Prompt# 286 - Take a Stand – Once, in the Desert - Tekia - Original

[tekia.livejournal.com]

Title: Once, in the Desert
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Take a Stand
Warnings: none
Rating: PG
Summary: A young girl once got lost in the desert…
Under the light of the full moon, she had found herself lost in the endless waste of the desert. A chill coursed down her spine as she realized that she didn’t know her way home and that nobody knew she was out there. She hugged her small skin of water closer to her chest and spun about on her heel, eyes seeking some familiar landmark, but the desert around her was nothing but rolling hills of sand made hard by wind and the harsh rays of the sun.
Once, her father had told her that the great river always flowed to the east of their village. And the river always led to people and her village. She rallied and pressed on, one eye on the stars glittering like diamonds above her, showing her the way east. She couldn’t know how far she had gone away from the village before she realized that she was lost, but surely it hadn’t been as far away as she had been traveling east?
She worried her bottom lip, her feet hesitating as she debated the wisdom of her actions. Perhaps she should have remained where she had been and waited for her father to come find her. He was wise in the ways of the desert. The sun was raising and the coolness of night was fading like a dream. She crouched down and pulled her cowl over her head, her veils over her nose and mouth. The desert was dangerous in the daylight for many different reason from the dangers present in the night.
At night one had to worry about predators that stalked under the cover of darkness, but during the daylight one had to worry about the dry heat and the stress of the unrelenting sun. She knew these dangers well, every child of the desert knows to fear that which the desert can deal them, and she shivered even more as she gazed out from the top of a rise, unable to see the great river that gave them all life.
Worry ate at her heart and fed the fluttering of her stomach as the sun warmed her shoulders and cheeks. She crouched and bit her lip again, fighting against tears. She wanted to go home.
She wanted her father’s strong arms around her and her mother’s cooking feeling her nose. She wanted the laughter of her little brothers filling her ears and the song of the village soothing her worries.
Was she only getting herself more lost?
She stood again and gazed down the hill and wiped at the tears trailing down her cheeks. She shouldn’t waste water. Her feet took her down the hill and even further into the desert. When the sun was at its zenith, she knelt once more and hid her head and face with her cowl until the sun couldn’t touch her with its harmful rays.
She slept heavily, her heart pounding in her chest with fear. Great fear. She woke later with a start that jolted through her skin and sent her stumbling to her feet as fear coursed through her bloodstream. She spun about on her feet, eyes searching every which way for something, anything familiar or dangerous.
She was still alone, which frightened and thrilled her. There were still no predators near, but she was still without salvation.
She licked her dry lips and took only the smallest of sips of water from her skin before firmly capping the flask and retying it to her belt. The sun was lower in the sky, and it’s rays were less harshly reflected against the white sands. She worried her lip some more and firmly gathered her courage.
She walked forward, forever eastward and, hopefully, toward the river and safety. Home.
The sun was reaching the low horizon when she finally say the faint glimmer of the river. Not a mirage, but the actual river laying out before her with its lush green growth surrounding it. She grinned and clapped her hands in her excitement. She could see sheep and chickens fluttering about like small bugs in their pens and the shepherds tending to them. She saw a group of men closer toward her, and recognized her father at the lead.
She waved her hands and called out, her voice harsh and painful as she sobbed.
Her father ran to her and gathered her up in his arms.
“Foolish daughter, what have I told you about wandering away from home?” He hugged her tightly against his wide chest and she settled into the familiar groove of his shoulder and neck. “I could have lost you, daughter, and then my life would have been that much less full.”
“Father, I will change the world,” she said through her sniffles. She pulled away and frowned as fiercely as a nine year old could. “Something must be done. This is our home, yet we fear it. I have gone out and I have survived by the will of the gods.” She nodded. “This will change.” She turned and pointed to the desert behind her. “A great beacon will be built that will lead our people home, visible from every part of the desert. Our people will always know the way home, not by the mirage of the river that gives us life, but by a temple that will rise up and show us all the way home.”
Her father looked down at her with wide eyes. He carefully set her away from him and knelt before her, his eyes filled with wonder. “The gods have spoken to you,” he said, his voice low. The men around them murmured. “What will be built?”
She turned to look out at the plane of desert before them. “A guardian to watch over us all.”