CHAPTER 22 – DESERT

It was now the eighth day after my accident in the desert. I listened to the story about the businessman when I was drinking the last drop of my water.

“Ah, your memories are very nice,” I said to the little prince, “but my plane is still broken. I have nothing to drink. I would also be happy if I could walk very slowly to a fountain.”

“My friend, the fox, told me…”

“My dear little man, this has nothing to do with the fox.”

“Why not?”

“Because we will soon die.”

But the little prince said, “It’s good to have a friend, even if you can soon die. I am very glad that I have a fox as a friend.”

“He can’t see the danger,” I said to myself. “He’s never hungry or thirsty. He only needs a little sunshine.”

But he looked at me and he answered my thought, “I’m thirsty too. Let’s look for a well.”

It was crazy to look for a well in this big desert. But we started walking.

After we walked for several hours, in silence, night came, and the stars began to shine. I saw them as in a dream. I had a little fever because I was very thirsty. The last words of the little prince danced in my memory.

“So, you are thirsty, too?” I asked him.

But he didn’t answer my question. He only said to me, “Water can also be good for the heart.”

I didn’t understand his answer, but I said nothing. I already knew that it was useless to ask him questions. He was tired. He sat down. I sat down next to him. And after a silence, he spoke again, “The stars are beautiful because of a flower which we can’t see.”

“Sure,” I said. Then I looked at the hills of sand which were all around us in the moonlight.

“The desert is beautiful,” said little prince.

And it was true. I always loved the desert. You sit down on sand. You see nothing. You hear nothing. But something beats and shines in that silence.