Lost

Why did I leave the campsite? Dick wondered regretting it for the umpteenth time as he staggered through scorching sand. The hotel had organised an overnight desert safari for its guests and he'd been eager to go. Photography was his love and a cloudless night sky and sparkling stars was reason enough to leave. So Dick grabbed his camera and tripod and strolled out into the wilderness to capture the Milky Way.

Absorbed in picture taking he took no notice of the freezing cold until numb fingers made it awkward for him to handle his equipment. Dick felt he should turn back, but he realised there was a problem. His full attention had been on the sky and he hadn't kept an eye on where he was going.

Clambering to the top of a nearby ridge he could only see sand dunes in every direction and no sign of the camp. Lost, his gut clenched, adrenaline surged through his arteries, what was he to do, which way to go? Panic-stricken he cried out, he ran, his toes caught in the surface he fell and slipped to the bottom of the slope hitting his head on the way.

When he opened his eyes, night had passed, and the sun now high in the sky. Skin already blistering in the heat. Now I understand how a crispy duck feels in the stove, he murmured to no one. The breeze smelled hot and dusty; flies buzzed as they flew around him. Perspiration trickled down his forehead as he sat. Wiping it with his palm he licked it, attempting to get the last drop of moisture into his parched mouth it was hours since he'd taken any water. 

Fine sand sucked at him as he walked making him tired, he needed to take a rest. Although a city dweller not an outdoorsy person, he had enough common sense to stay out of the midday sun but there's no shade. What time of day is it? He had no idea. He had neither his wrist watch nor mobile phone with him. Where is help? When will it arrive? Jeep or a helicopter? Do they have helicopters hereabouts?

Dizzy with sun stroke his brain was fuzzy, reasoning difficult he sat before he fell. Thin clothes didn't save him from the burning heat he couldn’t stand to place any exposed part of his body on the ground. The buzzing was becoming noisier; it wasn’t flies but a chopper. A dark speck appeared in the sky he leaped up waving his arms. The sound grew stronger; the shape got closer. Saved, his relief was plain dropping to the floor once more he shut his eyes for one last time. A shadow descended over him. The vulture landed and pulled the flesh from his bones.

AGW