Don't stop believing
Welcome back to the desert! Maybe you remember Shaharis last adventure in an ancient temple where he encountered Akasch and Zake? Well, we're back in the world of cute fennec foxes. Let's visit their village!
A Homecoming
The sun painted red and golden colors over an endless sea of sand grains. Waves and dunes and ribbons, which were hidden in harsh daylight, started to emerge along with their shadows. A light breeze caressed the ears of a young fennec fox who stood on top of a wind-carved rock. He held his nose up in the air and closed his eyes. A scarab beetle sat on his shoulder.
"The desert lives, you know?" said the fox slowly. He rested his paws and head on a wooden staff as if he was old, but he wasn't really. "Our whole world does move! My tribe believed that we live on the back of a ginormous fox. The fox is running, and we feel the air rushing by. The fox is resting, and we feel how the sun warms his fur..." "Your tribe was wise, Shahari." said the one who was listening. He was a small fennec fox as well, sitting by Shaharis feet with his eyes closed. His fur was quite unusual with its brown rings around the ears, arms and tail. Akasch was his name and after a while he added: "I love your stories. I missed them. Where have you been?" "On a journey." Shahari answered. Suddenly, he jumped up and stretched his paws. "Let's get down to the village, I'm starving!" Looking back at Akasch, who blinked through light blue eyes, he added: "And then I'll tell you my story."
After a short while, two paw trails lead from the nearby rocks down to a collection of round shapes in the sand. They looked like giant clay marbles of different size and slightly different shape. Most of them were half buried in the ground. Some colored rags and cloths were dangling in the wind and a scent of smoke and spice was blown over. Our two foxes arrived in the fennec settlement and were greeted joyfully by its inhabitants. Shahari gave little pearls and berries to the cubs, some elder fennecs were given rare leaves and herbs. Hugs and kisses were exchanged. All were happy that their mysterious, yet lovable shaman fox had returned. Shahari told them little stories about the origin of their gifts, of which some seemed just unbelievably adventurous. Nagoo and Saiket, who had become a couple during Shaharis absence, desperately wanted to know more. The shaman fox promised to tell them his story all together. "My little friend Scarabi here will confirm everything!" The bug flew up high in the air.
On the way to an open spot they ran into Shaharis brother, Simahari, who claimed to be too busy to rest for a moment. "Where have you been wandering about, little brother? Work has always to be done. Although you don't use your paws much, we usually all contribute" he said, making a gesture that encompassed the village. "I ventured forth behind the last dunes, to find the lands of our lost tribe, the lands where everything is bigger and more beautiful." "Lost is the tribe and so are its lands. Everything we have built, everything that we need, you find right here" Simahari returned while shaking his head. Shahari rested his paws on the wooden staff. "I will tell you my tale. If you listen carefully, it gives you my answers as well as yours." Akasch, Nagoo and Saiket sat down and looked up to the blue-eyed fennec. Simahari did not join them, but stood there, arms crossed. And so Shahari began.
A Fable
"Tales of the elders of my tribe speak of the lands that they lived in. Where everything was bigger and more beautiful and joy was all around. I went on this journey to find my tribe and its lands and the source of joy. I left early in the night and my paws followed the direction of my nose. Silver moonlight lit the way and I wandered only during the nights to save my strength. After some hours I could not see our village anymore and after some days the desert began to look strange and new - I had never been there before. During one moonless night I passed through a wide plain that was lit merely by soft starlight. On a dead tree sat an owl. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she had not moved in ages. Quietly I moved past the tree. But she must have noticed me because she spoke: "What do you seek in these desolate plains at midnight hour, little fox?" "I am out here to find the lands of my lost tribe, my people and the source of joy" I replied. The owl extended one wing into the direction of where I came from and said: "This way is short and hard." Then she extended her other wing to the left and proclaimed: "This way is longer and not so hard as you will grow with it." Well, I chose the second route. Growing a bit sounded nice in my ears.
On the dawn of the next day I said to my little friend Scarabi: "Now that I know the direction I should walk night and day and will arrive twice as fast!" And so I walked days and nights, resting only for some hours of sleep whenever I found some rock to provide shade. My paws hurt and my strength faded more and more, but I was so determined. One night I could not go on and found a small cave in a rocky ridge. I sat there and held my paws and was so sad that not even Scarabi could comfort me. It was dark and cold and I wasn't so sure anymore if I was actually getting somewhere... Suddenly I heard a sound in the back of the cave. It was too dark to see where it ended, but I was sure there was a pair of green eyes watching me. "I mean no harm and I come in peace." That was me trying to explain myself. "I just need to rest." No reaction. Was it just my imagination? "I have lost my way." A voice answered from the darkness and I saw the eyes closing in: "Well how lucky are you then to have found me?" And into the grey, pale, reflected moonlight stepped an equally grey wolf. I was scared, but at the same time I felt too resigned to panic. Since I remained speechless the wolf continued: "Wepu is my name and they call me the opener of the ways." With a shaky voice I told him my desire: "I went out to search for my lost tribe and its lands, where everything is bigger and more beautiful and joy does not end. But I lost directions and faith and now I just wish to find a way out of here..." The wolf came closer and stared at me with green, deep eyes. He was much larger than me and I feared he could swallow me whole if he intended to. But he raised his voice again: "Granted be your wish, reckless little fennec. Now get up on my back!" He turned sideways and offered me to climb onto him. I was startled, but after a moment I carefully grabbed his shaggy fur and sat between his shoulder blades. And then he ran into the darkness, sped past hidden caves and flew through pitch black passages. I clinged to his neck and buried my face in his fur. When I finally opened my eyes I could see an opening in the rocks. Sunlight poured in and the outside world was a blur. "The way is open. The direction is clear. Whatever you will find, do not hesitate. It is indeed your path." Wepu proclaimed. I began to descend from his back and I noticed how he chuckled. "What is it?" I wanted to know. He waited until I was standing again on the ground, my legs shaky. He showed all his teeth at once. I think it was a smile. Then he said: "I'm ticklish." I could not believe it, I burst into laughter. After a while he added: "Do not seek joy. Give it and it will shine back on you. This was one hell of a ride. Good journey, my little fox."
