She hasn’t spoken a word since we began our journey and I couldn’t allow her to close her eyes without thick blanket of fear spreading broad domes of thoughts that she may never wake up again.

The billowing wind picked up a fierce whistling hum, gray clouds roaring with rage and lightning exploring the dark sky like a child searching for candy. The air reaped up the scent of the sweet earthy fragrance, it was the first sign that we could be receiving rain soon. Marley has already lost all her appetite and is thinning with each glance I take toward her way. The Marley that loves laughing and finding the humor in any confrontation that we find ourselves facing has deserted the mahogany eyes I’ve spent the last ten years observing. She no longer carries that wide smile that used to honor her gorgeous face. Any recollection of the Marley I once knew appeared more distant than the journey that lies up ahead. She’s been sweating faster than the moisture could be produced in the air, vomiting, and barely able to stand without faltering to the ground. She’s lost all the strength to carry on gritting her teeth with each step. I couldn't touch her without her wincing from the pain. Holding my breath waiting to hear the sweet sound of her voice this whole time while silence covered everything around us. Windmills of sadness spread in all directions across her face, the last time she appeared this way she suddenly called out her late parents' name.

With the sweating of her body, the faintness in her breathing with Marley unable to move, and her condition worsening there was no way we could find a water source in time. We've been without water for so long that she wouldn’t make it past the night if we continued like this. If I could carry her along the way I would, but the aches are more painful than the craving I have for water. We’ve been wandering through the forbidden part of the village hoping to find other villagers that escaped that night. Where did all the villagers go? We haven’t come across any of the cattle since we began wandering that night. What is going on in this village?

Droplets slowly began escaping the frantic sky hoping to gather their footing on the ground. At first, I couldn’t understand the tears that were streaming down Marley's face until I felt the sprinkling of water breathing on my face. Each raindrop tries to catch up with the other until the sky opened up and full-fledged tears sled down their way to the ground. My heart accelerated the more I realized that there were droplets of rain falling from the sky. The sky screamed with loud thunder as we sought shelter underneath the naked branches. We were so parched for water yearning for every droplet that fell from the sky. My skin absorbs every droplet that fell from the night sky regenerating every nerve fiber's wakening sensation of the breath of life. The yearning for water gathers as the landscapes across my mouth are gathering every inch of it while it lasts. Puddles of water splattered like a splash of paint across a canvas, our clothes soaked from the heavy rain.

I felt rejuvenated from the coldness that shivered down my spine. No longer was I going to hold onto a thin strand of hope when the journey is only just beginning. It was impossible for me to see where to go from here but a smile crept up across my face empowering me to take over the morning sun. This new feeling of an unexplained assurance. We must continue on. If we don’t continue we’ll never reach our end. We were thrust out of everything we knew to climb over the mountains that surrounded our region. I heard the stomping of snapping twigs, branches, and anything that was in its path.

They've found us.