Diary of a Camel

Day 1:  I was jolted awake by the tug of the rope around my neck. My eyes stung with the blue smoke of the early morning fires. I got up was roughly tugged over to the well with my fellow camels. I had drunken about 30 gallons before my master begins to drink. I am always worried about my master, he drinks so little water! I grunt for him to drink more but he does not understand. Instead of drinking more, he gets up and begins to pack his bags. I know this procedure by heart I’ve seen it so many times; it means we are going on a journey. I lean down and let my master put the supplies on my back. The whole load weighs about 20 pounds but I can manage, my fatty hump keeps it up so it’s not pressing down on my back. I stand up and walk towards the entrance to the camp and the other camels do likewise but my master tells them to wait and ties their ropes to a tree. It looks as if I am the only camel going. I lean down once more feeling my long neck rubbing against soft sand while my master climbs up onto my back in front of the goods. I get back up and trot out of the city gates. I was having a pretty uneventful walk until midday. As we came around the bend of a shady sand dune where we had been resting we came face to face with another man riding a camel. I eyed the second camel warily hoping my master would not take interest in it. If it replaced me I did not know what would happen. My master and the strange man spoke a few words acknowledged each other and jumped down, simultaneously drawing their swords. This did not surprise me. I see this at least once every journey, thieves and robbers are very common in the desert, always looking for caravans to loot and goods to steal. My master and him clash swords, iron against steel sparkling in the afternoon light. The fight did not last long though; my master defeated him easily taking the robber’s sword. A fine prize, decorative steel with small words carved into the sides, my master looked very pleased. After the fight we trekked along the desert sand until nightfall where we lay down to sleep.