[The following is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of The Gospel of the Stone]
Suddenly, I heard the sound of glass striking a rock. Filled with panic, I remembered the water jug. I threw myself down near the place where I had left it and released one end of the blanket, reaching out to retrieve it. But it was not there. Opening my sand-filled eyes to a squint, I could see that it had blown over and rolled several feet away. With the blanket and the pieces of rope clutched in one hand, I crawled on all fours and quickly recovered it. Luckily, it had been stopped on its journey to oblivion by a rock directly in its path.
Feeling safer on the ground, I rewrapped the blanket around me and decided to remain in that position until the wind passed. The edges of my blanket fluttered in the breeze, and I tried tucking them in underneath my body. But even the thick blanket could not filter out the dusty smell of sand or the chilling bite of the wind. For a long time, the fierce wind blew and the sound of its movement filled my ears. Sometimes it was harsh, and sometimes it whispered a series of shrill-like tones that occasionally changed unpredictably into melodious notes of exceptional beauty. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon, I could not help but wonder what kind of a world I would face when I was finally allowed to emerge from my shelter.
It seemed like hours before the wind subsided. Slowly, I uncovered my face and looked out upon the night sky. Here and there between breaks in the clouds, I could see a few stars along with the rays of a nearly full Moon desperately trying to penetrate the thick cloud blanket. The night of the first day was upon me, and with gratitude I offered up a prayer of thankfulness for the challenges I had survived....
Before me was the promise of another day of challenges. But somehow I no longer regarded myself as a stranger to the Mystery of the Unknown. I thought to myself:
"Let tomorrow come! Tonight I am like a child preparing to sleep in the arms of the Mother, and I am filled with deep contentment."
Grateful for the day and expecting no less tomorrow, sleep came easily.
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