How long has it been now since I woke up? Three nights I think. So this is my fourth day wandering this desert. I’m surprised I’m still standing, my water bottle has been empty for a while now. Maybe I’m some kind of superhuman, who knows. Not me.
The sand seems to extend endlessly in every direction. So many shades of yellow and orange, it really starts to hurt my eyes. Blue sand, that would be something, wouldn’t it? A bit more color in this wasteland that even animals seem to have abandoned.
Seriously, I haven’t seen a single animal yet. No weird spiders, no snakes, not a single visible creature. There have to be some! In basically every natural environment, there exists life. Do they just hide so well?
This is weird, there is something on the horizon that disrupts the endless sand. It looks almost like … palm trees?
I squint my eyes to try and see a bit better. It definitely looks like palm trees! And where there are trees, there has to be water.
With newfound determination, I start walking faster. My running feet send the sand flying and I create my own little dust storm which trails behind me.
The trees become clearer. They’re green. Such a wonderful green!
After about half an hour of running through the sand, I finally reach the first palm tree. I embrace it, half laughing, half crying. Then I look around.
I found an oasis. Fig trees, date palms, citrus trees and olive trees were planted around a small lake. Water!
I scurry towards the lake, dunk my head into the water and start drinking. As the water flows down my throat, it takes away most of the hardship of the last few days. Laughing like a small child, I jump into the water, fully clothed.
The dirt that clings to my body is washed away and I feel like I’m reborn. For a while I stay in there, just enjoying the wetness on my skin.
Lakes like this are rare in the desert, I’m incredibly lucky I found it. Below this lake, there has to be an aquifer which supplies this lake. The water is likely brought up by some kind of pressure. Or maybe humans built something to bring the water to the surface? The diverse trees in the oasis hint towards human intervention.
But where there is human intervention, there should be humans. And I haven’t heard a sound since I arrived.
Water dripping from my clothes, I leave the lake to take a look around.
Only a few meters ahead, there are small houses, but they look more like ruins than homes. The closer I get, the more abandoned they look. I don’t understand it, the oasis doesn’t seem like it didn’t support life anymore, to the contrary! Why would a group of people leave? A disease?
I enter one of the houses. Broken furniture and shattered dishes painted a picture of a fight, but the thick layer of sand also implied that it had happened a while ago. As I check the other houses, I find similar scenes. But no humans, neither dead nor alive.
A shiver runs down my spine. This really doesn’t look good. And as much as I like being here and not in the relentless desert, I think I need to leave again soon. But not too soon. I want to properly rehydrate and collect some food first.
Who knows when I’ll find another oasis. Or if I’ll ever find one again.
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