The land was all just rocky sand that surrounded me, there was no grass in sight, there was no sign of green. But, that afternoon had brought with it a strange breeze, gentle, but most powerful in its reaching distance, far more than I could imagine. I would call it the 'camel wind'. It carried along with it familiar scent of cow dung, that struck my mind just upon first contact with the senses. I would've questioned my knowledge of these areas- the situation was as bizarre as that- but, the rocks ran a smart race from where I was; it was such that they covered not less than two miles from that point: there was no escape at all for vegetation to grow anywhere close. So, I journeyed on, trying not to think as I did.
Time passed wildly as I walked, sunset revealed its red garment slowly; suddenly, the wind had become danker, the environment was lit up in a gentle glow. I could sense the smell coming closer and closer, I could swear it got stronger, so strong that I could feel it was rubbing skins against my body. A scent as such could only stretch forth from a grazing site. I had all these while, been walking closer to the source without suspecting. The closest spot for a cattle rest definitely was that good little field where my favourite little tree, Nku, stood, waiting patiently for my arrival. And, I had been too subdued in thoughts to notice something else; at this moment, I stood atop fresh grass. Now, I could even hear the noise of cattle. I looked up, and could see characteristic humps of cattle from afar. I smiled as the land soon came into full view. I had arrived, finally. There was my tree, there in their midst, the orange-lit sky had combined to give the scene a most beautiful look; I could already see fresh dung litters on the damp grass; there was a perfect picture, save that the herdsman in charge of the cattle was nowhere in sight. Curse him, that careless fellow. But, to think that I would perceive the presence of these cattle, when the distance between us made it unthinkable... It was such a strange one, that wind, the camel wind...
I had come to kiss Nku goodbye. It was my life, everything I had known for a long while. Every moment I spent without it was different, less joyful, less filled with a sense of security. Nku was so much of an obsession at that time that it had become a part of me, in every sense. I spoke to it as I would the dearest human, I knew everything about it, even the number of branches it had- at that time, the count should've been forty-two- I knew even up to that extent. But, still, I know almost nothing of its first days; the very little I was aware of even then, that the tree was planted on the very day of my birth, I would count as a solid account. As a matter of fact, for an early part of my life, I had loathed this tree and cursed it once. Yes, it was Dad, with a little of fuel from Mamii, that made me do so.
