So I lived alone, without having anyone to really talk to, until I crashed in the Sahara six years ago. Something broke in my plane’s motor. And since I had no mechanic or passengers with me, I had to try to make the difficult repairs myself. For me, it was a question of life or death. I had scarcely enough drinking water with me for a week.

That first night I went to sleep on the sand, a thousand miles away from any settlement. I was as isolated as a man shipwrecked and 9oating on a raft in the middle of the ocean. So you can imagine my surprise when, the next morning at sunrise, a little voice woke me up. It said:

“Draw me a sheep, please.”

“What?!”

“Draw me a sheep…”

I leapt to my feet as if I’d been struck by lightning. I rubbed my eyes, and looked around. And there I saw an extraordinary little man, watching me solemnly.