i would have raised my gun

Meditation 17
Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, morieris

Perhaps people can survive days without water, and if so I envy them. I seemed to need more water now in the cold winter desert night than I had needed in the October heat climbing Oman's highest mountains. Of course, this time I was walking after spending two days without food and with very little water, after four hours of digging and eight hours of walking and not one minute of sleep. Perhaps I did draw on something somewhere, because I walked those 26km in eight hours, not crawling into the army camp, croaking, but walking in, just slightly dizzy, and at a slight loss as to what to do with the four soldiers who stood up in surprise at midnight, under the half moon and the spotlights, even as the designated sentry behind reached for his rifle.

These were soldiers on a border post with nothing around, and at midnight they were surprised by a man with a headcloth, lots of straps across his torso, one backpack, another smaller bag near his hip, and a Swiss Army Knife and Maglite attached to his belt. He had a few days of stubble, was dusty and dirty and looked very desperate. If I was a soldier and saw this man I would raise my gun. The thought of surviving 40km of walking over two days and nights on two litres of water only to get shot by mistake was so deliciously ironic I had laughed aloud in the empty night. But now I raised my hands in the air, and the soldiers came forth, offering me a plastic chair, water, an entire grilled chicken, egg curry and rice.

< Previous



© 2001–2008 p i n a k i