As soon as I had thanked Wepu for his help I could not wait to step out of the caves. I was standing in a canyon and the ground was dry, hard and full of cracks. There was only one way to go: forward, following the bends and curves of the rocky cliffs that rose to the sky on both sides. I felt very small here. For a long time I did not encounter anything but dead trees, bones in the cracks and smoothened rocks. When the cliffs finally opened to a wide valley, there was not much there, except for sand and a lot of large round rocks. A falcon circled high above me. "Let's get to higher ground" I said to Scarabi and started to climb up the cliffs at the side. It took me a long time and the sun was setting when I had finally reached the top. I sat on the ledge and looked to my right. The falcon looked back at me. "Have you seen fennecs like me here?" I asked the bird. He blinked and shook his head: "Not now. Tomorrow!" I squinted. I did not understand what he meant. "I do not get it, my friend. I must go on... I am looking for the lands of my tribe and... " "Stay" he urged me. "Be patient. Do not run against the wind. Sit and wait until it turns." "Maybe you're right, I am getting very tired..." I said and lied down. The first stars were already twinkling through the dark blue sky. The falcon added: "Sleep. Sometimes all efforts are in vain when the time is just not right."
I awoke with the first daylight and the falcon was still there. I was just about to ask for his name, but he spoke first: "My names are numerous and I did not yet decide upon one." Well, I crawled to the edge of the cliff where the bird sat and looked down. The morning sun painted sharp shadows in the sand. I noticed the round rocks again which seemed to stick out of the sand everywhere in the valley. Apart from that the desert was as dead and desolate as one can imagine. After a while I asked: "Those aren't rocks, are they?" Their shapes were similar and somehow familiar. "They are fennec houses buried under sand, am I right?" But the falcon remained silent. Even the wind did not blow. "It is a matter of perspective" the falcon finally replied. "Buried, yes. But are they being buried, or do they slowly emerge when the wind changes and carries away the sand?" We sat there on the ledge in silence and my thoughts were coming and going like the wind. I felt like it was time to go on. As if he had read my thoughts the falcon extended one of its wings and pointed away from the canyon. "Thank you, my friend" I said and parted.
The next days I wandered during the mornings and evenings and slept in between, whenever the opportunity presented itself. The landscape changed and I saw birds high up in the sky. Dunes of different colors appeared on the horizon and I passed some palm trees. Wind-carved rocks were scattered over the landscape and some of them were huge! I found one that provided shade and an oasis beneath, with all sorts of flowers, fruits and bugs. My spirits were lifted by the beauty of this desert and by the majesty of its landscape. "We must finally have come near the ancient lands of my people, Scarabi!" I shouted out one morning. "Look how much life there is here!" With each day I became more joyful and I filled my pockets with lots of what I found along my way. And then, on one evening, I looked down from the rock I had climbed and there, on the horizon, I saw it. Oh and beautiful it was..."
An end to the search
"What was it? Tell!" Akasch urged. But Shahari just smiled. Nagoo wanted to know: "Did you find your tribe?" And Saiket wondered: "If it was so beautiful, why did you return here?" Only Simahari did not throw questions at Shahari. He stood there and slowly stepped up to the others. "Because everything that he needs is right here, don't you see? This might not be paradise, but it is enough. It is all one can ask for." "Oh no, I don't think so!" Naboo threw in. "There must be more out there, a better life!" Saiket looked at him and said: "Are you so unhappy here?" Naboo did not know what to say and looked at Shahari for an answer. Finally, our shaman fox decided to say something: "I left to find my tribe. It turned out I already had it. I went to search for the lands where everything is bigger and more beautiful. It turned out it is exactly how the falcon put it - a matter of perspective. And I seeked for joy that does not end. But Wepu was right: we can only give that to each other." They all remained silent, deep in their thoughts. Akasch looked discouraged and disappointed. After a minute, he addressed Shahari again: "But does that mean that your whole journey was in vain? It did not lead you anywhere..." "Did my journey bring me back to the place where I came from? Yes, it did. But did the same Shahari return? I don't think so, because I am not the one who I was before." Akasch nodded slowly: "A matter of perspective..."