An Original Story
My Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Written by a creative young writer, Kathryn,
when she was in sixth grade. Published with permission

Hello! My name is Cleocatherine. My name comes from our queen, Cleopatra. I am eleven (11) years old. I have jet black hair and warm brown eyes. My skin is very tan. I work as a baker in my parents home. I have two (2) sisters who help with the shop. Atina, who is eight, and Clecatrin, who is twelve.

We all help to make enough money to keep us going. Our biggest customer is Pharaoh! He loves my recipe for tarts, so every day, I make some for him. I have to work very hard sometimes.

In the morning, I get up, get dressed, and go downstairs. I start a fire in our oven and put the bread dough in it that I made last night. Once that's done, I go down to the river to take my daily bath. When I am finished, I go back up to the house. I take the bread out of the oven and let it cool. My parents have gotten up while I was at the river, and had taken their baths with the huge basin used for washing our clothes and ourselves. My parents were already at the wheat fields, harvesting our wheat to be ground into flour. My little sister, Atina, will do most of the grinding.

When my parents were back, and when we were finished eating breakfast, it was time for me to start cooking for Pharaoh's supper. I get out the recipe for fig tarts. Figs are one of Pharaoh's favorite foods! I get a basket out and find out how many figs I will need for the tarts. Then I go to the marketplace to get the figs. Figs are very expensive, but Pharaoh pays good money for the tarts. When I get back home, I get out all the other things I'll need. My sister is still grinding the wheat into flour, and the pounding of her mortar makes a steady rhythm for me to keep time to. Soon, the batter was ready, and I carefully pour it into the molds. Then, I put them in the oven.

While it was cooking, I ate the leftovers from breakfast for lunch. Once I finished eating, I switch places with Clecatrin, so that she can help Atina grind wheat. My job at this time is to tend to the shop. This includes arranging baked goods on shelves, taking orders from customers, and helping to keep the shop clean.

Just as I started to arrange pastries on a linen cloth, Millina walked through the door. Millina is my best friend. Her family's job is jewelry making. We both have a lot of friendship jewelry that Millina makes because of this. My favorite is an armband made out of turquoise that Millina made a twin to, for herself. She says turquoise looks really good on me. The reason she was here was because she needed bread, tarts, biscuits, and a whole bunch of other things for her parents' dinner party. Her family is very well known, so they have a lot of dinner parties, one every night.

After we got Millina's orders all settled, (including how much we should make, how much it would cost, and all the other odds and ends tied up), Pharaoh's tarts were done. The sun was high in the sky, yet it was past noon. I had just enough time to take the tarts to Pharaoh's. When I got to the gates, I told the guards that I had made some extra tarts for them. They knew I always had something good for them, and they thanked me as I passed through the gates.

After I got home, I started making bread for tomorrow's breakfast. My parents were already asleep when I got home because it was past sunset. I got out a roll to eat because I was hungry. Soon, I undressed and went up to the roof to get some sleep.

While I lay there, gazing into the bright, twinkling sky, I thought about everything that I had done today. I knew tomorrow would be just like it. Once I knew every day would be almost exactly alike, I relaxed and closed my eyes. The next minute, I was asleep.

The End

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