Thursday 30 December 2010

The Princess and The Camel



When you’ve been anticipating something for the whole of your life, the last thing you’d expect is that it takes you by surprise. Indeed, this morning had begun just like many others. I had rescued five ladybirds from the doorstep (like helping old ladies across the road who don’t want to go?!), skipped joyfully through our garden oasis, waved cheerily to Chicago Mohammed and collected Lorenzo’s missing sock from the laundry.

Our before-breakfast expedition - on foot or by bicycle! - is the happiest time of the day for me, before the pain has had chance to catch up with me and remind me that,

whilst I am so very much stronger, my fragile body still has a way to go before it can keep up with my spirit. For a wonderful half hour I can fool the world and, in doing so. fool myself.  Hoorah!



Sometimes, when we step through the high wooden gateway to the outside world, we make a left and head inland for Ali’s. More often we take the little track down to
the beach. Regularly the rough, stony track is a bustling 
highway, with goats, donkeys, cows, dogs, cats, horses and camels meandering down to the shore. Occasionally we've even spotted a person!

We weren’t surprised, then, when this morning, on entering the thoroughfare we were met by a particularly large camel. Nor, though I was exceedingly happy, were we surprised to see that it was Jeeves, who lived in the field next to Ali’s and so was a familiar face on our morning jaunts.

No, none of that surprised us at all. It didn’t even surprise us that the boy who was leading Jeeves on a short, thin rope tried to entice me to climb up; we had become accustomed to, smilingly but firmly, declining the numerous invitations to exchange 100dhms (£10) for one hour’s ride-of-a-lifetime. We hadn’t yet worked out the sign language for “It would be a dream-come-true but I could only manage a few minutes - how about it?” so negotiations had thus far proven fruitless.

So can you imagine my surprise when, before you could say Humph!, Jeeves was sinking courteously to his knees to invite me aboard?! Wow! Then my surprise at finding myself sitting comfortably on his vast multicoloured saddle?! Awesome! 


Neither of these, however, quite 
prepared me for the biggest surprise of all. Standing up! In fact here my surprise was so great I almost fell over Jeeve’s head! Re-seated and reassured as Jeeves and Lorenzo shared a mutually trusting nose-bump (how could I have thought of leaving him behind?!) I gave the big furry neck an affectionate pat and we were off! And never had our short amble down to the beach been more momentous as Jeeves ‘Humphed’ and I smiled and a lifetime’s dream became a reality.

And boy! was it worth the wait!

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