Suddenly, he woke up. Amidst the scorching sun and arid air, he got up. He looked around, only to see nothing...
And nobody. There he was; standing, dry skin, alone. Now everybody was far, far away. No family, no lover, no friends, no home, no roads; nowhere. For the first time in his life he realized what lonely really means.
He turned around, hoping to find a way to follow, a direction to go to, but all he could see was sand, some rocks, the total-blue sky, and the burning sun. No mountain to climb, no forests to explore, no rivers to refresh, no green at all, just the brown-yellow palette of the desert. And it was already starting to turn grey.
There he continued to stand, trying to figure out why he was there, what happened, what did he do to be there? He couldn't find a logical explanation. That's when he remembered the deal his master offered him: "I'll share my glory with you, if you share my pains." By now the servant was already starting to think if the deal was worth the "yes" he gave, or if his master would remember him, or even find him in that bloody desert.
So the servant began to walk, even though he didn't had a direction or place to walk to. And each step he took was making that place more bitter.
"How can I survive this?... How can anyone survive this??" the servant thought to himself.
The thirst hit him hard. Didn't take long until he started seeing mirages of his friends throwing rocks at him. He wanted to throw them back, but that was not an attitude of the master's servants. At least not of one who he was trying to become.
When he was almost fainting from dehydration, a car comes in the distance. He recognized the car. It was his master. He felt relieved.
The car stopped in front of him. The window lowered, revealing his master's face.
"Thank you sir for coming get me."
"Come and get you? This trial is not over yet my friend, far from it actually. I've just came to give you this can of water and to tell you that I'll be watching your progress."
"But sir, are you sure this is necessary? I mean, I don't kn-"
"It's not only necessary, it's mandatory" interrupted his master, handing him the can of water. "And you should be thankful. I've been through worse. You know it."
"But sir... What should I do? Where should I go?"
"Just keep walking... And trust me. When the time is right, I'll take you out of here."
And then he left.
