Blowing Dust

Day after day the sun blares and the wind blows bringing in clouds of dust. When we first came here, there were endless fields of green. This land was told to grow plants 10 times bigger than the average human. Before we came here we lived in New York City. We didn't have much but we managed. One day father found a poster in the grocery store showing a man riding an eggplant. He came home telling us we could go live in Colorado and have a decent house and make decent wages, but that was only if we got a good plot of land. He then hurried to the sink and pulled out our jug for rainy days. That night we had counted every penny that had come from that jar. The next day father took the jug to the bank and bought a 25 acre plot of land. And that's how we came here. Our story's not very different from many people who live here.

As I sat there at the desk I didn't notice Ms.Adams had come up with a bag of apples and a jar of peanut butter. Ms.Adams was one of the few shorter people in Springfield. She wasn't heavily built but she wasn't a twig either. She had curly grey hair and big round glasses with a beaded chain that hung around her neck. She came to the county store three times a week and she always bought a bag of apples with her groceries. I've always wondered why Ms.Adams always bought so many apples. But being shy and all I never bothered to ask.

"Will that be all Ms.Adams?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm just planning to go home and read the newspaper or crochet me some new socks." She responded. I smiled as I typed in the prices for apples and peanut butter. After working at the store for a while I've just kinda memorized the prices for many items. Coca Cola is 5 cents, a Hershey's bar is 4 cents, and a toothbrush with toothpaste is 35 cents. A jar of peanut butter and a 4lb bag of apples is 35 cents.

"That will be 35 cents Ms.Adams." I responded. Ms.Adams opened her purse and pulled out three dimes and a nickel.

"Here you go," she said. Three dimes and a nickel were placed in my hand. The silver coins cold and smooth against my warm rough skin. I rolled the coins in my hand before placing them in the cash register. So much money sat in that little metal box and I only got a little bit every month. I've been so tempted to grab hand fulls of money and shove them in my purse and run out the door. After that I'd jump on my bike and ride to California or New York. But if I ever did that my family would miss me and I would miss Luke.

So every time I thought about doing that I quickly reminded myself there'd be wild animals, bandits, brutal weather, and it'd take forever to get there. The only thing that keeps bringing the idea up is the thought of being rich, sleeping under the stars, not eating food with dust, and a zero percent chance of getting dust pneumonia. Maybe I could take Luke with me. Together we could escape these dust storms that brought disease and despair. The thought of riding my bike across the country sounded exhilarating. Food would be a problem and so would water. But as long as we got of this God forsaken place, we'd be fine.

All these plans involve Luke, but I don't even have the courage to talk to him. Which is actually pretty sad, because I can't even say hi to him without feeling like I'm going to faint. I've practiced talking to him with my friend Barbara. He's even offered to walk me home multiple times but, I've been to scared to answer. But today is the day I answered him with a yes. He's going to walk me home and nothing's going to ruin this for me. Nothing. Not the weather, not wild animals, not even bandits riding pintos with leather hats.

It was now 5:00pm my shift had ended and Luke would be here any minute to walk me home.

Nervous, I ran to the medicinal section and grabbed some Tums. I then went up to the front desk and payed for them. Tearing open the package I grabbed two and threw them in my mouth. While chewing the Tums I recognized the familiar minty fresh feeling returning to my mouth and the relaxing of my stomach. Suddenly I didn't feel so nervous. I closed my eyes and thought of riding down the road with Luke at my side. The wind would be flowing through my hair and we'd both be laughing. The sky would be the perfect shade of blue and the sun would be shining down on the waving wheat fields. Dreaming of what could be, I didn't notice someone knocking on the door. The sound was so loud and startling, my eyes shot open and I'm pretty sure I jumped a little. My eyes darted to the door and there he was perfect as always, Luke.

"I thought you knew I was coming?" He said with a smirk.

"I did. I was just thinking and got caught up in my ideas." I replied. We turned out of the store driveway and were now walking on the main road.

" Would you like to share what you were thinking about?" He asked. Well it'd just be weird to tell him I was thinking about him. But I don't want to start our relationship out with lies. So I decided I'd tell him a revised version.

"I was thinking about leaving here." He looked at me with a confused look on his face. "I want to ride my bike to California or to New York. I can't stand living here. This place is infested with dust and disease and I don't want to go out that way. I'd like to travel the country, write books, meet the president, and fall in love." I held my breath waiting for him to answer.

"Wow," he said. "That's quite a checklist you got there. When are you planning to ride out of here?" He finished.

"I don't know. Maybe soon, maybe never. I haven't exactly planned everything out." I responded. He looked over at me with an expression I've never seen before. "Stop looking at me like that!" I exclaimed with a giggle.

"Like what?" He said smiling. "Well how much farther are we from your house?" He said.

"What!" I yelled. "I can't hear you!" The wind was whipping around us and the air seemed to be getting thicker. Everything around us was steadily getting browner and blurry.

"Elaine!" Luke yelled.

"I'm here!" I said. My dress was flying everywhere. It was slowly getting harder and harder to walk forward. Suddenly I couldn't walk any further my foot had gotten caught on something behind me. "Luke! I shouted "Luke where are you! My foot is caught and I can't move!"A figure soon became in focus. It was Luke. He walked behind me and pulled my foot away from nature's grasp. As soon as my foot was free I crumpled to the ground. I tried to get up but there was a sharp pain in my ankle and I doubled over.

"Elaine there's a shed about 50 feet from here! I'm going to carry you over there!" He yelled. I was then picked up and was now being carried across the landscape. The wind was whipping dirt onto my face and skin, they soon felt dry and raw. When we reached the shed Luke tugged open the door and set me down on the floor then turned around and shut the door. I tried to say thank you but all I manage were dry coughs followed by me spitting out thick, sticky dirt. My face felt like it'd been rubbed raw and my throat was drier than a desert. I looked around and saw Luke sitting in the corner staring at me. I looked away and felt embarrassed. I coughed up mounds of thick, sticky dirt in front of Luke Patterson. I must've looked super attractive and he'll definitely want to walk me home everyday from now. The shed began to creak. As I sat there I became more scared. Horrible thoughts flew in and out of mind. Like me dying out here, never seeing my family again, this shed collapsing in on us. BANG!

Instantly I screamed. Luke rushed over to me. I was now in a ball rocking back and forth. He was by side rubbing my shoulder. More crashing sounds followed the first one, getting louder and louder. Every time I heard it I screamed and leaned closer to Luke. He was now holding me in his arms and not long after I had screamed five times I started to cry. I cried until I had finally wept myself to sleep.

Sunlight passed through the cracks in the wood and my eyes fluttered open. My head was rising and falling to the movement of Luke's breaths. I quickly sat up and questioned why I was in a shed with Luke. Then I remembered the night before how a dust storm had hit when he was walking me home. How my foot got stuck and my ankle was in pain. How he carried me to the shed and how I screamed when something hit the walls. How I cried myself to sleep in his arms. I have to leave this place I can't stay here any longer and risk my health and his health. I'm going to ride out of this town and Luke's coming with me. Whether he likes it or not.