Aliya of Bahariya

Dezegah

One morning as I'm waking up, instead of seeing blue I see a large pair of lips. I'm groggy and assume it's a dream. My eyes focus, and the thick beige lips are suddenly attached to something larger. I shriek and scramble away from them, my back going against a tree. Once farther away, a camel becomes clear. Panting slightly, I eye him and he looks back at me, the lips making him look like he's giving me a lazy smile. My span of vision widens, to see a man standing next to the camel. I hold out a hand, an instinct to tell him to keep away from me. He holds up his hands, palms facing me, and takes a step back. He is tall and thin with wide shoulders, dark skin and dark eyes.

"Tn endar dorononar." He says.

"What?" I reply, bewildered by the gibberish that comes out of his mouth. I frown, rubbing my eyes, keeping my fingers pressed into my tired lids. Anytime I can wake up now, although this is one of the nicest dreams I've pretty much ever had. Then he speaks again, and my eyes fly open.

"Dezegah nazeneh?"  He asks.

I frown. "I don't know what you're saying. Are you real ?" I ask him incredulously, scrambling to my feet. The camel swivels his head to grab a bit of some greenery on my right side, then ambles over to the pool to drink water. I stare after him in shock.

The man turns his head, and shouts "Musa kolondo! Kada doe... jedre je, araga faragi!" He turns back to me. "Musa," he says to me. "Uh... Ara...bic."

I have no idea what that means. I shrug, and nod. He looks around, and notices my small mountain of date pits, seeming curious.

He puts his hands on his chest. "Omar." Then he pats the camel. "Bousami." He reaches his hands to me, nodding encouragingly.

I shrug again and try to give him an 'I have no idea what my name is' look, which is hard to muster.

He frowns, and then pats his chest more firmly. "Omar." He points to Bousami. "Bousami." Then he gestures more firmly to me, giving me a questioning look.  I shake my head left and right, no point in trying to convey that I don't know my name. He looks confused, and then goes to the pool himself to drink some water.

Wonderful. Now he probably thinks I'm impolite and don't want to share my name.

A few moments pass and I keep my gaze locked on Omar and Bousami as they drink from the pool, and eventually I sit back down on the ground when enough time has passed. When another man walks up through the palms with another camel, I quickly jump to my feet.

What is going on?

His build is similar to Omar's, however slightly shorter and his forehead and cheekbones make his face look more intense. I'm instantly intimidated, and want to quietly sink into the ground.

"Omar? Tan Musa? Endey kuloudunum?" The new man seems to ask Omar some questions.

Omar gestures to me. "Duwui araga farichi kadachi."

The intense-looking guy turns to me, frowning a little. "You speak Arabic?" He asks me.

My eyes widen when I understand. "Oh! You speak my language! Oh, what a relief!" I laugh a little, gasping slightly.

"What is your name? What are you doing here alone?" He asks.

"I don't know, and I just came across this place."

"What?"

"I don't know my name." I realize how that must sound like a lie.

"Why not?" He crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing, his features becoming sharper. "What tribe are you from?"