CHAPTER 24 – WATER

When the bucket is full of water, I say, “I can pull the bucket up. The bucket is very heavy for you.”

Slowly I pull the bucket up. I leave the bucket on top of the well. I am tired but happy. The song of the well is still in my ears. When I look at the bucket, I can see the sunshine in the water.

“I am thirsty,” says the little prince. “I want to drink this water now.”

I help him hold the bucket. He drinks with his eyes closed. It is nice. It is a special moment. The water isn’t only a drink. The water comes from our walk under the stars. It is made from the song of the well, from the work of our arms. It is good for the heart, like a present.

When I am a little boy, I like Christmas very much. It is a special time. I like the light of the Christmas tree, the Christmas music, the smiles of the people. All these things make the Christmas time and Christmas presents special.

“Where you live,” says the little prince, “the people have five thousand roses in one garden, but they don’t find what they are looking for. But what they are looking for, they can find in one rose or in a little water.”

“Yes, it is true,” I say.

And the little prince says, “But the eyes don’t see it. You have to look with the heart.”

I drink a lot of water. I feel well now. The sand at sunrise is the colour of honey. And that colour is making me happy, too. So I don’t understand why I feel so sad.

“Do you remember your promise?” says the little prince when he sits down next to me.

“What promise?”

“You know, a fence which can protect my flower from my sheep. I am responsible for this flower.”

I take my pictures out of my pocket. The little prince looks at them. He laughs when he sees the baobabs.

“Your baobabs look like some vegetable.”

“Oh!”

I am very proud of my baobabs.

“Your fox, his ears look like horns, and they are too long!”

And he laughs again.

“You are not fair, little prince,” I say, “I can’t draw. I can draw only snakes from the outside and snakes from the inside.”

“Oh, it is OK,” he says, “it is OK for children. The children understand.”

I draw a fence. And I give the fence to the little prince with a heavy heart.

“You have plans which I don’t know. Maybe something ends here.”

But he doesn’t answer me. He says to me, “You must work now. You must go back to your plane. I can wait here. Come back tomorrow.”