richly ornate and shining with beads of every color that would hang down.
"Raymee, he mumbled tell me where Ishmael is. I need to talk to him" Raymee was the small skinny 14 year old younger brother of Ishmael. His voice cracked as he said " He left a little while ago, He said he had to tend to the animals in the barn"
"at this time of the night?" cried one man.
"I I I ddddon't knnnnow" stuttered Raymee.
"Let's go see where Ishmael is then" Abraham cried. "I can taste blood" he whispered to himself and licked his lips in a grimace.

They didn't know a crowd was approaching because they were both having an orgasm. But the people outside heard two cries and they walked faster over to the small shack at the end of the stream. She didn't know exactly how it all happened. All she knew is that the next moment she was smelling the foul odor of her husbands stank breath and she could only hear swarms of men. She had been blindfolded and gagged. She tried to scream but only muffled cries would come out. She was being dragged naked through the shack towards the door. She could hear her husband arguing with Ishmael. She started sobbing hysterically as they carried her through the cold night air. As they were carrying her she thought to herself "How did they find me? No one saw me." Back at the bazaar some of the other men had run over and were starting to drum. She could hear the drums far off but getting closer. They sounded wicked and eerie. She was going to be stoned. She had no more luck she guessed. Her time with her beautiful lover was over. She finally stopped and they tied her hands behind her naked back. They slammed her hard and she felt the cold stone wall pressing up against her buttocks. When they removed her blindfold, it all became clear. There in the front was the drunken man. And she cried one last gagged howl as the stones marked her flesh.