I lay awake, shivering, watching the sky lighten up slowly. An hour later there seemed to be enough light to take a good look around me. I lifted my head and shook the dirt from my hair. I looked around. I was in a desert of some kind. The foliage consisted of the short scrub in patches, which, on closer inspection of one close by, was revealed to be a nasty, thorny, beat-up bush of some sort. The dirt was a reddish brown, and stretched out as far as the eye could see, except to the East.
I could tell it was East, as that was the lightest part of the sky, and obviously where the sun was rising. The sky was appearing to lighten above a darkened patch sitting above the flat landscape. Obviously these were low hills that stretched off into the darkness.
Time to think, and think hard. You’re somewhere in a desert. Don’t know how you got there. Don’t know how to get back. No clothes. No food. No water. No shelter. No anything for that matter. What are the answers? How did I get here? Doesn’t matter, you’ll ask someone when you get back, then beat the stuffing out of them for doing this to you. How do I get back? I’ll have to find out where I am first to answer that one, this was no place I recognised - certainly not my back yard. What are the most important things I need right now then? Food? No. Water? Yes! Being in a desert, I think it’ll heat up soon. Shelter? Yes! Got to get out of this wind, and out of the sun when that comes up. Clothes? Yes! To keep me warm and protect me from the sun. Don’t care about modesty really. Waking up in the middle of a desert, the last think you care about is who sees your pink bits. What if this is a joke? What if "they’re" watching you right now laughing their heads off? Fair enough being paranoid after waking up here, but survival is really your first priority right now.
I set off again. Heading to the East this time. The walking/jogging/slouching style was similar to my first attempt, but this time the wind had lost it’s harshest edge and I was a bit more upright. There was a sense of urgency. The hills were about 20 miles away and it would take half the day to get there, and when the sun came up, who knew how hot it would get.
An hour into my ragged stumbling across the remote land, the sun started [peaking over the hill[s. First a sliver of intense yellow, and seconds later the rising disk flooded the land with brilliant light. The long shadows of the bushes and rocks shrunk back and slithered under their hosts. The warmth hit my chest and projected out into my limbs. The hot glow on my face driving out the chill from the night. I kept moving though. I knew it wouldn’t be this pleasant for long.
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