I left my home during a solar eclipse. I crossed forests and rivers, mountain passes and glaciers. I shared meals with princes and beggars, shared fires with soldiers and priestesses. When I reached a great desert, I drank tea with a Bedouin and traded my watch for his camel. He had no need to know the time, but he liked the way it caught the desert sun on his wrist.
I named the camel Daisy and rode him for countless days, until he expired on the edge of an oasis. I buried him and drank my fill, then continued on for countless more days.
When I knew I could walk no more, I looked up and saw the Sphinx, and fell to my knees.
“Oh Great Sphinx, which way should I go?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, cracking with thirst.
The Sphinx yawned, stretched his great paws, and looked down at me balefully and spoke.”Where do you want to go?” His voice was like granite boulders rolling down a mountain, in no particular hurry.
“I don’t know,” I said, knowing I would be crying if I had the water to spare.
“Then it doesn’t matter.” The Sphinx replied.
Confused, I asked, “Wait, didn’t you steal that straight from Alice in Wonderland? “
The Sphinx yawned again and stated, “You try being original for five millennia, then we can talk about plagiarism.” The Sphinx closed his eyes and began gently snoring.
“You were a big help,” I muttered darkly. I stood up, swaying in the desert wind, turned around, and started for home.
Adrian's Got The Moose 