It All Comes Back

The sun sets over the dunes, stray rays of light illuminating the sand. Waves of heat can be seen rising above the sand. Jason stumbles then falls, sliding down one of the dunes. He lands in a valley of cool darkness. Giving up his trek for the day, he lets sleep carry him to more pleasant places.
He wakes, and for an instant forgets where he is. But then the suns first rays peek over the horizon. He watches the sun rise until his whole valley is lit up, and it starts to warm up, fast. It’s not long before he is out of the valley and crossing the dunes again. He looks up at the clear, bright blue sky, then down at the mountains of sand, with the early morning heat already intense and rising off them, in thick, almost choking hot shimmering waves.
“How in the world did I end up here?” he asks himself.
“Well, aren’t you a bright little bulb.” his voice says back. But it is not coming from him.
Jason looks around, and sees himself. His once white shirt is now yellow and brown from the sand, his blue jeans, faded and torn. Most of the rubber soles of his sneakers melted off days ago, leaving a thin layer of rubber and fabric between his feet and the scalding sand under them. His face and arms are red, burnt from the scorching sun, his brown hair is so covered in sand it looks almost blond. Freckles dot his face and arms. Jason runs his hands over his clothing, as the other Jason watches, and realizes that the image in front of him is in fact him, exactly. Down to the very last hole in the jeans and freckle on his face.
“How did I get here?” Jason’s image asks, voice mocking panic, hands going to his face.
The real Jason looks down, a subconscious gesture that shows how uncomfortable he is.
“You couldn’t face the truth, could you?” his image says.
“Shut up.” he covers his ears with his hands, but the image keeps talking, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” he screams ad takes off running.
He runs over dune after dune, away from the image, away from his memories. He stumbles but keeps running. He keeps stumbling, finally letting himself fall. he lays on the ground, emptying his stomach contents, mostly acid, onto the yellow sand. Lifting his head off his arm, he finds himself staring at a pair of feet, clad in a pair of grungy, forest green converses. He knows the body that those shoes belong to. After all, she had been his girlfriend for over two years. He looks up at her. Her long beautiful black hair falls gently around her round, tan face. Her striking blue eyes stare sadly at him. Her mouth is turned down into part frown, part pout. A single tear falls from her blue eyes. It rolls down her cheek and falls to the sand in front of him, but it leaves no mark in the sand. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Candice in front of him, just the way he had left her when he broke her heart and sped away in his old blue pick-up truck. He tried to reach out to her.
“Candi, babe, I’m sorry.” his outstretched hand passes right through her body.
With that, all that had happened comes back to him. Their last conversation plays back through his mind.
<i>“How did this happen? Candice, Candi, look at me . You know we can’t keep it.”
“I have to. My parents would never let me get an abortion.”
“I’ll help pay for it. They will never have to know.”
“Jason, you know I can’t. I wouldn’t be able to go through with it. What if it’s the only kid I’ll ever be able to have?”
“Candice, I cant. We can’t. We’re not ready to be parents. I’m not ready.”
</i>Tears sprung into her eyes <i>“But Jason…”
“Candi, I can’t. I love you with all me heart, but I just can’t be a father right now. I’m eighteen for crying out loud. I still have my whole life ahead of me, or I should. I can’t stay.”
“Jason, no. Don’t say that. Please stay. I don’t know what to do without you. I can’t do it on my own, I just can’t.”
He wasn’t listening to her anymore. He was walking away from her, towards his truck. She was racing after him, she grabs his hand. “No! Candice. Get away from me. I told you, I’m leaving. I can’t do this.” he speeds away, leaving her crying, alone and pregnant.</i>
He was in the truck, driving way too fast. Trying to get away from Candice, away from it all. He fell asleep at the wheel and crashed in the middle of no where.
Tears stream down his burnt, sand covered face. He lays down on the scorching sand, guilt finally catching up with him as the image of Candice fades, blurring around the edges. He accepts his fate, letting the sand burry him and his guilt.