Mouheini with her brother, Tahir, and little sister Halima.
A QUEST FOR WATER: (Based on actual events in the southern Sahara)
Chapter 8: Bittersweet Rejoicing (4) THE END
That was as far as her thinking got that day, because her family decided to start Tabaski festivities early. Alhassan slaughtered one of the sheep to welcome the three girls home, and to celebrate the joyous gift of the crystalline water. Mouheini, Raichatou, and Takat were offered the most prized pieces of meat – the entrails. Mouheini, holding tight to Tahir, distributed her share among her six brothers and sisters. The smaller children were also given the brain, as tradition would have it. Mouheini made sure that Tahir had plenty of water to drink.
While she sat eating her meat, she did not commit senti. Yet her mind did wander to a paradise where liquid silver flowed, and to a trail lost in the desert, where a captivating, luminous soul was heading on his trek homeward. She prayed Allah for his safety.
THE END
Photo: Mouheini with her brother, Tahir, and little sister Halima.