Trial By Fire

Trial By Fire

On a private jet headed to Arabia, sits a young, wealthy merchant, by the name of Gale Hawthorne. He was a handsome man, with striking black hair, as smooth as the calm waves of a placid beach.
The landing gears activated with thud, and in no time the plane had landed on the tarmac, skidding to a halt.
As soon as the door opened Gale was greeted with hot, humid, air. This place seemed hotter because he had enjoyed air-conditioning the whole flight.

Upon Gale’s request, to make it easier, a number of wealthy shopkeepers to gathered in the airport. He didn’t want to travel around the sandy towns in the blasting heat, like a local.
Gale Hawthorne hated the heat.
Even, in his mansion at home, Gale always, always had the air-conditioning on. People would often question Gale, but he simply replied with a polite wave, “I’m a man of the cold.”

In the airport, the shopkeepers surrounded him, holding out extravagant pieces of art and jewellery. Only one stood out to Gale, an elderly woman holding a gold necklace with many odd charms hanging off the end. Gale handed the woman exactly one-hundred-dollars; which was probably worth more than her house.
She obediently handed Gale the necklace, and he quickly dismissed all the other shopkeepers with a simple wave.

Gale decided to wear the necklace, it made him feel important.
Walking to the far exit of the airport, Gale caught sight of the desert out front..  He tried to walk away, but the world started spinning, spinning like a wheel out of control and into the dark depths of space.

Gale let out a groan as he started to come back to the real world. His skin tingled, his mouth was dry. He tried opening his eyes, but every time he did he was greeted with a burning bright light.
‘W-where am I?’ He stuttered to no one in particular, ‘Am-am I in hospital?’
Gale dared to open his eyes further, but his body wouldn’t comply, leaving him to lay there. Attempting to roll over, only sent a shock of agonising pain  rippling through his spine.
That’s when he felt it, the heat. His skin tingling, the dry throat, he was not in any hospital. It was the realization that brought him to his senses.

Gale immediately sat up, causing him to lean over in pain. He felt his hands buried in sand.
Heat, sand.
He now knew where he was, and he wanted out.

Gale stood up, the dunes in the distance, the burning sun, no trees…
The desert.
He wouldn’t dare blink, afraid he would be engulfed back into space and land somewhere worse.
Gale reached into his pocket, seeking relief from the bright sun, gripping his sunnies. Just as they where about to make contact to his face they deteriorated; into sand, and floated in a cloud from his hands.
“Wha-What’s happening?!”
Gripping his necklace, with tight, steady hands, seeking the cool metal, but all Gale’s hands found was hot, burning gold.

Water, he needed water.
He started walking. Every move introduced a new wave of pain but he pressed on determined to escape from the heat… to escape from this place.

Why didn’t this happen before? he thought. Gale started to piece the bits of the puzzle together. This only happened just after he bought the necklace. Gripping the hot metal in his hands intensifying with heat, he examined the charms. As he held the necklace, the metal seemed to get hotter.
He threw it into the sand with a whoosh, and he was left with rosy-pink marks burnt on his hands.
Past the dune, Gale saw a sprinkling pool of water.
Water.
He was so thirsty.
He couldn’t believe it. He ran, he didn’t care if he fell.
Knees to the side of the pool, Gale bent down and dipped his hands indulging in cool, water. Then he took his hands out, cupping the water. Before he drank it, he noticed the water turned red in his hands, he dropped it into the sand, leaving the puddle to evaporate.
Gale looked at his hands, torn flesh and blood. That’s when he realized. He looked into the water, every now and then he would spot a fish.
Piranhas.
The world spun yet again, Gale was determined to hang on to what was left of his mind, his sanity. He weakened and gave in to the pull of space.
When he awoke, Gale was in a room, a white one, smelling of disinfectant. Restraints across his waist, legs and arms.
A person in white approached Gale cautiously, holding a needle.
A few more people in white came to hold Gale down. As he struggled, screamed and kicked, the man in white stuck the needle in this arm, injecting a liquid.
He was now unconscious to the world.
Days passed by quickly and Gale was standing on a thin line; fighting for consciousness. Every now and then a man in white would come and talk to him, try to help Gale remember his life. It took many times explaining for the truth to stay in Gale’s fragile mind.
When he fully awoke Gale was greeted by a short, middle-aged and paunchy, red-headed man.
“Hello, I am here to help you with your-”
“I don’t have a problem,” Gale retorted. The red-headed man nodded, and wrote something on a small pad that just magically appeared in his steady hands. Gale now had a nice view of the room, Hospital, definitely.
Gale lay on a sturdy bed, the pillows and the sheets made a crinkling sound with every movement. A monitor sat next to Gale’s head, showing his heart-beat.
The red-headed man sat on a plush-red seat beside him. He ran through what happened when Gale arrived at the airport. Gale couldn’t focus; he tried. He begged his body to pay attention, he still felt like he was in the heat… Gale only caught a few sentences.
“A spike of poison in the jet’s air-conditioning system, there are a lot of people out to get you, you know. With all your expensive artefacts and bucket-loads of cash.” As he spoke the man appeared to be jealous.
“The poison you breathed in targets fear in the brain, causing you to hallucinate.”
“I-I thought it was the necklace” Gale said, though it hurt to talk.  “I guess it was just timing, the poison travelled to your brain and it took about ten minutes for the hallucinations to take effect.”
Gale had to focus on his body, trying to control it, to keep it from lashing out at the man. Gale didn’t know why he felt so enraged.
“Oh, don’t worry.” he said, noticing Gale fighting to keep calm. “You’ll be back to your normal self in a few days, and then you can head on home.”
Gale sighed.
Home. He slept. Waking in and out of consciousness, he didn’t care, Gale was giddy with excitement,
At the thought of this nightmare soon being over.