The Hidden Well

A hungry and thirsty traveler was passing through the desert on his way home. The traveler’s camel was also thirsty after walking for days and days over the blistering sand dunes. The sun beat down on the poor traveler and his camel, and the sweltering heat engulfed them.

Far away, a glimmer appeared in the sand. As the traveler and his camel walked closer, the traveler was sure that there was water ahead. He held on to a hope that his thirst would finally be quenched. The traveler grew excited. He closed his eyes, imagining the taste of water on his chapped lips. When he opened his eyes, he looked around frantically trying to spot the oasis again. The traveler, utterly disappointed, stared at his feet and sighed, realizing that the oasis was just a mirage.

The traveler continued his voyage back home on his camel. Suddenly, he felt wind blowing into his face. He happily thought that the wind would finally cool him down. The gust of wind began to blow harder, and the traveler couldn’t help thinking that it had rescued him from the heat of the sun. Slowly, however, the sand began to rise, swirling and blowing with the wind. The grains irritated his eyes and got into his mouth and nose. The more the traveler rubbed his eyes, the more sand got into them. Unlike the flimsy little human traveler, the camel’s thick eyelashes blocked out all the sand. Jealous of his camel, the traveler grew irate and yelled at the sky, only to have his mouth become full of sand.

The sandstorm slowly passed. The traveler finally managed to open his eyes again. The rough grains of sand had scratched up his body. The traveler was completely exhausted, wondering if he would ever leave this desert. An old weathered rock on the ground on his right caught his eye. The rock looked hot and rough. When the traveler rested against the rock, the pointed edges poked his back, and the hot rock burned his back. He got up from the rock and gasped. His back pushed the rock slightly away, revealing a dark sliver resembling a well beneath him. Not believing his eyes, the traveler screamed with the last of his energy and pushed the rock further back. He pulled a rope revealing an old rusted pail. He quickly scooped up the water and drank it greedily. The camel nudged him aside and slurped up the rest of the water in the pail in one big gulp.

After two more days, the traveler managed to return home. He realized an important lesson from his journey: things that feel nice at first could be fake inside, and ugly things sometimes hide good underneath.