I trudged through the hot sand, lifting my feet slowly and wearily. The glaring sun blasted its rays into my eyes, the sweltering heat coming close to making me feel as if my body were lit on fire. An endless downpour of sweat trickled down my body, drenching my clothing and doing little to ease the heat. Persistent winds barraged my face with swift, far-flung sands, forcing me to shield myself from the flying dust. My stomach rumbled loudly, and I convulsed in pain, almost losing my balance. It’s been a long time since I’ve last ate. And I was also in desperate need of water. Looking around, I saw myself surrounded by miles and miles of sand, stretching as far as the eye could see. I was all alone in this place. It was hopeless, really. I wondered why I still persisted.
I kept walking, making stride after stride. The torturous day grew longer and hotter, I became thirstier, hungrier, wearier. Hours passed, and I continued to endure the long struggles. My legs began to feel heavy, my head and back starting to droop down, as if I were sleepwalking. I started having trouble with breathing, and I could hardly take the heat anymore. I thought I was going to die out here, all alone. I didn’t want to die..
Right before my eyes, the hot, sunny sky became a cool, dark night, streaked with faint, puffy clouds. The intense, unforgiving sun vanished, and in its place appeared the moon, exuding a white and silvery light, washing over me with its calm, merciful presence. I found myself standing atop a small balcony, with my hands gripped onto the railing, gazing into the night sky. Cold winds breezed past my face, and I shivered. Then I felt someone’s hand grasp onto mine, and I looked to my side. There was a woman, with long, black hair streaming in the wind and a beautiful pair of eyes, fixed onto the night sky. In the moonlight, I could see her face, a face so pretty and a face I’ve known for so long. As I was looking at her, she turned to face me.
“You know, “ she began, her voice so gentle and soothing..
“I want to do something in this world.” Her soft voice emanated with a passion, a restless ambition. Her wonderful curiosity and undying resolve shined through her words, and it touched me. My heart fluttered, and I smiled. No one else was like that.
“Well, what do you have in mind?” I asked, curious to know what she had in store for us. We looked into each others’ eyes.
“I.. don’t know,” she replied, somewhat reluctantly. “But you’ll help me figure it
out.”
We’ve always been that way. We loved thinking about each other and about what we were going to do together. We’ve argued over the silliest, most mundane things, and we’ve talked about the deeper questions of life. We were there for each other in our times of struggle, and we were there to celebrate each other’s triumphs. We were always together. She was.. everything to me.
“You can count on it. I’ll always be with you,” I reassured her. Truly, I loved her
very dearly.
“We’ll always be together.”
She was gone. A burst of sunlight flashed into my eyes, and I felt the blistering heat again. When I opened my eyes, I saw vast stretches of plain desert, with the scorching sun emblazoned in the sky, looming over me. I suddenly felt limp and weak, overtaken by fatigue, thirst, and hunger. Within moments, I fell to the ground. Puffs of sand burst into the air as my body slammed into the ground, and my face laid to rest on the sand. The sand was unbearably hot and uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to get up. I closed my eyes, not wanting to wake up ever again. This is it. It’s over.
No.. I didn’t want it to be over. Not right now. I have somebody waiting for me. Just one more look. One more. I moved my arms up closer to my chest, and planted my hands firmly into the sand. Mustering all the strength I had, I pushed into the sand and slowly lifted my neck and back off the ground. Opening my eyes, I saw a blue, misty haze floating above the desert floor, surrounded by green, blurry mosses. I willed my eyes into a deeper focus, fighting against the blinding rays of the sun. Then I saw that it was.. water.
My body rose on its own, and I found myself rushing towards my newfound salvation. My legs and arms took on a life of their own, pumping, swinging, pacing back and forth. Stride after stride, my feet pounded into the sand, thrusting them backwards and into the air. Breath after breath, I was panting, gasping, and wheezing, but I wasn’t tired, and I wasn’t going to stop. As the water approached closer and closer, I ran harder, I breathed faster, and my body was reinvigorated with a stamina I didn’t know I had. Fatigue began to wear me down, the scorching heat made me miserable, but I ran and ran, desperate for a relief to my thirst. As I neared the shore, I finally slowed down, stopping right at the edge.
Having given everything I had, I dropped to my knees and let my hands fall into the water. My hands turned cold and felt weightless, and I could feel the water moving between my fingers, brushing past my hands. Water splashed onto the rest of my body, exposing my worn, sun-baked skin to a long forgotten, icy coldness. Underneath the water, I cupped my hands together and then rose them out of the water, holding a small pool of water in my hands. I closed my eyes and rose my head up to the sky, letting my face absorb the hot, blinding rays of the sun. I lifted my cupped hands up and above my face, and opened my mouth. And then I let the water pour down.
