The Lost Heir: Journey to Elholavina

CHAPTER FIVE

                                                                                                  FIVE

                                                                                                     

It was all a dream.

Jamie was sure of it. So sure in fact, he felt compelled to lie in bed just a little longer, afraid that as soon as he woke up, he'd have to go back to boring Mr Plemmon and his fractions and help his mother with the gardening and listen to Uncle Dan rant at the television over the Parliament Channel. He cosied himself into the bed a little more, stuffing his face into his pillow and then -- ugh! Jamie shot up onto his elbows, coughing and spluttering and spitting everywhere. Tiny grains of sand were caught on his lips and tongue and he batted at his face with his hands, shaking the sand from his face and hair. His eyes slowly opened and he began to adjust to the blazing sun's harsh light. It was hot -- certainly too hot for England even if it was the summertime -- and the back of his neck sizzled against the heat.

He was in the desert. Digging his hands into the sand, he allowed the teeny tiny grains to fritter through his hands, bringing them right up close to his eyeball, inspecting it as if it were some magical oddity he had never seen before.

He whirled around so his butt was now planted firmly in the sand and surveyed his surroundings.

Nothing but the bright blue sky, hot sizzling sun, and thousands of miles of sand. He slowly rose to his feet, his brain feeling a little funny and woozy, and though he stumbled and struggled, he eventually got upright and managed to take a few steps forward before quickly buckling over and throwing up all over the pristine sparkly sand.

He felt strange. Light-headed. Like he could dance a thousand jigs and sleep for a million years at the same time. Energy bounced in and around his veins but his eyes were tired and could hardly stay open and each emotion that rattled through him challenged the other. He felt happy his plan had worked but also terrified to be here. Excited to see Larry but missing his mother and Uncle terribly. The conflicting emotions had Jamie wanting to throw up even more, but now that he was done and nothing further was crawling up his throat, he rose to his feet a second time and gazed all around him.

Just behind him, a little further in the distance, lay some sort of building. It was quite big and oddly shaped with three huge points shooting out from the top like antennas. Perhaps it was a Government building, thought Jamie, and so he made his way toward it. The closer Jamie trudged toward the building, the further away it seemed. The blazing hot sun bore down on his back and he peeled off his raincoat and tied it around his waist. Sweat dripped from his forehead and nose and the air felt thick and suffocating. He'd kill for a glass of water right now. Or a hundred.

By the time he reached the odd-looking building, Jamie was positive he was at death's door. Sweat glistened from his forehead, cheeks, neck and just about everywhere else you could think of, and his mouth and throat had become so dry it was like swallowing sandpaper. His breathing had shallowed and become slow and ragged, and his eyes drooped with exhaustion. He was sure he was red as a tomato from the heat of the sun rays beating down on his pale skin and that his feet were covered in blisters from his welly boots.

The building wasn't a building at all but rather some kind of oddly manufactured vehicle. Made of steel and shiny silver in colour, it was sizzling hot to the touch, so much so that steam billowed out from the top of it like it was being cooked over a hot grill. Strange orange markings were engraved across the entire vehicle in all directions and at the front of it was a large oval-shaped window that stuck out from the machine with a tall black leather seat perched right in front of it from the inside. Giant black tyres twice the size of Jamie were half-buried under the sand and parts of the shiny silver had begun to rust over and turn orange. Jamie made his way around the other side of the vehicle in wonderment where four little white steps led to a hatch-like door.