Day 249: Scheduled Departures (04/10/2011)

The desert fog hung in the air, dimming the morning sun and absorbing all sound.

In the night, TJ had crept off to sleep in the dunes and wasn’t woken by the horn that blasted repeatedly to round up the stragglers. Perhaps he stayed up too late, being at one with the desert ghosts or perhaps he communed a little too heavily with another type of desert spirit.

It took a search party to find him.

Either way, he was quiet until after his eggs.

I climbed a remote dune to get the money-shot of the oasis. Every time I turned my back, a few more people snuck on board the truck until it was full, except for me. Imagine my surprise when Cindy pulled away in the distance and the buddy system that had worked so seamlessly up until now, came crashing to the ground.

I was perfectly prepared to be lost in the desert – out in the desert.

But left on the sweltering sands with the truck in plain sight was not what I had bargained for. I half ran, half rolled down the dune, caught up with it, flung open the door and dived into the foot well with socks full of sand.

The truck never stopped.

I never liked Cindy anyway.