June 2: Write a short story set in the desert
....
My eyes snap open. My vision is blurry for some seconds until it clears up. Even as it does, my brain can't process what I am seeing.
My aching arms reach out and feel all over the ground and my eyes widen when I realise what is underneath me.
I sit up shakily and dust the grains of sand off my arms. When I'm done, I sit there staring off into the vast expanse of sand. All the information I have about deserts didn't prepare me for this. It's like floating in the middle of an ocean, just one made of sand.
And the waves are the dunes, just that here, the waves are permanent…and they can't swallow you.
I try to speak. A sound barely leaves my throat and I cough, wincing from the pain. My throat is terribly dry.
How did I get here?
I try to get up. I succeed and although I legs hurt, I manage to keep myself on my feet. My head throbs and there's a ringing sound in my ears. I place my hands on my hips and sigh.
I try to take a few steps forward but when I place a foot in front and try to move, I find myself tripping and a second later, I'm back on the ground. I groan from the pain.
Why do I feel so much pain?
Suddenly, it hits me. I tripped on something! I sit up immediately and turn to my right. A dark blue backpack sits on the floor magestically and I reach for it immediately.
I zip it open and stare into it. I find a canteen and grab it immediately, emptying the contents quickly, not even caring if I'll need more later or where it came from.
I close the bottle and sigh, feeling a bit less like I'm about to die and use the newly gained energy to get up. As I stand, I rummage through the backpack and find random packs of granola, a torchlight, a notebook and a pen.
I take the notebook out and open it up, flipping through the pages. It's a journal, I realise. I start to read from the page I stopped.
March 12
The guys and I are going out on an adventure tomorrow. We're going to teleport to random places and have fun just because.
March 13
We're going for a hike today in the mountains. There was going to be a competition! Who can get to the top first. Relax, it's not a big mountain. Wish me luck! I'll need it cuz I suck at climbing!
March 14
We're about to leave for the desert! Oh and btw I lost the competition. That means I came in last. But anyway, it's not about winning a competition, it's about having fun! Although I almost died twice but still!
We're currently hiding away somewhere. There's a terrible sandstorm and we can't risk moving out. Mikey is yelling that the storm is close. I'm scared. We might be in danger. I have to go now.
That was the end.
“A sandstorm…” I say to myself. “That was it!”
My memory starts to return, bit by bit and once it's all back, panic set in.
My friends. Where were they? Was it possible that they were somewhere close?
I drop the book back in and zip the bag up before slinging it over my shoulder.
As I walk down to nowhere I call out their names. “George!” “Mikey!” “Marcus!”
I hear a faint cough from a distance away and my heart jumps, hope rising. I dash down to the direction I heard it come from and I increase my speed when I see someone lying on the ground not far off.
I try to halt and my feet kick up sand that sprays around me causing me to cough
I finally stop at the body and kneel down, peering at the person almost covered entirely with sand.
I dust the sand away and gasp. “Mikey.” I shake him. “Mikey wake up!”
He coughs and opens his eyes up, looking dazed for a moment. Once he catches my eyes he sits up and runs his hand through his face.
“Leo...what is going on? Where are we?”
“In the desert. There was a sandstorm. The others are missing. I think we're lost.”
He sits still, digesting all the bits of info I'm giving to him. Then his eyes widen as everything sinks in. He gets up immediately.
“Marcus!” He says and looks at me as if I should understand everything he's trying to say from that one word.
“Yeah, what about him?” I ask with bulging eyes.
“The sand monster…it took him.”
“Sand monster?” I ask incredulously then I shake my head and ask the more important question. “Where?”
“Over there.” He points far behind me as if there's something other than sand there.
He purses his lips at my expression and gestures for me to follow him. We end up climbing up a dune and peering from the top. It was an interesting sight up there but when I follow his gaze I see what he is talking about.
Somewhere really far off from where we stood there were human sized mounds of sand. And to my horror, our friend was trapped in one of them. From his chest down he was caked with sand. There were some other people next to him, looking as miserable as he did. There was no sand monster in sight though, and I was grateful.
“What in the holy sand castle is this…?”
Mikey chuckled beside me.
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I might make a part II!!!!!
Also don't sue me Zendaya, I didn't have much ideas for a title;)
