Desert Flower

Chapter Two: Growing up with animals

During this chapter she tells some memories of her life when she was with her family.

A quote from chapter two... "Before I ran away from home, my life had been built around nature, family, and our strong bond with the animals that kept us alive."

Summary in my own words:
From the day she was born she was surrounded by animals of all different kinds. And from the day she could walk she was caring, feeding and playing with them. This was her bringing up. She has always and always will love animals because of the strong bond between them.  She says quite a bit in the book that the bond she had with these animals, kept her alive. As she was constantly travelling throughout her childhood she brought the animals with her wherever she went. Her family never stayed in one place for more than 3-4 weeks. They were Nomads. There way of travelling was through deserts and over many hills. Life started to get very hard as she was one of 12. Beyond her knowledge 6 out of the 12 of her family died. Life was too hard.
Another heart touching quote about Waris' younger sibling: "One day the baby (her younger sibling) was strong and healthy, and the next my mother called for me..."Waris!!!" I ran to her and saw her kneeling over the baby. I was just a little girl, but I could tell something was terribly wrong. "Waris, run and get me some camel's milk!" But I couldn't move. "Run, hurry!" I just stood there staring at my sister in a trance-int terror. Finally I tore myself away, but I knew what would be waiting for me when I got back. I returned with the milk, but the baby was totally still, and I knew she was dead. When I looked at my sister again, my mother slapped me.."

Desert Flower

Desert Flower is the true story of Waris Dirie's life.
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I have only been reading this book for a couple of days but I am hooked and it is one of the best books I have read.
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This book is about her life from the day was born to where she is now. She had a rough childhood with many memories which have scared her for life.
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Below are some bits of chapter one which stood out to me.
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Chapter One: Running Away
A quote from chapter one...  "A slight sound woke me up, and when I opened my eyes, I was staring into the face of a lion. Riveted awake, my eyes stretched wide-very wide-as if to expand enough to contain this animal infront of me. I tried to stand up but I hadn't eaten for several days so my weak legs wobbled and folded beneath me."
Summary in my own words:
She had help from her mother to plan an escape away from her home. She did just this. Her Dad chased her for hours on end but she didnt slow down, she kept going. He gave up. She ran through the desert for days on end untill she came to a small city. She got hitiched by a man. He was in his forties. She took the risk of getting in a truck with this man and he ended up trying to rape her. She didn't budge..It was a struggle but she ended up knocking him out with a loose rock and nearly killing him. She ran, ran and kept running until she was out of sight from this mans truck. She then got hitchhiked by another man. She had an okay feeling. He was rich. What could go wrong? She thought.