It Was True

Sweat poured down Joy's forehead. It channeled down to her neck and her back, making her tight traveling clothes stick uncomfortably to her back.

The afternoon heat was harsh. It pressed on her from every direction. The hot wind didn't help either, always sending tumbleweeds and an occasional bug for her to dodge.

She felt the back of her shirt to find that it was completely drenched with perspiration.

"Great," she muttered sarcastically. "As if I wasn't uncomfortable enough."

"Joy, did you say something?" her sister said from beside her.

Faith looked almost as miserable as she did. Her older sister's face, like hers, was red from the heat trapped by their face coverings. Flyaway hairs were plastered to her face by sweat.

"Just being annoyed at life," Joy said, making a face.

Her sister laughed, making one back. "My legs are so sore," the older girl said, carefully shifting positions.

Joy winced at her own soreness as she gingerly adjusted her position, tightly wedged between the two humps of her camel. The wood of her saddle definitely wasn't the most comfortable material to sit on for long periods of time.

She stared at it for a moment, tracing the carvings.

Breaking the silence, she finally said, "I miss home."

Home, that was a strange word. People always said that a house doesn't make a home. The people with you make home.

Then why did she feel like her home made her?

It was a slightly messy house stuffed with stained carpets, random knick knacks, and stiff, scribbled-on sheets of papyrus paper, nestled in a quiet little town. It described her perfectly. It made her feel safe. She could be whoever she wanted to be, as weird as she wanted to.

Except it wasn't her home anymore.

Faith's face hardened, and she stared off across the vast desert. "Why did we have to leave?" she grumbled.

Joy sighed, "Because it will be better for us near the city."

"Mhm," Faith said sarcastically.

Joy groaned internally. She hated making her sister mad, because when Faith got mad, she stayed mad.

"But it really will be! Mum could be able to teach more, and Dad would be able to find more business opportunities. A small town is not the place for a merchant."

Even as she said it, she felt her heart aching for her friends, her teachers, everything familiar. But here they were, trekking across the dry dunes to go somewhere strange.

"You sound just like them," Faith spat bitterly, turning away.

Moving had been especially hard for her. Joy had watched as she happily branched out and became more confident that year, only to leave just a few months later.

Joy almost called after her, but she knew Faith liked to be by herself when she was angry.

She always felt like she was the one bridging the distance between her sister and her parents. They just didn't see eye to eye. Arguments always resulted in a furious Faith, annoyed parents, and an awkward, twisted feeling in her gut.

Growing up had been good; she'd had a lot more privileges than most kids. Yet, of late, all she felt like she was doing was not being good at anything and getting worse in school.