Caged Bird, Shackled Slave

My feet burned. I was tired and sweating. My vision became blurred. I could see the village...it was just...just a little ways...fur..ther... My eyes closed and I saw nothing.

I awoke to the mewl of a camel. My wrists burned and itched from irritation. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw my heels drawing two troughs in the sand. I was being pulled. Looking up, I saw my hands were tied tightly together. I was being dragged along the sand by a camel with my hands tied by rope to the rider's pack.

I started to panic.

Where was I? Where are they taking me?

I started to struggle against the rope, wiggling and jerking my hands. No use.

"Akiiki, she's awake." I heard a man grumble.

Suddenly, the camel stopped. My wrists burned. Blood trickled down my arm. I heard the shifting of the men on the camels, jingling and clinking of small trinkets hidden in the pockets of their packs.

Their shadows blotted out the sun as they stood over me. One was holding a knife. It glinted menacingly in the light of the sun. I pushed myself as far from them as I could, bracing myself against the back of the camel's legs as I held my bound hands up in defense and closed my eyes. I swallowed hard, a lump in my throat.

I heard the sound of ripping and felt a jerk in my hands, then the tension released. I dared to open an eye. I looked down at my hands, now--fully connected to the rest of my body--resting in the hot sand.

I examined where the rope had bitten at my skin. The skin was irritated, swollen, and bleeding. I looked up when i felt something cool rushing over my bleeding wrists. One of the men what pouring water onto my wounds with some sort of container while the other rummaged through a small pocket.

The men bandaged my wrists, not speaking a word. They helped me onto a third camel. It was tied behind the other two. They set off, ushering the camels onward. The men still remained silent.

I stayed still and quiet.

I was afraid. I had no idea where I was going. Or what lay ahead.