Amidst a colossal sand dune, four wagons squinted through the sun's scorching heat.
In this boundless sand, a tiny village stood defiantly in the desert's heart.
Arlo, Hilde, and four children were journeying towards the village in their wagons. As they neared the settlement, the lead wagon carrying Owen and Mattie abruptly halted. Arlo mimicked their action, reining in his bull to stop his wagon.
Mattie dismounted from her wagon and detached the coupler linking it to the other wagons.
She exchanged a few words with two of the children, then she and Owen, without uttering a word to Arlo or Hilde, took a single wagon and ventured into the village.
Since they had departed the first village in the morning, silence had reigned. The only sounds punctuating the quiet were the whispering sands and the rhythmic galloping of the bulls.
