The Sahara

The blazing sun evaporates all water in sight. No sign of life has been seen for hours. His feet vibrate with every step; his blue eyes surrounded by dirt, fair skin turning red, brown hair peeking from a button down shirt wrapped around his head. Not knowing where he is going or why; he slows his pace walking up to an old abandoned boat. Halfway buried in sand, he finds his way in.

As he shuffles around he finds a little black notebook, Moleskine engraved on the outer casing, smooth to the touch, textured pages filled with hope. Boxes flipped to the side, clothes sprawled everywhere, paperwork piled in a corner.

"I wonder what happened here" he thinks out loud.

Going through each section losing energy doing so, he stops once he finds a yellow envelope filled so much it can barely hold it's paper lips together. Opening it he is shocked, green brightens his eyes.

Again thinking aloud "Holy crap, there is so much here" eyes wide he smiles.

After counting he finds twenty thousand dollars, with this kind of money just laying around he believes there must be more things hidden. Taking some of the clothing, he searches for food. Hours seem to pass and there is no more light. He continues to feel around for anything he can. Getting to the last section of the boat he feels the warm wooden boards under his fingers. Stopping at the last cabinet he opens it and finds all kinds of canned food. After eating all that he could, he gets all the clothing he didn't take and piles them into a bed.

After falling asleep he dreams of how he ended up here.

"There will be some turbulence soon, we are cautioning everyone now, it will be rough. Please put on your seatbelt and stay calm" the overhead spoke sweetly and clearly.

Thinking about how the girl might look, just by listening to her voice. I look out the window, we were all surrounded by nothing but clouds and darkness, I couldn't see the ground.

Turbulence starts and everyone starts panicking, this is the most intense turbulence I have felt in my life being on a plane.

The oxygen cups ascend and my life blinks before my eyes.

Waking up in a sweat, he rolls to look around, the early morning light starts to dethaw the frost on the ground; still no life is seen. He kept the notebook, and the money and made his way. Almost dark, he made his way over a hill; finally he saw a town a few miles away.

Arriving he finds someone to ask a few questions.

"Where am I, what day is it, can you help me get home?" Out of breath; weak, he talks rapidly.

"Woah man calm down, you are in The Sahara, it is Tuesday, and I can try to help in any way. Come sit lets chat, you must be thirsty as hell" the man says, in tan dusted clothing.

"What is your name?" Abruptly speaking

"Simon" the man says, "and yours, other than crazy?" He says with a grin.

"Ha; not crazy, lost and lucky to not be dead… My name is Allen" he says this not taking his eyes off the ground.

After talking the day away he gets fed, hydrated, cleaned up, and told he could leave the next day. Knowing he will soon go home he takes some of the money he found and gives some of it to the man that helped him. The next day he is taken to the small area where he will be driven home.

Arriving home he immediately is bombarded with newscasters, his family, and random people asking about their family members. He explained to everyone what had happened, how he was the only one that made it after traveling for 4 days to the town, he had three others following but one morning they were no longer with him. He told them about the man who helped him, and how grateful he was to be home.

Remembering the money he decided to start doing a bucket list, do the things he would never dream of doing if it were a normal day. He put a small down payment on a car of his dreams, went on a trip. Once he was done doing a few fun things he went back to his old job. He enjoyed it so much he worked harder and got promoted, became a leader instead of a follower.

He appreciated the life he had, and that boat had saved his life. Without the food, the new clothes; for warmth, he wouldn't have made it another day. Without that town he would have been lost forever.