This is a story I cooked up. It's not to much in the way of plot, but just read it and try and picture the place I'm describing. I originally wrote this for English not to long ago, but I changed it a little. And it's pretty long so allow some time to read it. Hopefully, it'll be worth the time you invest in it. So, enjoy!
The Crystal Desert of My Mind
by Hasaki-Keissi
The wind, dry and harsh as it rushes across my face. The air, arid and so very hot. As the sun bears down upon my head, giving no relent in the cloudless sky above. The sky of subtle blue shades, of the clear sky. Not a cloud in sight, as the sun reaches forth toward the center of the heavens and slowly moves closer towards it. The shadows, grow shorter and shorter as the seconds go by. And at the top of the opposite ridge, the moon begins to retreat from the heavens and disappear from sight.
The wind blows across the dunes, picking up small puffs of dust clouds as it passes over the tops of them. So much does this happen, that the valley floor is covered by a veil of dust. So thick is it, that one can just barely see the valley floor from my perch, on the ridge side. I sit on this rock and like all the others it is a partially faded red color with numerous crystalline structures on it's surface. These crystals, when the sun is at the right angle, they make the entire ridge gleam with their shine. And even the other ridge does this to.
I make my decent down to the valley floor. The sand, hitting against my face, pricking, burning and stinging as each grain hits and moves along my face. My vision clouded as I move along the dunes, the clouds of dust thick in front of my glasses. But I can clearly see, the crystal spires rising from the sand dunes. Their surfaces battered and eroded by time and the sands of the ever changing desert.
As I walk closer to the center of the valley, I can see a relatively large crystal tower. It's lower surfaces, rough and dull. Though, it's higher surfaces gleamed of light from the sun and the surfaces smooth, crisp. As I walk closer still, I can clearly see an entrance. It very gate like in structure and very old. It’s wooden doors, dulled and decayed with little holding it up, except for the 2 large hinges on either sides. And the hinges and metal surrounding the door, worn red. Clearly not having been moved in centuries, the bolts of the hinges, welded to the hinges themselves. I continue on, past the tower and it’s foreboding gate. Not much past the tower, lay the ruins of a bridge, standing once mighty over a now dead river.
I move across the bridge, the stone structure, heavily blasted with sand. From the almost daily sand storms. Along the bridge, are an occasional wagon. Each wagon, covered. And the covers blowing with the wind, though one could barely tell from the thick sand clouds that now covered the river bed and the top of the bridge. I approach the edge of the bridge and gaze at the river bed. Imagining a time once it flowed full of water and life. I could almost feel the humidity of the water, but I could not. And this only made me realize, that I was out of water and the wind was drying my lips out even more. The sensation of thirst was overwhelming.
Climbing carefully down, the broken section of the bridge, I made my way toward the opposite embankment. Where I could see, a small pier, or at least the remains of one. The support beams rising some 25 feet above the river bed and the boards that spanned between them, now lay at their feet. Some broken and some decayed to little more than a small pile of wood strips. Thrown around, the sandy and rocky surface
I climbed the jagged rock face, up the other embankment. My hands, blistering from the heat of the rocks, my arms growing more and more tired climbing, and my feet were unsteady on the varying surfaces. I looked at the rock beside my hand, I saw a bone sticking out of it, but could not pull it out from the embankment. I continued the ascent, and reached the top of the face and was exhausted. The Afternoon heat, now affecting me hard, as I was breathing hard from the climb and my muscles were tired.
My mouth was now dry as the sand around it and I began to drift in thought. Even though, I kept moving as my arms now drooped down and my legs felt like they’d give way. The sight of more sand dunes ahead, was only something to dread. There were no crystal spires like before, but smaller rock slabs tossed around. Some with clearly visible writing, a language long since dead engraved upon them. And others faded and eroded beyond recognition. As one walked through this field of sand dunes, he noticed things about the sand that were different then the one before it. This sand had the faint smell of blood, something that no one would forget. It’s foul odor, ever the faintest. As I moved farther through this collection of stone slabs, it became ever more apparent as to this place’s purpose. The stone slabs kept getting bigger as one walked away from the bridge, and appeared to have a center, not far from where I was standing. It was a grave yard of the fallen, from what I do not know. But in parts, the sand was stained blood red. And there were occasional bones tossed in amongst the sand. Human bones, many broken, but bleached white. The way that only shifting sand can do.
Sorrow overcame me as I continued to walk through the graveyard to the other side, now knowing what I had just figured out. Even at the place insanely high temperature, one would still get chills down the spine as one passed certain graves. As though the spirits never found peace with themselves. These chills were deathly cold and would last for a little while, and one would constantly feel watched. As I often did, I turned around every so often, the sensation was so strong. As I left the outer edges of the graveyard, I noticed the ridge line I had observed from back on the other one.
Now, in my path. The sand storms, left behind me and the unbearable heat returned with twice the strength it had
before. It felt like it was baking my skin and me in one fell swoop. As the heat from above grew in strength, so did the
heat rising from the sand. My face, was probably burned red. At least it felt that way. I felt my legs grow warier with
each step. And from the illusions that form in the desert, I saw a large grove of trees. My hopes restored, I rushed to
it, even faster than before. But as I approached, I soon realized that they too were dead.
The feeling of doubt overcame me, as I thought to myself. This was a fools errand. My legs were going to give out at
any second, but my mind would not let it happen. In desperation, that only a starving and parched man would know, I
tried to speak to motivate myself to keep going. But my voice, mute from the heat and lack of water. My throat felt as
cracked and dried as the surface I was walking on.
I fell to my feet, exhausted. My face now lying on the rock. My body burned from everything. Every muscle in my body was screaming in pain, or at least that’s what I thought. I tried to move my arms so that I could move my arms, but nothing happened, they were too tired to move and the nerves were to crazy with the impulse of pain that they could carry anything else.
It seemed as though the desert would claim with life this day, but in the sky a lone cloud had drifted over the ridge line, or at least that’s what I thought at the time. As I had my face in the ground, and my body feeling a sudden relief of being free from the heat. My muscles began to relax, to the point that I could move them once more. I struggled to get to my feet, the weight of my body ever apparent, as my body responds to from over use. I managed to get to my feet, I felt dizzy and stumbled about as I retook my bearing amidst the skeletons of trees that stand all around me.
And I walked toward the ridge, once more. It was close, so very close. I could almost see the individual rocks on it, but my vision was blurred by sweat as it rolled down into my eyes, burning as it entered. But filled with a new hop that I would not lose so easily, I pushed through the pain, toward the ridge.
I began to climb the ridge, and much like the other. It was covered in crystals, these as fine as sand and easily blown
around. My eyes now burned in excruciating pain as these crystal shard were blown in my eyes. As I pushed through the
pain, I realized that this ridge was smaller than the last, as I saw the top. And the feeling I had at that moment could
only be described as ecstatic at the sight of the top. I hurried, jumping from the boulder to boulder, trying to rush to
what I considered a finish of my torture. I reached the top and gazed around at the valley ahead. Lush ad green. And
water flowed through it’s streams. I could hear the cries of several birds in the distance. Several loud calls.
And, in the distance, I could make the shape of a large bird with long tail feathers and a decent wing span.
As I stared at the oasis, I thought to myself. This is it. I have found it, my paradise. A feeling of joy overcame me
as I jumped up in the air and clicked my heels.
