Lord of the gazelles.

The cruel sun beat down, it's one malevolent eye unblinking, with not even a thread of cloud to soften the harsh rays. The lizards took shelter in the shadows of the rocks where the sand was not hot enough to roast them, but there was no shade large enough for us. Each step sunk into the burning sand, the air was thick and hazy, each breath like drowning in the larva. The desert is the scorching version of the vast sea.

My eyes were burning as I rested on my camel. There was nothing else than sand to be seen except for the clear sky above the horizon. I shot an exasperating look at my parents who were both a few steps behind me. I knew from the start this wasn’t a good idea. It was time to take a break underneath the sole tree which was to be seen. It was probably the only living thing I had seen in ages except for all of us of course. It wasn’t much. Just an old spiny tree with its tree bark peeling off. I didn’t know if this was satisfying to me. When I had first agreed to this family vacation trip, I thought we might go to the desert and look at amazing animals that live in the depths of the savanna and ride cool camels. I didn’t know we were gonna boringly sit on these slow camels and die from thirst while sitting under the world's thinnest tree. Okay, fine. I’m probably exaggerating there, but you get the idea. We hadn’t seen any cheetahs like I thought we would, and I really wanted to capture a photo of an aardvark. All we saw was a common warthog and a tiny glimpse of an oxpecker which is a bird. And I obviously saw camels too. No elephants. No cheetahs. Honestly, I would be contented with even seeing an African dog or an Antelope. I just wanted to get out of this so-called “fun” trip. Maybe it wasn’t my parents’ fault after all. You see we aren’t from a very rich family. In fact, we live in a very small village near the ocean shore. My dad’s friend lives somewhere farther away, and he gave the free desert voucher to us. Maybe he just wanted us to experience a trip in our life. I searched for our only dented drink bottle from the bag. One sip left. I plunged into the bag grasping for the bottle. What I didn’t know was my sister had seen it first. She grabbed it a nanosecond before me, and I snatched it back. As always, she went to complain and as always, mum explained: “she’s younger Alaska, give it to her”. And as always, I had to do as I was told.

After ten minutes of our camel journey starting again, I was fed up. I needed to find away. Any way to get out of there. My brain wasn’t able to think after how much it was roasted. Sorting through all of my terrible ideas, I found one that COULD work. I fainted on the ground. My plan was in action. My parents hopped off and came running to me. The tour guide was in shock as well. “Ali! We need some water.” Mum shouted at the tour guide. “I think we shouldn’t stop, let’s keep on going so that we get out quicker.” Dad devised. “okay.” Mum agreed. “sorry ma’am but we ran otta water. Yer gonna haveta keep on goin.” Ali pleased. “what? Oh no, I think we should’ve kept the last sip of water for Alaska and given it to her now. Angel, my little sister started frowning. She didn’t like it when I got more attention. I started feeling a lump of guilt seeing my parents so worried. A sensation of tingling gushed through my body. For a second I thought I was gonna giggle. That happens to me a lot. I always giggle when I’m acting. I had to get out of that situation. Maybe I should pretend to wake up? Yes, That’s a good idea.

I slowly raised my hand and mum started smiling. I gradually opened my eyes, taking it to step by step and then completely woke up. They were glad I was woken up and now they were rushing through it so that I could get out of there. After another ten minutes, I was again completely worn out. “Mum, I told you we shouldn’t have done this trip!” I yelled furiously.

“nonsense. This was such fun, and we got to spend more time together” Mum replied.

“But my name is Alaska and you brought me to a boiling place” I wined.

“I think your grasping at strings here. Your name has nothing to do with this”

I quickly spun my face forward as I sat there speechless of what to say next. I was missing my cool cozy home and how I made a little fort where I would do my favorite thing in the world – write stories. Maybe I should write one right now? But how could I, my roasted brain couldn’t think. I felt the top back of my head. “Ow!” I yelled

My hair was so heated, it hurt to touch it.

