He had survived the heat but he might not survive dehydration. After a while, he fell into a restless sleep.Ĭaleb woke up, his breath rasping in his throat, his mouth completely dry. In the meantime, he would keep as cool as he could. He was desperately thirsty though and he knew he would have to try to find water before he lost the light. He had no intention of budging from this spot until the sun lowered. He was sober by now but getting nauseous from incipient heatstroke. Without an obvious choice of direction, he settled for heading the way he was facing.Ībout an hour later, Caleb collapsed into the shadow of a stand of cacti – the first real shade he had found. That left Caleb only one alternative – start walking and pray he would find something. The cliff was also angled wrong to provide a shadow. Looking around, there wasn’t anywhere likely to find shade. He wasn’t prone to sunburn, but even he wouldn’t last long wearing only a torn T-shirt to protect his upper body. However, even in his drunken (but rapidly sobering) state, he knew he had to find shelter from the scorching sun. Had he imagined falling over in Nevada and ending up somewhere else? Had someone clobbered him and carted him off here? Nothing in his experience explained his present predicament. Of civilization, there was nothing to be seen. He trudged up a nearby dune to get a better view but, when he got to the top, all he saw was more desert and cacti. Something had torn through his shorts and underwear and scraped his skin but, fortunately, the bleeding was trivial. Pain on his right hip made Caleb check there. It wasn’t overwhelming, so he figured he had avoided getting a bad sprain. He took a few steps away from the cliff, grimacing as pain shot through his left ankle. Instead of stony ground with low scrub, this one was sandy with the occasional cactus plant. He was still in a desert but one that looked a lot different from where he was supposed to be. He squinted to block out the brilliant sunshine that was already heating him to an uncomfortable degree. And even if he had, his buddies would have come looking for him, wouldn’t they? Then again, they were pretty smashed too.Ĭaleb struggled to his feet, wincing at the aches and pains that he had accrued, swaying from dizziness. And why was it daytime? He was certain that he hadn’t passed out despite his inebriation. Caleb was confused – there wasn’t any cliff near the cabin, only flat desert. Through his watery vision, he could make out a rough cliff face with rubble at its base which he had fallen upon. Groaning, the man shaded his eyes from the glare, trying to see what had happened to him. Light and heat burst around him as he crashed to the dirt, his T-shirt and shorts catching and ripping on something along the way. Then his foot failed to find the ground and he fell forward. He took a few steps in that direction, still not seeing a source for the odd vibration. Curious, he swiveled his head to localize it. The strange sensation was not coming from there though. He turned around to see the light streaming from the windows of the cabin clearly showing the way back. Despite his drunkenness, the fresh air helped clear his head and he became aware of a weird thrumming in the air. He dodged the occasional hardy bush and took a drink from his can of beer. He wandered over the rough ground in bare feet, his tough soles oblivious to the small stones. His workmates were too, so they had decided to take a trip together to Las Vegas to celebrate the project's successful completion and, more importantly, to unwind. The pressure to finish a project on time had been relentless and he was worn out. I’m not going far.”Ĭaleb needed this holiday. He stopped, considered that for a moment, then shrugged. Only then did he notice that he had no shoes on. Drunkenly confident in his ability to navigate under those conditions, the man stepped off the porch and wandered away from the cabin. A nearly full moon spoiled that view to the east but it gave some illumination to the desert that backed onto the property. Although there was still some light pollution from nearby Sin City, the cabin was located far enough away from the town to allow some stars to shine brightly. There was no sign of the wild electrical storm that had forced him and his buddies inside earlier, leaving the sky clear. Opening the door, he was greeted by the evening air that had cooled to a pleasantly mild temperature after the heat of the day. He made his way unsteadily to the back door of the cabin he and his workmates had rented for their Las Vegas getaway. It did not stop him from bringing along the can he’d been drinking. It had been a good evening capping off a great day with his friends, but he might have had one beer too many. “I’m just stepping out for a breath of fresh air,” Caleb said as he pushed himself upright off the sofa with a grunt.
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