Final Home
Tal-Mishem waited for Peter and Sarah to think of something they wanted to ask. "Is this the road to our final destination? Peter asked. "It could be for me Peter, but not for you and Sarah yet. Your parents are seeking for you. Soon they’re going to find you. Is it that what you two have wished for? That will be your wish number one for each of you," said Tal-Mishem.
Peter and Sarah rejoiced when hearing they would be with their parents soon, but Sarah had a million questions in her head fro TalMishem.
"How old are you TM, are very old? Sarah asked.
“Uhmm, that’s a tricky one! Well, let me think here. I'm confused now with my age on this planet. He pondered mumbling to himself. If I multiply by one thousand and then I add this and those years. Let me see, wait; If I divide by three hundred and sixty-five years and minus five hundred years traveling. Well, more or less, I think possibly over one hundred years old. I am still a young lad, a young fellow, a young bloke or chap! As they say here," Tal-Mishem said and both Peter and Sarah laughed.
"Wow...Tal-Mishem then your destiny must very long too. Can we go back to the start of our destiny," Peter asked.
"I don't know Peter, but it's important we all walk in the right direction. My parents always told me. I should have listened to them. A perilous road may begin with small wrong step in the wrong direction," Tal-Mishem admitted.
“Is the Grand Garden far from London, Tal-Mishem? Asked Sarah thinking about England that was far too.
"Ah...Sarah, I come from afar, very far a place. But I don’t know how to explain it. I’m not a mathematician yet, but one day I’m going to be one too,” Tal-Mishem said.
In the meantime, the very same day that Peter and the children had left for the desert, the king of Egypt gathered all his men and ordered them to find the "Talking Camel". For years he had heard about the camel and the tales behind the story. He had spent many years and much of his energy looking for the talking camel. As a boy, he had dreamed like many others and finding the camel.
Once on his horse, he trotted at the head of his men. He pushed his own horse to run and never rested. But Tal-Mishem and the children were too far for the king to capture them. The door on the largest of the three pyramids, the pyramid of Giza, waited for Tal-Mishem.
On the first night, the king ordered his men to keep galloping after Tal-Mishem and the children. But on the third night, his men and their horses got tired. They needed rest and water. Still hiding in the old abandoned house Tal-Mishem rested getting ready for the last leg of their trip. His legs, he said, felt tired and heavier than ever from the last days of traveling. This time he wanted to ask the children to walk instead of riding on his back. How can I ask them? They’re only small children and will get tired soon. I cannot do that, he thought, he told himself. Then, he heard Peter and Sarah asking to be granted their second wish.
"Tal-Mishem before we depart again, please grant us the wish to walk as far as we want to without ever, ever getting tired, "Peter said and Sarah thought that a good idea too.
"Granted, said Tal-Mishem looking at Peter and Sarah. His heart filled with love for them. Remember what I was telling you about our destiny. How we reach our final destination. We take our roadway to our future with every step we take now, "said Tal-Mishem while the children cuddle on his body.
"Yeah," Peter said. Sarah echoed him saying yes too.
"Sometimes the last steps are hard. One can get tired and sometimes is painful," Tal-Mishem said preparing the hearts of the children.
"Are we getting to the end of destination Tal-Mishem, " asked Peter and looked at the large, honey-brown eyes of Tal-Mishem fixed on him and Sarah. A tear had rolled down from the camel’s eye to his snout.
"Well, maybe I'm beginning to feel tired," Tal-Mishem said resting his snout on the dirt floor and closing his eyes.
"Tal-Mishem?
"Yes Sarah, what is it?
"Are you missing your mom too? Sarah asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, I do so much like you now Sarah. But soon you and I and Peter are going to be with those we love. Believe me, Sarah, very soon. We’re getting closer to them as we speak now," Tal-Mishem said to Sarah.
Then, Tal-Mishem thought about three triangles in the distance. They rose into the darkness of the night. Above the three pyramids, millions of stars showed up in the sky. The bluish light of the moon shone on them. The pyramids didn't look far but Tal-Mishem knew its life on earth was coming to its end. The door was too far from him perhaps. He told himself. How to tell the children Tal-Mishem thought. His body was getting weaker and weaker. Then, suddenly the ground beneath them rumbled!!
Tal-Mishem placed its head to the ground. He heard the galloping of many horses at full trot. The king horses only a short distance from them. They’re coming, he thought.
“Peter and Sarah...wake up...wake up! The King and his men are coming for me now. They're coming for me. They aren’t too far," TalMishem said alarmed and waited.
Then, the hoofing of horses pounding the ground grew louder and they all heard it clearly. Peter and Sarah cuddled closer to TalMishem for protection.
"They're here. They're looking for me. This is my final destination children, "Tal-Mishem said turning its head to Peter and Sarah.
"Tal-Mishem? Said Sarah.
"Yes, Sarah.
"Please grant us our last wishes," Sarah begged.
"Yes, anything Sarah, " Tal-Mishem said.
"I, said Sarah, wish for you to walk, find the door and go home. Can you grant me that wish?
"Yes, but you'll need your last wish to return home, " Tal-Mishem protested.
"I already asked my parents to find me, remember? They will find us for you granted us that wish too," Sarah said in her tiny voice.
"I, said Peter, want to make you invisible to the king’s men. So, they cannot see you and you can walk in front of them like a king too," Peter wished.
At that very moment, the king’s men walked into the abandoned barn looking for the talking camel and the children. The captain of the troops shouted.
“Here, mighty king. There are children hiding here!! The captain of the guards said. “But there is no camel here, great king. Only two foreign children," the man yelled. Peter and Sarah cuddled together in a corner of the old barn. Their brave hearts hoped their parents would come soon. Peter and Sarah looked around. Their eyes glowed with happiness. Tal-Mishem goodbye got into the children’s heads.
Peter said, "dad is coming soon Sarah; be brave remember?
Sarah smiled. She knew too. She had wished that with all her heart and it was coming through as Tal-Mishem had promised her.
“Take them with you and bring them to me. They're coming with us! The king ordered