That’s when I saw a beautiful herd of gazelles. “yeh. This is what I had ben waitin to show you gals!” Ali called

The gazelles bowed their heads and plunged devotedly into the feeding bowl. The deep, golden-brown of their fur had a beautiful sheen to it, which glistened in the light of the awakening sun. As they ate greedily, their long, twisted horns slithered up towards the sky like snakes. Their underbellies were pure white, like unblemished canvasses of a great painter, and their ever-watchful eyes were black like dark ashes.

Every now and then, the animals swished their short, dark-colored tails to ward off any flies that were pestering them. Their ears swiveled from side to side like mini-satellite dishes, listening out for the tell-tale sign of a stalking predator.

They had made my day. My brain started clearing up and cooling down. I felt more relaxed. More contented. Calmer. It was like the gazelles had enchanted me in a good way. I started realizing that I had discovered something. Grabbed something. Caught something. Something really good. Something I really love. I had caught a spark of inspiration for my next novel. My best novel. My favorite novel I have written to this day. I call it ‘Lord of the gazelles’.

After we finally came back from that awful trip, I had finally gotten time to continue your novel. As time elapsed endlessly, I sat there amongst the salty ocean shore. The water was scorching hot as it crashed violently against the rough, golden sand, dragging my thoughts out of all conclusions. The amber cool sun glistened elegantly in the pale blue sky as clouds flow along. A white blanket of froth formed as the tide gradually approached the shore. was a place where I felt calm. A place where I was able to write in complete peace. No one around.

It had been around a year to a year and a half. Another birthday passed by. I had finished my novel. I remember boasting about it in the village for ages. It even made my sister jealous which gave me more satisfaction than any possible thing. My parents were very proud too, but they kept on egging me on to publish it somewhere. I thought about it. But then I flicked that thought away. Right then, I just wanted to celebrate for the completion of my book. It wasn’t until later that night that I started thinking of what could happen if I published my book. I imagined myself standing there holding a perfectly printed book – not some old paper I found in the basement to write my novel. I was wearing fancy clothes, nothing like what I was wearing then or what any of the villagers wear. I was living in a house. A luxurious house. And I was able to treat my parents amazingly. I even had a whole room for studying where I wrote my stories. My sister was working too. She was a scientist – something that she always wanted to be. I reconsidered mt parents’ idea of publishing the book. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The very next day. I vowed to make my wonderful dream a success. And that I would work hard for it. I went out to explore the village. To find any publishers. You see, our village isn’t that big, but it isn’t that small either. We have all the facilities and I was sure I would find a publisher somewhere. Then I saw a little shop with a label on it.

It said:

A little place for writers

I became very intrigued instantly. I knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again. No answer again. I pushed the door a little and flung open. I stepped inside and the air was thick with the scents of… parchment? I smelt loads of parchment or freshly made books that are opened up. It’s my favorite smell of all time. Just as I stepped in, I knew this was the right place for me. I had never felt so belonged in a place I had just gone in. I heard some whispering at the back of the room. It was dark except for the place the whispering was coming from where I could see a dim light glowing. I stepped slowly when my nose bumped into a shelf. I soon realized that it was a library. I followed the light and it led me to a table with a couple of lamps resting in the center. There were three girls sitting there writing on a piece of paper. They were talking to each other about something I couldn’t hear. I slowly stepped closer and closer until I bumped into a pile of books. I collapsed face-first on the floor. They had seen me. “err, hi?” I tried talking.

“where did you come from?” a girl called her eyes widened

I explained how I came in and why I came in. A smile grew on their faces the second I said novel. They told me to show them my writing and they started reading it. I came back the next day and they greeted me with great pleasure. I was confused about why they were being so nice. That’s when they told me how much they loved my story when I was only fourteen. They said they wanted to teach me to improve and welcome be into their writing hub. I agreed straight away. I couldn’t believe it! My dream was coming true! So, I started learning there every day and wrote many novels. We hadn’t published any yet, but we were working on it. Every takes baby steps. Today, it’s been a year since I started learning and I want to thank Angela and Ava, my best friends and tutors for always being there and welcoming me into their focus and helping me improve.