My journey to Rahat

Before I begin my story, I should introduce myself. My name is Jamil, which means pretty, and I am a camel. I was born in Bedouin tent encampment in the south of Israel, and that's why I have such a name. Until not long ago, I lived with a nice family which used my services... until they decided to move to Rahat city. They were sure I'd be able to live in the desert, just because I'm a camel. How arrogant! So one day, they were just gone as though they were never there! Without even saying goodbye! How cruel of them! and this is after promising they'll find me a loving home! They could at least bring me to the Safari or something! That all I was for them... a tool? A meaningless pet? Worse than a dog? Cause they took the dog, I must say! They left me there with the cats that are smaller the wild cats of the desert. I wonder what those little bodies will do from now on, Oh well, each to their own! I am not a cat anyway. And I totally not envy them for eating leftovers.

I started my wanderings after the family, demanding for compensation. I know, I know, camels can't use money, but I'm sure they'll think of something! I may be a camel, but I am a righteous citizen in this country! What, do quadrupeds have no rights? If they get a new place, so should I! This is a democracy, not a damn dictatorship! You think I would stay in a place where they all kill each other? Well, not all of them, but I heard some scary stories about things in the other side of the borders. This country has problems too, but each has its own, there's nothing to do about that.

Rahat... Rahat... Rahat... I never goא away more than 2 km from the tent encampment and you expect me to know where Rahat is?! Even if there was a sign, I couldn't read it! I wondered days after days, I asked other camels, but most of them were from other tent encampments or were wild camels who didn't know the humans give names to the places they live in. I got to two cities, but all the people were all dressed in clothes so different from the Bedouins. Maybe they were the Jews. They came from time to time to our tent and slept over. Some of them even patted me. Some of them didn't react well when I tried to lick them, though...

I started to get desperate. I thought can wander forever in this oh so big desert in vain. I never thought it was this big... I thought I was the camel of the world, but suddenly, I felt so small... I said to myself that I'd ask just one more camel... if not, I'll live my life at the desert, like a camel was meant to live, alone... forgotten... But the wonder of wonders happened, the good God Alla (not sure how it's called out of Islam) came to my rescue and let me meet a camel who knew where is Rahat!

"But listen to my advice," he told me "Get away from there as far as you can. My cousin ran away from there after he saw the burning lights in the sky and heard a loud noise. If I were him, I'd do the same. These humans are crazy. You should be thankful for not living with them anymore."

I may be a camel, but I know what fireworks are. They're fire flowers burning in the sky and they are very beautiful. You may be surprised, but I even saw some of those! It was scary at first, but it took just two of them to understand they're harmless. The coward camel got scared? Shame on him! As happy as can be, I went to Rahat, hoping I would even see fireworks.

I know, camels are animals of the desert, they should survive there well. I know this, but I wasn't born in the wild. It's difficult to survive on my own. Where do I find food? Or do I find waters? The water in my hump won't last forever. And it's summer. Why summers are so hot in the desert...? How do humans survive without a hump anyway...? Or any desert country for that matter...

And them, I got to Rahat. Just minutes ago I was so tired, and hungry and thirsty, but when I step my foot there, I was so excited I forgot it all! I looked all around, some walked on their own, some with their family, some with friends, What a lovely place! I sure wouldn't mind living in a place like this. Everyone looked at me like I was a camel in the north Pole but I just didn't care. They never saw tourists...? Really...

But suddenly... a loud noise was heard and I saw a light in the sky. Buti tt wasn't a fire flower, it was a tube with flame coming from it. I knew it would certainly hit around here and the noise was so grating. I looked left, I looked right, just searched for a place to hide! I think I found the right place... I stayed even after the "boom" sound faded, and I stayed there all night, as I continued to hear more fire tubes in the air.

In the morning, I went out of my hide. I looked around, houses were destroyed, dust everywhere. After a few minutes, I saw a doll that looked so familiar. It looked so much like the doll of the child of the family I grew with. It was broken covered with dust and blood.

And at this day, I decided to leave Rahat. It's not a place for camels. But to be honest, a place with burning tubes also wasn't meant for humans or any other living creature.

(The writer's note: Those "burning tubes", also known as rockets did not hit Rahat specifically, but they did hit other places).