A Tale of a Wanderer

Chapter 11

I woke up in the night with a terrible thirst. Instinctively, I thought to see one of my women nearby with a jug of water, or a glass of wine, but then remembered they were gone. I forced myself to lay there, and eventually drifted off to sleep again.

In the morning I explored the rest of the doors, and found more wonderful things, similar to the ones I'd opened the day before. This left just that final red gold door. My throat was dry, as it had been about twenty four hours since I'd had any water. I thought to myself, is the water in that room? Is that where the women get the water and wine from? And, for whatever reason, they just like me to be dependent on them in this way? It must be, I decided. That is where the water is kept.

But, why, I wondered, would they say I couldn't enter it? Was I thinking to logically? This place was impossible, clearly, so, perhaps it wasn't as simple as that? The women had said they have to follow rules, too, which allow them to live here forever.

I decided I was tougher than that, and walked away from the door, and back to my room. I slept, fitfully.

Chapter 12

In the morning, my mouth hurt, and my lips burned. I laid there, hating the no questions rule, because I hadn't been able to ask them how long they'd be gone. I went and ate a huge amount of fruit. I tried to squeeze juice out of them, but couldn't get any actual liquid to come out. I started to drive myself crazy, thinking about what the dehydration was going to do to my organs and my body. I started worrying about how long a person can go without water. I started to think I was going to die.

But, then I forced myself to calm down. I had fruit to eat, and my women loved me deeply. They wouldn't let me die. I sat in one of the cooler rooms, and listened to the birds sing for most of the day, and then ate a great deal more fruit in the evening, and finally went to bed.

Chapter 13

My mouth was on fire in the morning. I went to the fruit room, and ate a lot again. It didn't quench my thirst, and I was becoming terrified that I was dying. I knew there was a minimum amount of water a person must intake every day, or else seriously damage themselves, and eventually die, and I figured I must be getting near that amount.

I went and stood in front of the red gold door. The water room, I started to think of it as. I pictured gigantic vats of water inside. I pictured baths, and sinks, and pitchers, and jugs. I fought with myself, though, and went back and laid in my bed.

Chapter 14

They still hadn't come back when I woke up the next day. This was it, I had to make a choice. I wanted so badly to trust my women. They had begged me to do so, but they weren't here, and I was going to die if I didn't do something.

I pushed through the pain in my body caused by being so dried out, and walked down to the red gold door. With great trepidation, I pushed the key into the lock, and turned it. I stepped inside, and was hit with a perfume like scent that was so strong it sent me stumbling. I fell over, and for a long time laid there.

Finally I got up, and looked around. The floor had saffron sprinkled all over it, and there were huge incense burners, which were producing the aroma that had affected me so. The door having been open for a while now allowed the scent to thin out. Then I saw a deep black horse standing in the room. I was crushed, and despaired at not finding any water.

Then, I thought, if I can ride the horse, I might survive the desert, and get out to where I would find a river, or a city. I grabbed the horse by the bridle and led him outside. I got onto his back, and slapped the reins against him. He did not budge. I kicked him, and finally slapped him with the whip. Suddenly he neighed like thunder, sprouted wings, and soared into the sky with me on his back. I looked down, and my heart broke.

I could see my women returning to the palace.

Chapter 15

The horse flew higher and higher. I considered jumping off, to be with my women again, but I was much too high, and would have been killed by the fall. The horse flew into the clouds, and I couldn't see anything for a long time. I have no idea how long he flew, but then he dropped back out of the clouds, and landed on the roof of a building.

He bucked me off of his back. I got back to my feet, and he snapped his tail, which hit me in my right eye, causing it to be destroyed. I screamed, and held my eye, as the horse took off again. I looked around. I saw that there was a courtyard in the middle of the roof, so I walked over to it, and looked down. Something was familiar about it, then I understood: I was back at the place where the ten men lived.

I climbed down to where they were. "You are not welcome here!" one of them shouted at me, as the whole group approached.

"Please, I understand now! Let me stay, bring me the ashes! I deserve it! I should have trusted them! My sweet loves would have taken care of me forever! But I ruined it!" I cried.

They got angry, and one of them said, "No! We hope you get lost and die! We each lived in bliss, like you, eating well, living in a heavenly place, sleeping on the breasts of beautiful women, and each made the same mistake in the end! We got scared, and didn't trust them enough! The power of that place made it impossible for us to explain it before you go, but we warned you!"

"Please," I said again, "bring me the ashes! Let me stay!" and I burst into bitter tears.

"Get out!" they shouted, and pushed me out the door.

I stood there, and all of my misfortune hit me at once. I remembered the shipwreck, accidentally killing my friend, and failing to trust my women, and losing my eye. It was too much to bear, so I decided to become a wanderer, and just let the world push and pull me wherever it wants me to go.

Epilogue:

The wanderer finished his story. The men and women sitting around the campfire all stared at him, silently. None had expected such a tale when the one eyed man had first sat down with them. Some of the women looked aroused by his words, others looked disturbed, or forlorn. A few of the men looked sad, and felt bad for him, others looked oddly jealous.

They all felt so bad for him, that they gave him what money they could spare, as well as some more meat and fruit wrapped up in a cloth, and a bottle of wine. He put these into his pack, stood up, bowed to them, as he had when he arrived, and walked off, into the night.