Fatigue
by Elizabeth Averay
Sun glaring and hot, it bears down on dry cracked desert. Nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. Nothing to drink, no shade, just suffocating heat and sand. How did I get here, I don’t know. The last thing I remember is going skydiving. It was a birthday gift. I jumped out of the plane over lush green pastures and fields, floating in what I can only describe as blissful peace.
Then, I’m here.
How, I don’t know.
I have walked for hours. My throat is dry and my lips have cracked to match the hard ground under the sands. I realise I am no longer in my jumpsuit, just shorts and a tank top. Because of the relentless sun my feet are bare and blistered, matching my face, neck and arms. The skin on my legs has gone pink. It won’t be long before they match the rest of me.
I am so tired. I’ve been crawling for…I don’t know how long. Long enough that my knees are raw. Breathing is difficult, it hurts so much, and my eyes – I can barely see. The grit and sand have built up in them and I swear that I can hear them rasp in their sockets when they move.
So tired, but I need to keep moving, to stop means death and I’m not ready. There is so much I want to do, and say.
Everything hurts. I lost my top somewhere and the sun and sand have worked together to burn and strip my back of its flesh. I have lost the feeling in my legs and arms below the elbow, but I must keep moving. I will not give in. I will not let this hellhole claim me as I imagine it has countless others.
I thought the desert had a nighttime. It feels like I have been stuck here for months with no cool darkness to alleviate the days.
I have begun to think I have lost my mind. I could have sworn I heard my parents’ voices telling me to hang on and to come back to them. But how could they be here? I am alone. Completely alone.
I am so tired. I cannot go on. I have lost all sensation. Nothing works. I will give in to the fatigue. Maybe when I wake up again I’ll be able to get help – or better yet, someone might have found me.
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