Chapter 94 Chapter 5 Dawn is far away on the other side (1)

Apart from the vast reddish-brown dry plain, the most familiar sight to Marty in the Xisar Plain is the back of Jesus.Jesus walked twenty meters in front of her, Marty followed in his footsteps, and behind Marty was a brown dog. I don't know how far I've been. That time Jesus left the cave alone, and did not return until three days later, as if nothing had happened.At night, Marty watched the moonlight with him on the platform, the stars were falling over the plains, and a hundred thousand sandpipers were sleeping peacefully in their caves. Waking up early the next morning, Jesus sat on the platform and waited for her as usual.Marty finished dressing and picked up her light backpack for going out, but he didn't see Jesus moving down the mountain, so he just sat quietly.Marty realizes they're going far away, so she packs up her belongings and puts her huge marching pack back on her shoulders, Jesus stands up, and they head down the mountain.

As Marty walked, she looked back at the cliff, and she felt that she would never return to this place. First go east, gradually penetrate into the wildest heart of the Western Sa Plain, and then turn north.On the first day north, they met this dog in the desert. A dog with a very special pattern, the whole body is gray-black and dark brown interlaced stripes, even the mouth and face are covered with the same pattern.When she first saw it, Marty got nervous thinking she was encountering a coyote, but she quickly determined it was a dog. Poor dog, for some reason, lost his master, and wandered alone in a place that even man would desolate, and he was so thin that Marty took out all the grain in her bag-some fruit. Dried and fried rice, sprinkled for this dog.The dog came forward to sniff meekly, wagging its tail gratefully, but it refused such food.

Marty couldn't give the dog food, and in fact the dog didn't care.There are many small animals such as rat lizards in the plain to feed their hunger on. The reason why the dogs followed closely for fear of being separated from them was that finally there were humans to follow and cuddle up to. Dogs, which have been domesticated by humans for countless generations, have become just like humans in need of friendship, as well as understanding of fear and loneliness. The dog followed them on the journey.During the day, when Jesus and Marty rested and meditated, the dog quietly left to go on its hunt.When he came back, there was blood on the corner of his mouth.

At night, during Jesus and Marty's meditation time, the dog sleeps curled up in the shape of a donut, its muzzle tucked under its legs and covered by a fluffy tail.Sometimes it seems frightened.He raised his head suddenly, moved the tip of his nose against the wind, and sniffed left and right.It glanced at Jesus and Marty who were sitting quietly by the fire, felt relieved, and fell asleep again. In the middle of the night, Marty woke up from a dream and found the dog sleeping next to her lap. She sat up and stroked the dog's head and neck. Although the dog didn't raise its head, it wagged its tail and tapped the sand a few times.

"Why do you follow me, dog? Aren't you free enough by yourself?" Marty asked him, and the dog flapped its tail again. It occurred to Marty that this was the first time she had spoken in over a month. They came to the edge of the desert.In front of you is the endless rolling yellow sand, and behind you is the short reddish-brown grassland.Clearly Jesus had to go further.The unknown future, the lifeless desert, but Marty is not afraid. She believes in Jesus and has given her direction to Him. Marty and Jesus spent the day picking wild berries and seeds and refilling the water jug.

At dawn the next day, before embarking on the journey, Marty knelt down and put his arms around the dog, saying, "Don't follow, dog. Going forward is the desert, you go back." The dog can't understand, and the dog has nowhere to go back, because it doesn't belong to anyone in this wilderness except Jesus and Marty.The dog whimpered when Marty waved it away. Biting his lip, Marty picked up a stone and threw it at the dog.The dog was startled, its tail curled up to its belly, and it ran away far away, turning its head and looking back heartbroken as it ran. Jesus didn't seem to see this scene. He was standing facing the rising sun and the wind.

Not only for the dogs, Jesus and Marty have not looked at each other, not at all, even after walking together for more than two months. They went into the desert.In the dead of winter in Madagascar, Jesus and Marty cross endless yellow sand.Except for the undulating yellow sand dunes everywhere and the lonely blue sky, there is nothing left between the sky and the earth.This is a truly dead end. Marty wrote in his diary: August 11th, keep moving forward, so cold wind, so hot sand. At noon on the second day in the desert, when Jesus and Marty were sitting together on the shaded side of the dune to rest, the dog came out from behind the dune, whining far away, with a humble and acknowledging expression on its face.In order to follow its master, it walked into this piece of yellow sand.

"Come on." Marty beckoned it over, sighed and patted its head, and said to himself, "But what do you eat?" On the third day in the desert, the hungry dog ​​finally accepted fried rice for dinner.It swallowed whole with relish, and found that the taste was not as bad as imagined.But it was too late to find out, because it had just eaten the only fried rice left by Marty, and there were not many berries left. The most serious thing was that Marty had almost drank all the stored water under the sharing of the dog. . Marty spread out the map of Madagascar in front of the aperture of the flashlight. He didn't understand that the desert area that looked so small on the map should not be able to see the edge after three days of walking.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, Marty caught up with Jesus and spoke to Jesus for the first time.She said, "Can you give me half of your water?" Regardless of Jesus' reaction, Marty automatically took the leather jug ​​from his waist and poured half of it into his own bowl.She knew Jesus would not speak, and she was too thirsty to wait for Jesus' answer.Marty gave half of the water in the bowl to the dog. On the fifth day, even Jesus' jug was dry.Marty and the dog ate up Jesus' food. Sitting in front of the yellow sand dunes, this is already the seventh day in the desert.Half dehydrated, half sun-baked, Marty was on the verge of a coma, and she had only jettisoned her huge marching pack yesterday.All the items brought from the city were left in the yellow sand, including a few changes of laundry pants, the broken watch, half a can of coffee powder, a can of sand tea sauce mixed with fried rice, and a few books of poetry that she liked , a computer for shopping and haggling, a portable CD player and a dozen CDs, dry batteries, a large pile of rolled-up spare plastic bags, a stack of Styrofoam disposable dishes and bamboo chopsticks, a flashlight, and large dry batteries , simple cosmetics, hand cream, cigarettes, mirrors, sandals to wear back in the city, cameras and negatives, handheld musical instruments to pass the time, and folk crafts bought along the way.She hesitated when she wanted to discard the physiological pads with butterfly wings, but the small backpack really couldn't hold it, and if she carried the original burden, she might not survive tomorrow, so she gritted her teeth and threw it all away.All she has left is a small carry-on backpack, which contains a blanket, a steel mug, a Swiss knife, a diary, a wallet and ID holder, a lighter, and an empty kettle.

At dusk, icy winds began to blow in the desert, and Marty, who was exhausted from the heat, felt cold again. She squinted and saw the Southern Cross gradually appearing in the sky. The strong wind howled, and Marty gradually lost consciousness in his limbs.Before she passed out with the dog, she seemed to see Jesus but stood up in the wind, opened his neckline, and bathed in the cold wind with his hands wide open. A very familiar sight. Jesus picked up Marty, and the dogs barely got up to keep up, and they circled the yellow sand dunes.Just behind the yellow sand dunes where Marty died in a coma, a crescent spring is as clear as a mirror. Two huge baobab trees rise from the water and sprinkle bright red breadfruit to the center of the spring.

Marty and the dog lay down to drink from the spring, and she saw the reflection of the baobabs on the water, and saw the fat fish swimming and playing.Marty reached out and picked one up.Under the brilliant stars, Marty grilled the fish and had a hearty meal with the dog.