Shabby, torn fabric, stained by weeks of travel and bleached from the harsh sun. Long, thin sticks held the fabric up so it formed a triangle with the earth. The sticks were buried deep within the shifting orange sand to hold off the blistering wind.
Tent, Desert
the man sleeping inside.
his horse
I am a horse owned by a man. I run very fast. I have a sleek brown coat.
No good sir, we must run away!  The sand will smother us all if we stay! You know, a talking horse I can deal with, but a rhyming horse?! Now I know I lack sleep! Sleep?  At a time like this!  Rouse yourself man, or your life you will miss! Wow... never realized how annoying that is. Is this why I was kicked out of the castle? Is a rhyming jester really this annoying?  I am here to be your curse! Forevermore, you will hear only verse! ...no! It cannot be! I... I must be already asleep! Yes! That must be it! This storm! This horse! I must be in the middle of a nightmare!... HA! Geddit! A night... MARE! Ahhhh... I still got it! You will hear my words even in your sleep - close your eyes, and breath them in deep! Uh.... RUDE! You could at least pity laugh, weird horse curse thing! You about as much of a wet blanket as those snobs at the castle. Oh what's the use? If I'm proper cursed or if I've gone mad, there is no difference! I should just walk into the sandstorm and end it all! Madness will weave between the strands of your mind - soon you will find yourself talking as one of my kind! Oh no! I am not going back to that life! I rhymed for the king, and it brought too much strife... I mean trouble! Yes trouble! To start that again would only make my woes double... uh... I mean... Sod it! I'm going for a walk into the storm! Yes, yes, one of us you shall become!  Nothing will be left of your mind but a crumb! ...unless I end all my sentences with a word like orange. What rhymes with orange? Nothing rhymes with orange! Ha!