Writers are often asked where their ideas come from.
Sometimes the answer is complicated. Sometimes a story is inspired by several different events, people, and places blended together over months or even years.
And sometimes the inspiration comes from a single conversation that lasts less than five minutes.
That was the case with The Camel He Promised.
In 2023, my wife and I were travelling through Jordan on a group tour. After visiting the Dead Sea and several historical sites, our group was making its way towards Petra. Late in the afternoon, our guide suggested swapping one of the castles on the itinerary for a short detour to Little Petra instead.
None of us knew much about Little Petra, but the idea sounded more interesting than another castle, so the group voted in favour of the change.
It turned out to be a good decision.
Little Petra is a beautiful place. The narrow canyon, the carved alcoves, and the winding paths offer a taste of what awaits visitors in Petra itself. My wife and I spent some time exploring, taking photographs, and climbing up to some of the viewpoints before following the trail further through the canyon.
That was when we met him.
He wasn’t actually called Jack, but he immediately reminded me of Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films. His appearance, mannerisms, and easy confidence all contributed to the impression. He was selling small souvenirs, including bronze camels.
I asked whether he accepted US dollars.
His answer came instantly. “Dollars, dinars, a wife.”
My wife burst out laughing.
The comment was clearly intended as a joke, but there was no mistaking that he found her attractive. To be fair, we’d noticed throughout our travels in the region that she attracted plenty of attention. Her blonde hair and appearance made her stand out, and she often drew admiring looks.
Neither of us was offended. The exchange was light-hearted, and my wife simply pointed towards the camel she wanted.
The salesman wrapped it up and handed it over.
I pulled out a ten-dollar note and held it towards him. Still playing along, I asked, “You sure you want the dollars?”
He glanced at my wife again and smiled. “No. I really don’t want the dollars.”
My wife shook her head, smiling too.
Then he looked back at me. “Alright, I’ll take them.”
He took the note and slipped it into his pocket.
We all laughed.
Before we left, he asked whether we were visiting Petra that evening. We told him we were.
“Do you need a guide?” he asked, his eyes briefly drifting towards my wife.
She smiled politely. “We’ve already got one.”
Still laughing, my wife and I waved goodbye and headed back towards the coach.
The conversation lasted only a couple of minutes, but it stayed with us long afterwards. As we walked back through the canyon, I teased my wife about whether she’d been flirting with him.
“No,” she said. “He was flirting with me.”
A few moments later, she admitted, “Well… maybe a little.”
That was all.
Nothing happened.
The story ended there.
Or at least the real story did.
Later that evening, while walking through Petra and watching the famous Treasury illuminated by candlelight, a question kept returning to my mind.
What if that guide had actually joined us?
What if the conversation had continued?
What if the playful flirtation had gone further?
As a fiction writer, those little “what if?” questions are often where stories begin.
The Camel He Promised grew from that moment.
The characters changed. The events changed. The fictional version travelled far beyond anything that happened in real life.
But the seed of the story came from a real place, a real journey, a bronze camel, and a salesman with a sense of humour.
Sometimes that’s all a writer needs.
If you’d like to see how that brief encounter eventually evolved into fiction, you can find The Camel He Promised in Hotwife Digest Issue 6, alongside stories from other members of the ACHE collective.
The Camel He Promised takes that simple real-life moment and explores the “what if?” that stayed with me long after we left Little Petra.
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