Morning all. Friday has never looked so good. So let’s get it started and see what comes out of this morning’s prompt. Timers at the ready and off we go.
I need to think of the reason for the journey, but I kind of like the start. Even if this turns out to be not quite the start.
Friday, July 26th: The wind blew hot and dry burning the eyes and lungs.
The wind blew hot and dry burning the eyes and lungs. He kept his head down. There would soon be relief, he knew. The sun was lowering. The heat of the day had broken. It was why he resumed his march through the desert. During the hottest part of the day he sheltered under some rocks. He slept, conserved his energy and waited for the heat to drop. Now it had.
Right now, it was still hot, but it was bearable. It was not pleasant, but it would not kill him, at least he hoped it wouldn’t. Once the sun went down, he would have a brief respite from the heat, enjoying a few moments before the cold set in and he was forced to take his extra gear from his pack and put it on in an effort to stave off hypothermia.
It was a land of extremes with only a few moments of comfort between. He would shiver through the night and enjoy the warming as the sun returned with the new morning. He would slowly peel off layers and continue on until it grew too hot. Then he would once again seek shelter.
He thought he was prepared for this journey. He had known intellectually what t would hold and prepared his gear accordingly. His supplies were holding up and he was on course, yet somehow his preparation seemed inadequate. He memorized all of the details of the journey without actually understanding it fully.
‘I don’t think anyone could until they were out here,’ he consoled himself. He was used to being physically and mentally prepared for things. He was accustomed to precise preparation and his ready for anything equipage. Somehow, he felt he let himself down.
He watched the sun sink lower and lower in the sky. He enjoyed the flamboyant show of colors. The reds, yellows and oranges streaking across the sky. Above the fairly monotone mass of sand below that formed his vista for hours on end it seemed unnaturally brilliant. For a moment he stopped and stood in stunned wonderment at the display.
Finally he shook himself free of the spell, used the setting sun to check his bearings and mentally marked some of the landscape features that would help him when the sun was gone. His compass showed that he was still on track. He clipped it back to his belt so that it was in easy reach.
The moon had been growing more full with each night that passed and he knew tonight would be the first night of the full moon. It would provide plenty of light and let him see the distant landscape features as shapes large enough to stay on course. Having been away from man made light for a while, after his eyes adjusted to the disappearing sun, the moon would seem almost as bright, it’s chilled light somehow friendlier than the burning sun.
After the display of the painted sky, the sun seemed to slip quickly from the horizon ushering in the night. The moon rose and a blanket of stars appeared above him. He remembered stories from his childhood about the star being the souls of ancestors who watched down on future generations. he wondered if any of them were paying him and his strange journey any attention. As he walked, he wondered what they would think.
Ten til Midnight 