The Crack in the Desert

Polly flew over a desert of pink and gold mountains. Far below her, a dark line cut through the rock, like a crack running through a giant wall. Polly is a small green parrot with a red-orange head, blue wing feathers, yellow feet and little round glasses, and she had come a long way to see this crack.

She landed at its entrance. Long ago, camel caravans walked into this crack and disappeared between the walls. People said that a hidden city was waiting at the other end. Its name is Petra.

The walls rose high above her, taller than any tower she had ever seen. Of course, Polly could simply fly over them in a minute. But she did not want to do that.

She wanted to arrive the old way, along the floor of the canyon, exactly like the caravans before her. The walk normally takes about twenty minutes. Polly decided to give herself seven days.