Dying in the desert by dehydration did not seem the best way to die to Sean. He had come too far in life, to perish in a desert in the middle of nowhere. He had driven from the oasis, Las Vegas, and had planned on moving on to the sparkly city of Los Angeles. And he had a priceless item weighing down his pocket. It had taken thousands of tense, sweaty, and arduous hours to obtain the item. And the item originally came from one of the most famous hotels on the Strip. Sean grinned to himself, remembering the excitement as he pulled the precious item from the display box. Sweat running down his face as he carefully replaced the item with a fake. The item in question, a priceless diamond the size of a fist, was now in Sean’s possession.
Stumbling around the desert, for what seemed like hours to Sean, he finally came to a halt when his legs would not hold him. He collapsed in front of a looming green cactus, which seemed infinitely tall from Sean’s point of view. His throat, dry as dust, was screaming for water. The cactus gave little shade, but to Sean it felt wonderful. He decided that instead of dying with horrendous thoughts on his mind, he wanted to think positively before he died. So, he closed his eyes and dreamed of water. Lots of water, an ocean of water, and he was floating in it. He would drink the whole ocean of water, all of it until he quenched his everlasting thirst. He smiled, but even that took all the effort he had left. When he moved his lips, they cracked and bled for they were as dry as the desert surrounding it.
Opening his eyes, Sean looked around and saw that he was still in the exact same place as before. But shimmering in the distance, Sean thought he saw a crow. The crow was hobbling toward Sean who, was staring in amazement. How did a crow end up in this forsaken place? Sean thought to himself. When the crow finally worked its way to Sean, it peered up at him and blinked. Could crows even blink? Sean asked himself. Then to Sean’s astonishment, the crow spoke to him,
“Hello,” the crow’s harsh voice startled Sean into answering.
“Uh…hi?” Sean replied in a hesitant voice.
“Are you thirsty?” The crow asked in what seemed like a bland tone.
“Of course I am! I’m in a stupid desert! My car broke down and I am forced to walk through this forsaken desert to get to the nearest town! And I’m still not there yet!” Sean yelled as loudly as he could.
“I didn’t ask for your life story, Sean. But since you said it so kindly, I will give a riddle.”
“I don’t want a stupid riddle, I want to get out of this desert! And why am I talking to a crow?”
“Well, if you want water then you will answer my riddle.”
“Fine, what is your stupid riddle?”
Then out of nowhere appeared a pitcher. Inside the pitcher was a scant amount of water, just barely enough that would slake Sean’s thirst. But before Sean could grab at the pitcher, it disappeared.
“Ah, but here is the riddle! You must be able to drink the water inside the pitcher without touching it!” The crow squawked.
“What?” Sean cried.
“Yes, or else.”
“Or else, what?”
“Do you want to die or not?”
“Fine.”
Then as Sean thought about the pitcher, it appeared again. Then Sean remembered a tale his mother had told him when he had been a boy. It was about a crow and a pitcher of water. The crow was so thirsty that he tried to reach the water at the bottom, but due to his beak he couldn’t reach it. And the crow tried everything, even tipping the pitcher as far as he could, but still the water was at the bottom. Then the crow came upon a brilliant idea. He then picked up a pebble and started dropping more and more into the pitcher. Slowly, the water level began to rise and when finally it reached the top, the crow began to drink. He had satisfied his thirst, and saved his life. And now Sean began to do the same thing. And when finally the water level reached the top, Sean bent down and drank. The water seemed like heaven, after hours of thirst, he drank his fill. The crow’s eyes sparkled and he disappeared. Sean looked around and stared, hadn’t the crow been there just a minute ago? Sean shrugged, grabbed the pitcher, and started walking.