The Journey of Mee’na – Chapter Three

Posted on | July 11, 2007 | No Comments

From the now clear sky above her, Mee’na saw the first signs of life in almost four days. Birds flew overhead, singing to one another. The sound that filled her ears was like music and magic combined. It was sweet and melodic and it filled the empty places in her soul.

She gathered her possessions together once more and decided that instead of following on the path she had set, she would let the birds lead her wherever they went. She looked into her satchel and saw a small piece of bruised fruit and wondered if they would accept her offering. She tossed the fruit several feet out in front of her and watched as one of the colorful, majestic birds swoop down and snap the fruit up between its beak. She watched as it landed and nibbled at the fruit, then take off again. She hoped that they wouldn’t fly too far and fast in front of her, so that she could follow their journey with ease.

The birds continued to circle for several more minutes, but once they sensed no more food was forthcoming from Mee’na they started to fly a more northeasterly direction, different from what her own had been.

For several hours she watched overhead and continued to put one foot in front of the other, and watched as the terrain changed slowly. Desert sand gave way to brush sage, and small oases started appearing to both the left and right of her path. The birds did not detour from their flight plan to these little watering holes and she could only assume that meant something larger and more advantageous was not too far ahead.

As darkness neared and the sun had totally set, Mee’na could hardly see her colorful guides in the sky. She could still hear their squawks of conversation to one another and let that continue to steer her. Not long after the last dying rays had faded, the birds started to converse more animatedly andMee’na knew that there was a watering hole ahead. Though her steps had slowed over the last hour, the though of fresh water sent her feet flying ahead.

What she saw through the dim moonlight was not something she would have ever expected to see. As if rising from the ashes of a dead dream, stood a lush garden with a water fountain streaming out water, bench seating and the sounds of many more birds chattering way in the branches of what looked like fruit trees.

A cry of joy left her lips and she walked ever faster into the waiting bowers of this tiny paradise among the sand. One of the first things she noticed was how well the flowers were kept and the trees and bushes were pruned. She could only conclude that a city of town had to be close by. Or that a regular caravan of travelers came through this area as a possible trade route, perhaps to and from the fabledBetrasa.

Before the fountain, Mee’na kneeled and cupped her hands to scoop out some water; she sipped the precious liquid slowly, treasuring the coolness and fresh taste. Her eyes closed in pleasure as the water swept over her tongue and soothed her dry throat. Once she was through, she submersed the bladder into the fountain to replenish the near empty supply.

She unwrapped the shawl from about her shoulders and dipped an end into the water, then used it to wipe down her sandy arms and legs. The cool water soothed the sand abraded skin and she sighed with relief. After placing her shawl out to dry along one of the benches that stood nearby, she examined the trees scattered about the garden with the little light provided by the moon and found two different fruit bearing trees. She decided to pick fruit from both at different stages of ripeness, leaving the less ripe for later in her travels.

She listened to the birds sing while she ate her fill of fruit that was close to being overripe and after several minutes of the serenading, the tolls of the past few days caught up with her and she drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

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