Stillness

No signal. Silence. Nothing around you but orange sand and rock. The sun is shining and you feel its warmth on your face.

You move slowly upward over the uneven ground. In places, not even the faintest breeze can be heard. The wind has stopped at the surrounding cliffs. As if you were in a vacuum. You hear only your own breath and the steady rhythm of your footsteps touching the earth.

A few more metres and a vast desert opens up before you. It’s your first time here, yet you can’t help feeling you’ve seen it before.

You stand and gaze into the distance. Every now and then your awareness seems to shift to another planet. Am I still on Earth?

You pull a small monocular from your pack and spot camels far away. Alone in the middle of nothing. From here they look like ants frozen in space. As if they wandered off and lost all hope of finding their way back.

You savour the nothingness for a few more moments. It hypnotises you and won’t let go. Maybe the camels feel something similar.

You slowly head back the way you came. One last time you turn around and look into the distance. You’d like to stay longer, but you know there’s a long road ahead. This place, though — you won’t forget.

Translated from the Slovak original.