stranger in the desert

The camel was happily walking in the desert.  He was feeling a bit cooler with the sun setting in the horizon.  Suddenly he saw a big sand storm swirling towards him from a distance. 

He started walking faster towards a nearby valley to seek shelter.  He had just taken a few steps down the hill, when the storm picked up even faster.  It was as if it was running after him.  He started moving faster to escape the mountain of sand, when all of a sudden his hoof twisted.  He lost control and rolled down, right to the bottom of the valley.  Then there was a big silence…….

“Hellllooooo” a voice echoed in his ear.  As he slowly opened his blurry eyes, he saw the shadow of a creature, much smaller than himself.

“Are you ok?” said the voice. 

By this time the camel had fully opened his eyes. 

“Who are you?” said the camel with a faint voice “You don’t look familiar!”

“I am not a native to this land.  I’m a tuatara and have travelled quite a long way to get here” said the little creature. 

“Where are you from? Why are you here?” asked the camel, who was fully alert by now.   

“I’m from a faraway land which looks like a long white cloud in the middle of the ocean.” said the tuatara.  “I was told I could find my cousins here.  I would very much like to stay for a while if I can find them”.

“But there’s not enough water in this desert.  If you stay here there will not be much left for me and my friends” said the camel with a serious voice.  “Besides, finding food is also very difficult when the sun is out.  It could be quite dry and hot”.

“But I love the heat and dry air.  I think that’s why my cousins moved here.  I will have to find them”. 

 “This place is full of poisonous creatures” said the camel “I think you should leave as soon as possible before it gets dark”.

Poor tuatara realised that the camel doesn’t want him to stay.  He didn’t feel  welcomed.  So he decided to move on.  He said goodbye and disappeared under the hot, dry sand. 

The camel was happy to have persuaded tuatara to leave.  For some reason he didn’t like strangers in his territory!

After tuatara had left, he tried to get up and go.  As he stood on one leg, he screamed with agony.  He suddenly remembered that his hoof was injured.     

He tried to crawl up the hill, but he couldn’t.  It was getting dark and he was quite scared.  Different thoughts kept racing through his head.  He was trying to find a way to get himself out of the valley. 

Suddenly he could hear some sort of a hissing sound… 

“Oh no, it must be a snake!” he thought to himself.  Suddenly he saw the sleazy reptile hissing and crawling towards him. 

He tried to run away, but couldn’t move fast.  He shouted for help, but his voice just echoed in the empty space.  There was absolute silence, which made the hissing sound seem louder than ever.   It was just a matter of few seconds before the snake could reach him, when all of a sudden a large group of lizards ran towards the snake.  The tuatara was guiding them towards the snake.  At the sight of the lizards running towards him, the snake quickly disappeared under the sand and ran away. 

“Are you ok?” asked the tuatara with a smile “as you can see I finally found my cousins.”

“Thank you very much my friend.  You saved my life.” smiled back the camel. “I’m sorry if I didn’t welcome you to this land.  I should have been kind to my friend from the land of long white cloud”.

“Never mind, the main thing is that you’re ok.  I’m also very excited to have found my cousins and a new friend.” said the tuatara.  “I hope one day you can visit my graceful land too and see some different scenery.”

So tuatara cured the camel’s hoof with the magical potion of Rongoa, which he had carried all the way from home, to keep him safe during his adventurous journey.