The wind swept the sand from dune to dune, like an ever-shifting dance across the desert floor. There were no rocks, no shrubs, no life at all in that distinctly alien landscape; only the sand, wind, and sun kept it from being a blank palette altogether.

Days often passed like this, without occurrence, on this remote, sparsely populated colony. But towards dusk, as the sun was slowly slipping below the horizon, and the temperature was steadily dropping, a lone figure appeared over the crest of a dune. He rode regally atop a camel, like a dark and mysterious Arabian prince. Which, incidentally, beneath the swaths of white robes covering him from head to toe, he was.

The young man was trying desperately to keep the blowing sand out of his ears, mouth, and nose…and failing miserably. He coughed violently, in an attempt to expel the grit from his nose and lungs. For the hundredth time that day, he thanked Allah that he had remembered to bring goggles, so that at the very least, he wasn't blinded. He wished desperately that he could just give up and go back, take a bath, and have a hot cup of tea. But he knew he couldn't. In fact, the only thing keeping him going at this point was the knowledge that if he didn't get home soon, there might not be a home to return to. He grimaced, steeled his resolve, and trudged on.

It was night when the young prince stopped again. The moon was large and bright, and countless billions of stars twinkled like diamond dust in the night sky.

"We'd better stop here, Abdul. It will only get colder and darker as the night progresses," the boy suddenly said.

The camel only grunted in response.

The boy dismounted. As he watered the animal, a thought struck him.

"Talking to you," he patted the beast affectionately, "is like talking to Heero!"

Abdul gazed placidly at him.

Unable to contain himself, the boy burst into laughter.

When he had recovered, he suddenly felt flooded with energy and anticipation. He could rest now, out here in Allah's magnificent creation, and tomorrow, he had only half a day's travel left. His journey was almost at an end. He hummed happily to himself as he unfurled several blankets to create a bed.

He lay down, and wrapped the blankets around him. The camel laid next to him. He was glad; they could huddle together for warmth. He fell asleep still gazing at the perfection of the desert sky.

The prince woke in extreme confusion. It took him several moments to realize where he was, and why. However, that still didn't explain what was going on. It was very dark, and something was moving around…he could feel it, touching his leg. Panicked, he thrashed around, managing to throw the covers from his head. He came face to face with a horrible hairy monster! He screamed. Startled, the monster backed off for a second, long enough for the boy to realize that it was, in actuality, his camel Abdul. With a sigh of relief, he tried to calm his racing heart.

"Only Abdul," he told himself, "don't be silly, nothing to be afraid of."

The camel seemed calmed by his voice, and crawled forward till it was next to it's master again. It licked him apologetically.

"It's ok, Abdul. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

The animal continued licking.

"I said it's ok, stop it already! Hey, that tickles, stop!" He tried to push the animal off of him, but didn't quite succeed, as it was much larger and weighed much more than he did. He was quite angry now. "OFF!" he shouted, "Abdul! OFF!"

This had the opposite effect intended, because the more he yelled at it, the more the camel wanted to get on top of him. Something clicked, and he immediately knew what was happening. He began screaming, flailing, and trying to crawl out from under the beast. He couldn't move…he was pinned beneath it's incredible weight.

It wasn't long before he felt something probing up his leg. The camel's wide tongue was slathering his chest and neck with saliva. He gagged. Then, a hot, hard rod probed his opening. He gasped, and renewed his screaming with a new fervor. He pummeled wherever he could reach.

"NOOO!" The sob ripped from his throat. Then…it parted his tight muscles with a hard thrust. His world exploded, dripping red with pain and anger. The animal groaned.

When he was aware again, he was sobbing disconsolately in a heap on the desert floor. It seemed like he never really went unconscious, it was as if he just wasn't aware before, and now he was. He knew what had happened, but couldn't remember specifics. A wave of nausea gripped him, and he spent several minutes being sick.

Afterwards, he gathered his wits about him, and arranged his clothing around himself. He really didn't want to see what was under them. The sky was brilliant pink and purple, which meant that dawn was fast approaching. He packed his belongings, and whistled for the blasted beast. It came trotting over a nearby dune, looking particularly smug. The prince swore under his breath. He shouldn't swear, he knew, but he didn't give a damn.

When they were well on their way towards the base, the young prince resolved to put this whole affair behind him. Riding was awfully uncomfortable, but the bright sun was shining, the wind was blowing just enough to cool him, and he was almost there. And when he arrived, there was much to be done that he had to make preparation for. So with the grim determination that had brought him thus far, the young man set his sights for home, and never looked back.