The Oasis

 

As the caravan halted,the camels sunk their exhausted and parched faces into the watering hole that had stopped at. The travelers filled their water bags and immersed their shemaghs in the crystal clear liquid then set up for the remaining journey. It was the rendezvous for both the beasts or the underworld of the desert at night. It was regarded as highly dangerous well except for hunters that come alive at night to do their bidding.

The desert wasn’t kind to anything-  the sun shone so bright that travelers had a folklore about a traveler that didn’t cover up properly and so,  was only a skeleton riding on his camel at the end of his journey because the desert burned the skin off his flesh. But at least they had the trading  town just over the next sand dune, the city of “ Bakin Rafi”  which translated to “water side” started as a resting place for travelers to rest and after refreshing and refilling for the next leg of the journey, but had grown to be a highly weathly and prosperous city because it served as a confluence hub for both goods and services .

 

  Akeem waved them as they passed by him under a date palm. It was his favorite spot where he came to carve wooden sculptures and clear his head away from all the negativity and struggles plus he gets stories from distant travelers which always leaves him in awe and inspires his work a.One traveler once had a lantern without a fire, it was definitely sorcery and another  had a broom stick that could kill an elephant at the comand of the bearer. He was dragged out of his castle of imaginations by Kira’s barks which were consistent ,but Kira was a gentle creature that never made a fuss unless it was something dire so it was strange. Tracing the source of the the sound ,it was at the mouth of the  cave ‘ duhu’ ,a labyrinth that every child from Bakin rafi knew to avoid because it was always pitch dark and  poorly ventilated  so most people that wondered off either to map it or explore it always got euphoric and hallucinated. Hence everyone believed it was a cursed place and never went there. The tale to further to peddle the rumor was that a flesh eating giant inhabited  the labyrinth  hence it had  never been mapped out -this gave birth stories from the presence of hidden treasures to gateway to the afterlife inside the cave 

 

   Approaching a strange silhouette  at the entrance of the cave it turned out to be a person crying out for help, the person was stuck and bruised a-bit. Their face was covered in shemagh and they kept avoiding glances but the oud the person had was heavenly and he kept wondering what such an expensive scent would be doing at such a feared location as he helped the stranger out of the crevice ,more  thoughts crossed his mind but one stuck “ could this fellow be on the path to the other life” . With no exchange of words he  led this strange figure towards the mouth of the cave.

A few more steps and they were out of the darkness and he turned around to a bright pair of eyes, they were hazel and the sun made them pearly and there was henna  on her hands which she tried to cover hastily, lost in her pearly eyes and as the sun hit her more the fragrance hit him more, it is crystal clear that it was a woman in a man’s attire “ you know this place  isn’t safe for women “ Akeem said because raiders had disappeared with scores of women in the cover of the night . 

“ Where is the direction of the port town “ she asked, he pointed east but suggested she should wait for the next caravan since it was a distant journey and she looked no where close to ready to cover such great voyage alone , a lot of questions flooded his mind 

Who was she ?

Why is She In a disguise?

Could she be runing away ?

Runing away from who?

 

She reluctantly followed him to the date palm whilst remaining extremely quiet and avoiding glances. The sun was gradually setting in the distance .They sat down he offered her water whilst searching his satchel for dates, kilishi,and gurasa  as much as she tried to hide it she was famished unwrapping her face to nibble on the kilishi, Akeem was hit by her beauty that was her face -it was radiant, nose was chiseled,cheeks elaborate and the the smile was  electric.

    So many questions but she didn’t look like she was in the frame to answer and kept being startled by every sound and the slightest movement ,so to calm her down he told her stories  about treasure hunts,the animal market(which had a vast collection of wildlife),travel to the ocean which they both heard was  an endless blue crystal as far as the mind could imagine and had other people on the other side , as he shared his many tales ,she began to be more relaxed. It was getting late so he calmly suggested she returned home and continue the wait for the caravan the next day , he told her his name but she just smiled and walked away into the darkness.

How a regular day had transformed into something magical . He was always waiting for stories but today he was was the story, as he walked back home he couldn’t stop thinking of  the mystery girl, her smile and the “scent of heaven”.

 

 

     This continued for a couple of days ,they grew fond of each other while waiting at the  spot they first shared a meal and exchanging stories, he spent more time sculpting under the tree and hoping he would see her, some days she came and some days she didn’t, he unlocked a level of peace and happiness he hadn’t known. With time she let him follow her to were she was always coming from ,and lo and behold it was THE CAVE. He was startled at first but she assured him that she knew her way around and with time she would tell him how, and her disappearing into the cave,he always wondered how she never got lost in the labyrinth, eventually he started calling her “the vanishing princess “,because he neither knew her name or where she came from, he really had a lot of questions but didn’t want to push and waited for her to spill the beans on her own accord .

 

 

As she got more comfortable the vanishing princess stayed longer and became more trusting on some days she even brought snacks for them to share, on a particular night with the moon at a beautiful crescent and the gentle Sahara breeze whilst they were having honey cakes she made and sharing stories and dreams together, She sat up with a total change in mood and expression as she gently opened up to him while sobbing and tears gently rolling down her cheeks glistening in the reflection of the moon 

 

She opened up and told him she was running away from home because she was forced to marry someone she had never seen she said as she broke into deeper tears. He tried to calm her but deep down he knew this wasn’t a struggle he could emerge victorious.

There was a lot of dust approaching and it wasn’t from a caravan.

“I thought traders only used carmels and traveled at day?” She asked while sobbing.

