Writing Prompt: The heat of the sun was a weight on top of his head.

Good morning and welcome to Friday. I don’t know why but this week seemed to last forever. It’s like we hit Wednesday and the world went into slo-mo. Or maybe that is just me. I certainly felt like I was wading through molasses this week. But we have one more writing prompt to get done this week. Is everyone up for it? Excellent. Then let’s set those timers for fifteen minutes and close the week out strong.

Okay, not bad. I am sort of intrigued to know the story for this character and what secrets he holds. The story doesn’t grab me by the throat, but it does interest me enough that I am pretty sure I’ll circle back to it at some point. Not a bad way to end the week.

Friday, February 4th: The heat of the sun was a weight on top of his head.

The heat of the sun was a weight on top of his head.  It pushed him down as though it wanted to plant him beneath the rich black soil as he was now planting the seeds.  He resisted the pressure and kept working, sweat rolling down the sides of his face, meeting at his chin and dropping down to sink beneath the ground.

‘That should be enough of me planted for your liking,’ he thought at the sun.  He felt as though a large chunk of himself had melted away and run down into the ground by the time his task was through.  He looked up.  The sun was still bright, the heat still a heavy weight, but the sun had changed positions, sliding from one side of the sky to the other while he worked. 

He surveyed the land he managed to plant and felt a wave of satisfaction.  It was swiftly followed by a wave of dizziness and he realize he hadn’t stopped as routinely for water as he knew he should.  He reached for the water bottle clipped to his belt loop and pulled it free.  The reinforced glass was warm to the touch.  He flipped open the lid and lifted it to his lips.  The water bottle was designed to keep water colder longer but he had been in the sun longer than the manufacturers thought probably.  The water was warm, as warm as his own blood and felt strange is it washed into his mouth and down his throat. 

James was used to water being on the extreme ends of things.  It was hot when he brewed his tea and cold when he drank it plain.  The neutral warmth was off putting.  Still, he knew he had sweated out too much and needed the fluids.  He drained the water bottle, frowning at the last sip and wishing it was either hotter or colder than his own body.  He clipped the water bottle back to his belt loop and felt his dizziness fade back.

Food and more water was what he needed so he turned and plodded his slow way back to the house.  Used to buildings with four walls and a sloped roof, the dome shaped building still made him feel like he was camping instead of living.  He was told it was more ecofriendly.  He asked why and the person who told him hadn’t been able to answer.  He was certain that someone somewhere would have the answer, but it seemed like ecofriendly was a pat answer for anything used here. 

Things were different here.  The colony was not going to repeat the same mistakes that were made back on earth and seemed determined that the way to do that was to do everything differently.  James wondered if the dome shaped buildings were chosen merely bcause square or rectangular buildings were the norm back on Earth.  He was content to do things the new way for the most part, but he also wished for a little bit of familiarity to his new world.  A little hold over from the old one.  He was okay with change if it was an improvement, but was finding it hard to accept change simply for change’s sake.

‘of course, I’m not really supposed to be here,’ he thought as he trudged to the doorway.  He pressed the opening mechanism and the door lifted out of the way.  He stepped inside and it closed behind him.  James wondered if that was the reason he felt slightly off balance with the others.  He had not been initially chosen for placement in the colony.  However someone decided that there was not enough diversity in the mix.  James was pretty sure he was chosen randomly.  Certainly no one here seemed to want to know his particulars.  He was only here to fill a gap, one person not like the others. He chucked to himself.  If they only knew how different he really was.