Waax, Yak, and I were in Yak's cave after dinner the night I arrived at the community.
"How much longer do I have to wait?" I said aloud. "Can't I just go to sleep? I'm so tired."
"I understand how you feel, but the old woman won't be long," Waax said, brushing his hair. His brother Yak, as usual, was just leaning against the wall, standing to one side of the entrance, not joining the conversation.
"Why did you choose me?" I asked him.
"You looked lost, and I thought you'd be easy to trick," he said casually. "Besides, you didn't seem as dangerous as the other savages we've encountered."
"She's here," Yak said, letting the old woman in.
"You look to be in good shape," the old woman said. "It's best to start your treatment. Take off your cloak; I'm going to examine your body." I obeyed. I touched my abdomen, chest, back, and shoulders with the bone I used for walking. "You look healthy, Waax, my dear. Bring the ointment from my cave." She nodded and left Yak's cave.
"How many were there, three, four? Besides, you have arrow wounds and you took quite a few blows to the head," she said as she took a canteen from her long cloak. "Drink, it has a bitter taste, but it will help you." She brought the canteen closer to me, and I began to drink. "All the way down, don't leave a drop." I obeyed.
She sat near me, searching my eyes… "Are you from the north? You traveled with your family, but now you're alone. Did you separate? No, none of them stayed, only you," she said as she placed her staff in her lap.
"Let me tell you a story," she said, looking intently into my eyes. Six generations ago, a small group of savages—two women, a man, three girls, and a boy—wandered across the endless salt dunes. They had gone weeks without food or water, their desperation so profound, yet they could only keep walking under the scorching sun.
Little by little, they succumbed. First, one of the women died of hunger, followed by the boy, who was devoured by beasts. One of the girls was swallowed by the sand, and the man died trying to save her.
The woman and two girls remained alone until one day, one of the girls could go no further and collapsed in the desert sand. But neither of the other two noticed, for they were only thinking about continuing onward. What exactly were they searching for? Why did they cling to life? And more importantly, why did they swear they would find it in the depths of the desert?— The old woman sighed before continuing— In the south of the world, a rumor spread that the end of the desert lay there, that vast stretches of trees and wild animals could be seen, but neither the woman nor the girl found anything but sand and rocks.
The girl fell gravely ill from hunger and thirst, and the desperate woman is said to have come across a stone statue in the middle of a sandy valley surrounded by rocky hills.
What was it doing there? No one knows, but the woman wept bitterly at the foot of that stone statue with the sick girl in her arms, and then the statue wept— the old woman said, her gaze now distant— It is said that from the statue's tears sprang sweet water, which nourished the soil and grew in the middle of the desert, hidden among the rocky hills and crevices, a paradise where plants and fruits flourished.
Since then, for generations, the stone statue has been venerated, believed to be the lord of life, who was moved by the sight of the woman desperate for her life and the child's.
"I'm here, old woman," said Waax's voice after crossing the crevice and entering the cavern.
"We'd better hurry and apply this before it gets any darker; we all need to rest." After that, I applied the ointment Waax had brought, but nothing more was said about that story or any other matter.
"We'd better go, Waax, and let the boys rest," said the old woman before standing up and leaving the cavern.
"Goodbye, Koh, rest well. See you tomorrow," were the last words I heard before Yak and I lay down on separate piles of hides to rest.