He lay down, desolate and knowing not which way to turn. But
even as he lay on the desert floor the sand began to blanket
him. With an effort he stood erect.
How could he find Regulus? Indeed, with the blowing wind, the
shifting dunes, and the desert heat how could he do anything.
Zeus, he though, I have failed you. I'll see home no more.
Amun the powerful ruled those desert wastes. Amun the merciless
drove the sand across its surface. But Amun could relent.
Perhaps the pleas of Mut, Goddess Mother, perhaps but a whim,
yet the winds died and dark clouds gathered, poured briefly
their life giving waters on the scene below.
The huge drops fell, pelting the desert floor, drenching Demo
in the deluge of a rare thundershower. And bringing a new and
different danger.
For the rain fell in torrents, and water rushed down gullies,
down ravines, flushing sand and rocks before it. A wall of water
loomed above Demo's head, coming ever closer. He clambered up
the side of a dune, fell. He rolled down, but managed again and
again to regain his footing. Finally he reached the top.
Standing there he gazed at the raging waters in disbelief. They
ate at the dune as though a wild beast. Waves rose an bit away
the sand beneath his feet. The dune shrank, began to merge with
the surrounding water. The rain had ended, but the stream
continued unabated.
And then, as suddenly as it had risen, the stream sank into the
desert leaving but moist pools behind.
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