Trial by Desert

By day,
No water to quench your thirst,
Your throat is parched. Your mouth moves, but no words are produced. Your tongue is swollen from lack of moisture.

No breeze to give ease,
The air is stifling hot. It hurts to breathe since it’s been super heated throughout the day. The heat waves rise in front of you making it hard to see in the distance. Your eyes feel like they are about to pop.

No trees to provide cover,
The sun beats down as though it was trying to melt you. Your skin is on fire by now, and your lips are cracked.

No shadows to escape the sun,
As your skin burns, you search for refuge. You find none, not even a large rock or cactus with which to hide for a spell.



By night,
No fire to warm you,
The sun fell from the sky for the night, and the temperature dropped just as fast. It’s no longer searing hot. But now you’re freezing cold. You have no way to create a fire. It’s so black; you can barely see your hand in front of you. Even the moon hides tonight.


No quiet time,
You hear the tell tale sound of coyotes laughing in the distance. Soon you hear their companions calling back, and you realize you’re surrounded.

No protection from Scorpions,
You lay down to rest. You feel something crawling on you. You reach down haphazardly to knock it off. Bang! It stings you with the furiosity of five wasps, all at once. Then it’s gone. You get up and realize, they are all around you, even sitting on small rocks nearby. Your lips begin to numb even though the throbbing of the sting doesn’t stop.

No escape from rattle snakes,
You move to a different area and are stopped by a vibrating sound. It reminds you of a baby’s rattle gone wild. No babies out here! You take one step back away from the sound. Now, you hear hundreds of babies rattles outraged by your action.

No place from the dust storms,
A storm rumbles in the distance. Is it rain? No. It’s years of sand, dust, and ash thrown into the air by gusts of wind blowing across the plains. Your skin gets sandblasted down to the bone.

The desert is not a place to start. Instead, it’s a place to end as most everything is against you.