Rhapsodies

Kevin jumps on board the great red shark and our story begins.

* * * * * * *

Kevin couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had arrived in the desert. He was pretty sure it had been around noon because the sun had been in the middle of the sky. He remembers reading somewhere that when the sun was in the middle of the sky like that it was noon…. But the sun had been up there for a very long time.

To make matters worse he had to know where he was. He knew he was in a desert and person he had talked to on the phone had said this was the ninth floor. But he was pretty sure that if the two story building the corner store was in had an elevator that went to a desert he would have noticed. No, he stopped to think about it, he probably wouldn’t have noticed …. But one of the others would have, and he was sure they would have mentioned it to him by now.

The desert seemed to go forever. He figured he needed to stay on the road. He couldn’t afford to get lost. And with any luck, if he followed it long enough he might just find other people. Perhaps get some water and directions while he was at it. He thought he saw what looked like the skyline of a city just over the horizon. But wasn’t completely sure. Either way, it made for a decent destination to aim for.

After a couple of hours, he was getting nowhere. He had tried hitchhiking but all of the cars that went by didn’t seem to notice him… unless the one that accelerated right before it went by hem counted. He was beginning to think he was hallucinating. He’d seen some mirages, which was normal, but he’d also thought he’d seen a lizard in a Hawaiian shirt talking to a dead armadillo, which wasn’t.

He thought he had heard a hawk scream. But when he looked up all he saw was something black and batlike. And if that wasn’t weird enough, he had seen a huge shadow pass over him.