Weekend Story-Saved For Later

A trader was crossing a long stretch of desert with three bottles of water tied to his mule.

By noon, the sun had become fierce. His throat burned, his lips cracked, and every step felt heavier than the last.

He reached for a bottle, then stopped.

“Not yet,” he told himself. “What if I need it later?”

He walked on.

By evening, one of his companions opened his own bottle and drank slowly. The trader watched him with concern.

“You should save it,” he said. “There is still a long way to go.”

His companion smiled. “That is why I am drinking.”

The trader shook his head and kept walking.

The next morning, the desert seemed endless. His mule slowed. His hands trembled. Again, he touched the bottle. Again, he withdrew his hand.

“Not yet,” he whispered. “A little later.”

By afternoon, a group of travelers found him collapsed beside a dry thorn bush, three full, untouched bottles still tied carefully to his mule.

A few miles ahead, just beyond the next dune, there was a well he would never reach.