Remember Antoine de Exupéry, that wonderful author and not so successful pilot, who crash landed his airplane in the Sahara desert so many years ago, with scarcely enough water to keep himself alive for a week.

Remember how a magical, curly-headed little prince suddenly appeared out of nowhere and insisted that he draw him a sheep. Remember Antoine’s enchanting description of the days they spent together before his companion disappeared as abruptly as he had appeared. And remember his anguished appeal to anyone who might meet him again to:

“Please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back.”

Decades passed. Those who longed for his return could only dream. And then, one day, it fell to the good fortune of a young fisherman lost at sea, afloat on a little ship that he had stolen from its owner, to discover the very same curly-headed prince splashing in the water below him, calling for help. He rushed to help him aboard.

This book tells the tale of what happened after that moment, of the blossoming of friendship and understanding between two unlikely companions as, over many cups of tea brewed with the last of their water, they shared their life experiences and their inner feelings. It is an attempt to recapture the unforgettable magic of that earlier encounter.