Hello and welcome to day 21! We only have 9 more prompts to go! Can you believe it? I can’t! Let’s jump into today’s prompt.
Today’s prompt: Write a story about an adventure in the desert.
Enjoy!
Sam angrily speeds down an empty Route 30 on a hot summer day. He is surrounded by desert as far as the eye can see. It is relatively empty, with only a few cacti plants scattered throughout. Foreigner’s “Cold as Ice” blasts through his speakers as he sings along.
“YOU’RE WILLING TO SACRIFICE OUR LOVE!!!” he yells as he slaps his steering wheel. “What was she thinking?! How could she do some shit like this!”
He presses the gas harder. Suddenly, his car sputters. He slows down and looks at his dashboard. His vehicle is starting to overheat.
“Fantastic, just fantastic!” he yells.
He slows down and pulls the car over to the side of the road. Smoke is coming from under his hood. He quickly turns the car off and gets out. He lifts his hood and smoke billows out of the engine and hits him in his face. He coughs and fans the smoke with his hand. After the smoke clears, he looks at his radiator and sees a massive crack in it.
“Fuck!” he yells as he slams the hood close.
He leans on his car, pulls out his phone and calls AAA, but has no signal. He holds the phone up to the sky to try and retrieve a signal but to no avail. He sighs loudly and puts his phone back in his pocket. “I’m trying to run away from my problems, and I ran right into another,” he says to himself as he shakes his head.
He walks to his trunk, opens it, and pulls out two warm bottles of water. He opens one and finishes it then puts the other one in his pocket. He then stands in front of his car and looks down the road for anyone driving by. He looks up to the sun and squints. He takes his shirt off and throws it over his head. “There’s gotta be a town near or something,” he says as he starts to walk down the road. He is sweating profusely and wiping it with his shirt. After a few minutes of walking, he turns around to see if his car is still in sight. He sees nothing but the road, the desert, and the heat waves. He sighs and starts to walk back towards his car. While walking, he pulls his phone out and opens his text messages. He reads a text from Sarah.
“You didn’t have to storm out like that, Sam. We could’ve spoken about this. You are too irrational. Please, call me.”
He closes his phone and stuffs it into his pocket angrily and mumbles to himself. He continues walking and glances towards the desert land on his left. He looks at his watch, and it reads 2:40 PM. He looks forward to his car and still doesn’t see it.
“Wait…where the hell is my shit?” he says to himself.
Suddenly, he hears what sounds like someone yelling from the desert. He stops in his tracks and scans the land, but he sees nothing and continues walking. He hears the same yelling again. He stops and looks and still sees nothing. He decides to see where the noise is coming from and walks into the desert. The sun is beaming down on him as he wipes sweat from his forehead with his shirt, and the hot sand burns through his shoes. After walking and searching for a few minutes, he gives up and turns back around. When he turns, he is shocked. He can’t see the road nor his car. He starts to jog in the direction from where he came. He jogs for a few minutes, and the road still isn’t revealed. He moans in anger and runs faster. Again, he doesn’t see the road or his car. He stops, bends down, puts his hands on his knees, and pants. He stands and pulls out the bottle of water from his pocket.
Suddenly, he hears the yelling again but much closer. He stops drinking, turns around, and sees a dried-up bush. He walks over to it, and he hears the loud sound again. This time, it sounds like crying. He approaches the bush slowly and pushes it to the side, to see a baby swaddled in a cloth and crying. He stands in shock and stares at the baby for a few seconds before slowly picking it up. When he picks up the baby, it starts to cry more and louder. He begins to run around the desert, looking for the road frantically. The baby continues to cry. He stops and pulls out the half-empty water bottle and tries to give some to the baby. He puts the bottle of water to the baby’s mouth, and suddenly, the baby and the cloth turn to ashes and disappear. Sam yells out and drops the bottle of water.
He looks around and sees nothing but desert. Suddenly, his mouth gets parched. He coughs. He looks for the bottle of water he dropped, and it’s gone. He panics and starts to run around again, looking for the road and his car. He feels his mouth get drier and drier. He stops running and falls to his knees. He looks up, and the sun is shining even harder. He stares at it and then hears a muffled voice. He looks around and sees nothing. He hears the muffled voice again then passes out. On the side of the road, Sam lies face down, about 20 feet in front of his car. A car pulls over, and a man is kneeling next to Sam with a bottle of water, trying to wake him up.
“Sir! Sir! Are you okay? We’re getting help now!” the man screams at an unresponsive Sam. The man’s wife then gets out of the car. She is on the phone with 911.
“Yes, we are on Route 30, and we found a man lying on the side of the road…No, he is unresponsive,” his wife tells the 911 operator.
The man turns Sam over. His eyes have rolled to the back of his head, and his mouth is parched. The man pours water in Sam’s mouth, but he still doesn’t wake up.
“Aww, man. This is bad, this is bad. Is someone on the way, honey?” the man asks his wife.
She replies, “Yes. I just got off the phone with them. They said to check and see if he has a phone.”
The man checks Sam’s pockets and finds his phone. He opens it and sees several missed calls from Sarah, so he calls her back. She picks up immediately and says, “Sam, sweetie. I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have even thought about that. I was angry. You were right. We should keep it. I didn’t go to the clinic. I’m so sorry, Sam. Forgive me, please.”
The man holds the phone to his ear and says nothing. “Sam. I know you’re angry. Don’t give me the silent treatment right now, please,” Sarah says.
The man replies, “Um, Sarah? My name is George. My wife and I found Sam unconscious on the side of the road. We just called…”
Suddenly, Sarah bursts out crying and interrupts George. George looks over at his wife, who is staring at him in sorrow. “This is my fault!” Sarah screams while crying.
“Don’t worry, Sarah. We called 911 and help is on the way,” George replies. Suddenly, Sam coughs. George is surprised and holds him up. He coughs some more and looks at George. In a weak voice, Sam says, “Where’s…where’s my baby?” George looks at him in confusion. Sam looks up at the sky, closes his eyes, and goes unconscious again. “Sam? Wake up. My name is George; I’m here to help. Sam?” George replies.
On the phone, Sarah yells, “He’s alive? Thank God!”
George’s wife rushes over and helps him pick up Sam. They carry him to their vehicle and sit him on the passenger seat. George turns on the A/C and feeds Sam more water with Sam coughing in between sips. He slightly opens his eyes and looks at George. On the phone, Sarah yells, “Let me talk to him!” George puts the phone to Sam’s ear. Sarah says, “Sam…I’m sorry. I love you. I was silly. I didn’t go through with it. You were right.”
There are a few seconds of silence. Sam breaks the silence, smiles, and says, “I love you, Sarah.” He passes back out.
George takes the phone and says, “We’re taking care of him. We have to let him rest.” Sarah agrees, and George hangs up the phone.
© Jormatic. All Rights Reserved.
Originally published at http://illthinker.wordpress.com on July 6, 2020.
