Story Assignment

ACT I: The sun is high. Wahida walks aimlessly in the desert, vaguely remembering her ultimate goal. All she knows is she must move forward. She pulls her poncho slightly over her head in a feeble attempt to protect herself from the harsh, desert sun. She continues onward, walking toward a rock formation. Nearby, a bunch of cacti are grouped together at the bottom of the rock formation. Wahida glances upon the cacti. She does a double-take. At the top of the cacti, a single, bright red, prickly pear gets Wahida’s attention.

ACT II: Wahida approaches the cacti. She bites her lip. Her eyes are fixed at the prickly pear. Atop the rock formation, she attempts to reach for the prickly pear. Being nearly a foot away, she carefully shifts herself forward and reaches again. Wahida loses her balance and falls into the cacti. Later, she sits upon a nearby rock and carefully uses her fingers to take out the spines. She glares at the pear. Out of frustration, Wahida grabs a nearby rock and throws it at the pear. She throws a couple more rocks. One manages to knock the pear down into the middle of the group of cacti. Smiling, she runs over to the cacti and attempts to look where the pear had landed. She spots the pear on the ground. Wahida carefully adjusts herself in a way where she can attempt to reach the pear without getting too close to the cacti’s spines. She gets close, but a fennec fox picks up the pear and scrambles away.

ACT III: The fox runs out of the cacti and Wahida chases it. Suddenly, a horned owl swoops in and picks up the fox. Startled, Wahida quickly grabs a rock and throws it at the owl, hitting it. The owl releases the fox and it drops to the ground. Wahida rushes over and steals the pear from the fox’s jaw. She opens her mouth, but she glances at the fox, struggling to get up. She closes her mouth and looks sadly at the pear. She places it before the fox. The fox looks at Wahida and then back at the pear. Wahida turns and walks away. Later, Wahida sits at a nearby rock with her hands around her stomach. She stares into the desert with a blank face. She suddenly feels a paw touch her leg. She glances over, and sees a group of a half-dozen foxes with pears in their mouths. She looks at them with a raised eyebrow as the foxes put the pears in a pile. Wahida hesitantly reaches for a pear. The foxes scamper away, with one lagging behind, looking at Wahida briefly. Wahida makes a half-smile and picks up a pear and eats it, eyes closed.