Well, it’s been two days now and my wish has still not been granted by the Sacred Giant Magic Clam!

Elliot, I thought you were not going to think about your missing tusk.

I can’t help it, Clara. After all, an elephant should have two tusks. Two tusks keep our heads balanced instead of tilting to one side. Besides, what if I meet a female elephant in our travels? I want to make a good impression! Two tusks are better than one!

Well, if she is more interested in your appearance than your personality . . . perhaps only having one tusk is good – it filters out what could be a bad partner.

Personality? That settles it! Now I really need two tusks! Maybe we should go back to the Sacred Giant Magic Clam and repeat my wish.

After the last sandstorm, I wouldn’t know how to retrace our steps. Nothing is permanent in the desert – except the sand and the heat. Let us keep going forward, and please . . . try to train your mind to not be so agitated all the time.

You mean by meditating? I tried that and all I could think about was food . . . and my missing tusk.

Elliot, you’re not supposed to think at all. Just quiet your mind and let nature enter your body. Sense the heat, the sounds of the wind and our footsteps crunching in the sand . . . let your body become one with the desert. Remember, sometimes a wish is granted when you least expect it.

When I least expect it? How about some sort of a time frame? Are we talking days, weeks, months, YEARS?

Perhaps sometime in the future.

In the future? Well, that makes all the difference – now I am agitated all over again!