 

They could both hear the neighing of horses and then it dawned on him- it was slave traders who always came in the dead of the night to kidnap new slaves, she prompted him to follow her as they both made a run for it to the cave. Swooshing sounds meant arrows were already flying ,their hearts raced running as fast as their legs could carry them. He felt a sharp sting in this shoulder, but because he was behind but couldn’t stop ,once they entered the cave she he held his hand and they hid, the raiders couldn’t enter because just like many ,they believe it was a cursed  ground.

     They finally left  mostly likely to pick on more vulnerable preys. When it was time to leave the cave, he suddenly couldn’t feel his limbs ,his body ?was numb then it  dawned on him the sting he felt earlier must have been from a dart doused in neurotoxins.

As she gently pulled it out they both could smell the substance and knew what it meant: first it would be  paralysis,hallucinations and if the antidote isn’t received in a day the victim dies ,this was a way to immobilize slaves and many that got way weren’t always fortunate.

     Tears streamed down her eyes as she thought the only good thing she had found in this life was dying right before her eyes. She brought out one of those sorcery lamps without fire and a map from her satchel to identify their location but at this point he was already zoned out.

 

    Akeem could hear the crackling fire and the aroma of roasted rabbit,so he gently opened his eyes and his vanishing princess was staring over him. Immediately she saw him move,she jumped on him and kissed him. With tears of joy ,they ate and just lay in each other’s embrace, she could hear his heart beat as she lay on his chest. She knew it was time to share her true identity with him. She sat upright and began to speak “My name is sultana” she said .His eyes bulged and he began to stutter, he knew who her father was and it send chills down his spine. 

The man was a notorious slave trader that had plagued the entire desert. It was no news that his daughter was missing and he was willing to pay anything for any information concerning her .

    She told him everything about how her marriage was to another raiding party to increase her father’s turf and how she stole the map of the labyrinth from his archives and a gemstone “eye of the desert” that was worth a lifetime. Her plan was to cross the ocean where they could never find her and start her life. She knew the raiders that were after them worked for her father, that’s how she knew the antidote for the toxin and she was certain they’ll definitely be becoming back in a greater force .

As they studied the map , they found that the labyrinth had about a hundred exits,so  without a detailed map one would die while lost here in the tunnels without air.

 

  Now that they were both wanted,they had to leave together. He was an orphan ,the only family he had was Kira,so they decided to leave the next morning to an exit close to a trading town. At dawn as they set out ,they bumped into nazim a trader that owned a caravan and he was on his way to the river town that leads to the big waters. Akeem had helped him at the oasis before so he was more than glad to give Akeem and his wife a ride to their destination he whispered 

“ I didn’t know you were married “,Akeem could only in response as the lie was necessary in order to hide her identity.

 

As they journey with the cravan they became a big happy family sharing stories and meals.Akeem was very popular with most of the traders they met enroute so they all believed he had finally gathered the guts to see the world and with nazim he earn his spot by working tirelessly at various trading towns they got to . While sultana sold her jewelry and ornaments so they could have enough for the trip and also to cater for themselves .At the same time she wanted to remove all reminders of the  past from which she didn’t want to remain a prisoner.

 

As they got closer to the waters, the air became more humid and the scenery greener,as the sun rose that lovely morning they could see in the distance a clear,crystal,blue and beautiful world finally at the the port the gate way to a new world, they had finally made it. Nazim was sad to loose his new companions  but was excited to help the new couple and introduced them sailor to a who was more than happy to have extra hands on deck, and so a beautiful voyage began along the trip at one of the numerous ports.

 Akeem and sultana hopped off the ship so they could sell of “the eye of the desert” ,for they knew a gem that was the prettiest in the Sahara and on a clear day if held high enough could be seen from miles away it ,would definitely bring attention.

So they found a greedy trader who purchased it for way less than its worth but still a hefty sum in gold coins. And from that moment they kept hopping ships under different alias from mistress and her slave on a business trip to siblings on their way to visit their parents, and since they paid well nobody asked questions.

This went on for the new few full moons, till they met people of different colors and languages they knew they had come far enough . 

 

It was a beautiful island with very few people that were mostly farmers, as they got off the ship they both took a whiff of the air and yess this was freedom, a new life, they found their way to the local ruler and told him they were both traders in salt on the high sea but decided it was time to settle down in a place to start a new life fit for kids, so they’ve saved to buy a sizeable land to build a house, the ruler was more than happy because they seemed like such a gentle couple and could clearly seee the baby -bump on sultana even though she was clearly trying to hide it, so he offered them a room in his compound while he and Akeem spent the next few days to pick the place they would  prefer.

 

Both were trying to catch their breath they were finally at the apex of a hill and then akeem saw a land that overlooked the ocean and was away from the chaos of the port.

“This is it “ ,Akeem said with a deep breathe of relief. 

 

So the chief arranged for a home, with a garden and animal shed be built in the middle of the farm and in all this , the couple always paid in bags of salt they got from the port and this futher rooted their story as Salt traders in the village.

 

Meanwhile back home the greedy jewel trader kept bragging about “eye of the desert”. Sultana’s betroth easily found him as he was on a mandate from her father and as the trader couldn’t provide any useful information about sultana asides  “she came with a skinny young man and a dog” .He retirived the gem and killed the trader just to strike fear. It was always a dead end with the sailors, because nobody could actually say they saw a couple traveling together out of the many trips they made. And those that had information about smilar description had no idea where exactly they got off their ships.

 

And then Zara was born, a beautiful baby with wonderful eyes like her mother and everything was finally right, from the oasis to the crystal blue sea their love had prevailed.