Isn't That A Daisy?

A Rude Awakening

"squawk...SQUAWK"

That sound...is it a bird?

My eyes are closed, I can't seem to open them. My head is pounding violently as if I hit it. My body...it's so warm and dry. Why?

With much effort I'm only able to pry my eyes open until I can only see out of a very small slit. I see dirt, no...sand. So much sand.

I squint my eyes even more due to the harsh sunlight beaming down on me, my body sprawled out as I lay supine. 

Am I dreaming?

Clenching my fists below me, the only mobility I seem to have at the moment, I can feel the clumps of sand forming in my palms then slowly trickling out like an hour glass, the sand embedding itself under my fingernails.

My mind focuses on the sand as my eyes close once more...

        My body jolts as I feel a sharp stab on my thigh, causing me to bolt upright in quick succession.

"What the fuck.." I groan opening my eyes quickly.

There's some black spotting in my field of vision until I finally focus on the one black shape that won't dissipate by my leg. Is it...moving?

I shake my head making the hammer like pounding in my cerebrum worse in order to take the blur off, and that's when I see it.

I let out a short but sweet scream pushing myself away from two buzzards. They move away from me a bit after my frantic display, becoming panicked themselves.

Looking down at my thigh I realize one of those fuckers took a nice little snack out of my thigh. Angrily I wave my hand back in forth making a shooing sound. They soon fly away granting me a sigh of relief now that they're gone. 

Now fully cognizant of the world around me, I realize why I felt sand, why it was so hot. Smacking my chapped dry lips that feel like leather at this point I start to panic once again.

Laying before me is miles and miles of rugged flat sand with no one in sight. I start having an anxiety attack when it hit's me that the only signs of life out here is me, the buzzards, scorpions, snakes, and tumble weeds.

As I relax my body a bit and sit a little more comfortably trying to control my breathing and think, the only explanation my anxious mind comes to is that I've been kidnapped.

My breathing becomes more erratic and I start to scream:

"Help me! Is anybody there? Help me, plea..."

I cover my mouth with my hand silencing myself from screaming, a lone tear streaming down my face quietly. 

What if my capturer is still around somewhere? What if they left me out here to die thinking the buzzards would get me first...to dispose of me?

Shakily I slowly get up on my feet, taking my hand off my mouth to rub the back of my head, it hurts so badly.

Thinking quickly I make up my mind on what happened. Somebody must have gotten into my house someway, somehow knocking me out. God, that would explain the blackout I had with all the white streaks of light. They must have taken me here, to this dessert and left me to die...but why?

Slowly and as quietly as I can I start limping, pulling along my buzzard bitten leg as best as I could. Man, the wound feels deeper than I thought.

I see a glimpse of something in the sand, something colorful. I bend down slowly due to pain and grab it, shaking the sand off of it as I pull it out. 

A tinge of hope springs within me as I see it's my bag! My phone has to be in there and I could call for help.

Praying to a god I don't believe hoping my kidnapper didn't take it, I rummage through my things until my hand brushes up against a familiar rectangular object.

I sigh whispering a thank you to whatever could hear me as I pull it out. It turns on and I see Val on my phone proudly displaying the time. Quickly I go to dial 911 but it doesn't work. The call ends immediately and my heart drops. no service.

I start crying again, kicking the sand beneath me out of frustration but stops to grab my leg from the shooting pain that stunt produced. How? I pay so much for data and I still have no service. How far out could I possibly be?

I realize there is only one thing I can do now as I sling my bag on my shoulder.

           I'm not sure where I'm going as I walk, but non the less I'm making my way through the dessert looking for any possible sign of civilization.

Before I knew it, I hade been walking for what seemed like hours, an insatiable thirst forming in my dry mouth, my tongue akin to chalk. how could this happen to me? I don't talk to much people and I don't have much money. I don't have much of anything really. They didn't even take my bag. Why...why would anybody want to do this to me?

The more I walk, the more my injuries, thirst, the heat and tiredness catch up to me. I ignore my EMT brain telling me why this is happening because if I focus on it I would only freak out more. The outcomes are not good for me.

Still, I walk, or limp. I can't even tell anymore nor care. I just need to find help. I keep telling myself I have to almost be there. I have to be.

Feeling my body become numb, it starts to give out on me. My knees buckle and a fall to the ground that feels like an eternity ensues.

I'm back to where I started, lying on the sand but prone this time, the side of my face buried in the sand. I can't move anymore, and it's getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open until they finally close on themselves.

       Thinking I'm surely dead I sense movement underneath me, almost like a jostling motion as I feel that I'm leaning on something in front of me also moving.

Once again prying my eyes open I can see my arms hanging off the sides hopping about with no feeling. It's a horse. I'm on a horse...

Still only looking down unable to move, I look up as much as I can without moving my head, keeping my eyes open as long as I can.

It's legs wearing a pair of alligator skin cowboy boots with spurs. I'm leaning on a man humming a tune I can hardly focus on, too exhausted to care if it's even my capturer at this point. 

Letting the weight of gravity pull my head back down, my eyes closing again I see something right before they close.

It was a millisecond of a passing glance, but I could have sworn that my eyes made out a piece of red fabric, strewn in the strangers belt loop...