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Desert Commute
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This story was actually written for an English assignment, but I wanted to share it with you folks! Hope you enjoy it!



     The sun's rays hit the side of Landon's face like burning bullets as he
drove through road 142. The view that had been greeting him for the
past three hours has not changed slightly. The same skewed, and
crippled dark gray path shoots on indefinitely through the same dull,
spiritless flat plane of crusty infertile dirt and long dried out
plants that cover the great nothing like a worn out yellow carpet.
The only element of this tedious scene that added at the very least a
microscopic amount of variation was the speed limit signs and the
tiny wooden stubs with white labels showing a series of numbers whose
purpose are completely unknown to a regular person such as Landon.
His white sleeveless shirt was now drenched in sweat to a point where
darker areas of the shirt which had soaked up the sweat were now
clearly visible, the bottom of his trousers were stuck to the leather
seat which forced Landon to squirm around in his seat to try and tame
the unbearable lack of comfort. The only thing that could protect his
face from the infernal rays of the sun was his cap which he debated
to himself about keeping it on his head because despite the
protection it gave, his head was paying the price of becoming a
furnace.




     As much as Landon desired to stay in his comfortable home in Los Angeles with
his wife and escape this prison of heat and boredom, he was obliged
to send a package full of blueprints which were to be sent to an
office of architecture in Sacramento. This was a job that would tell
his fate in the business, if he were to deny this job he would end up
with none at all. So here he is now, driving through hell itself for
the sake of his job. To build upon the great tower of misfortune he
was facing, the car he rode was aged and exhausted causing his
venture to become even longer.



     His lips have now become a mosaic cracking concrete and his tongue was
completely drained of all water, the effects of the extreme heat were
beginning to lurk into his brain, he begun to see flashes of bright
light and had the dexterity of a drunken old man. Very well aware of
the dangers of driving under these circumstances and seeing a rest
stop in the distance, he concluded that a break was crucial to his
mental and physical sanity. The rest stop grew closer and closer as
Landon sped towards it like he was approaching the gates of heaven,
he preyed that there would be a store with something, anything to
drink. A sense of pure relief spread throughout his whole body as he
saw the store. He stopped in front and limped to the door all the
while murmuring to himself, “At long last! Thank you God!” He saw
a shelf with some bottles of Coca Cola, above that a poster
advertising the soda, “The best beverage under the sun!” Landon
read the poster and chuckled to himself at the mention of the sun, he
found it coincidental considering his current situation. The picture
of a lady with a ridiculously eccentric smile while drinking a bottle
of the soda made him laugh loudly, his mind was so unclear and bored
that he developed the sense of humor of a toddler, any mildly
humorous quip or image could entertain him. He grabbed two sodas, the
precious long needed sensation of holding the pleasantly cool drink
gave him chills, at that moment he regained some of his
consciousness. He realized the kind of image he had made for himself,
a sweaty and mentally drunk man who insanely laughs at anything.
Landon straightened his posture, wiped the dripping sweat from his
face and calmly strolled towards the cashier. 'Poor man' he thought
to himself 'it must be a terrible life, having to wait here in the
middle of nowhere for someone to come to his store'. Out of pity for
the man, he decided to buy one more thing, a bag of salted almonds.
He smiled to him while purchasing the items, gave him a two dollar
tip, and kindly thanked him while nodding his head in a humble
manner.




     As he opened the door out of the store and the cool air from inside
dissolved into the hell that is this dreaded desert, Landon opened
the bottle and took a drink to cool himself out, he felt the cold
fluid flow through his esophagus and to his stomach what followed was
a marvelous burst of ice that traveled through his lungs and out his
chest. Feeling refreshed and confident of his trip, he shuffled to
his car and drove back out into the empty nothingness.