Desert Rain

Above the wasteland loomed a vast mountain wilderness of jagged rocks and steep ascents.  Tracks of predators garnished all footpaths as if they seized prey the wasteland did not claim.

A lone tree found residence along the trail, yet all life was absent.  Its frame being compromised limb by limb, even the birds whose home was this tree took flight and abandoned their nest.

Further down the path emerged a peculiar drainage with unique flora.  Stooping down inquisitively, this shrub possessed intricate branched knobs as if to portray thousands of tiny fingers.  Discontent with this superficial discovery, pinching one of these knobs caused fluid to be emitted.  A taste of this fluid suggested that its composition was that of salt water.  Perhaps the key to thriving in the desert was demonstrated by this shrub's observed adaptations.  Therein lied a union between that which can prevent vegetation and that which can promote it: salt and water.  These resources were treasured as the shrub's extensions served as a sponge for storage.

Hours after more traveling in a desert canyon, a human settlement appeared.  With no person in sight, the air was filled with calls of waterfowl in the pond ahead.  This man-made oasis contained numerous fruit trees in tiers above the valley floor.  Dates, pomegranates  and olives littered the under-story, initiating a small feast of fruits.

With this adventure coming to an end, morning breeze had transitioned into beating sun, the threat of exhaustion apparent.  A cluster of clouds, almost without warning, amassed in front of the sun and blocked its threatening rays.  Then, a rare occurrence, small drops of precipitation descended from the sky: desert rain.