Oasis

He hiked with his back turned to his home. The smoggy city boasted above his shoulders but lessened with each step he took. Minutes ago, the man stood in his kitchen with confidence and solace holding a pen in his hand. He wrote a note and left it sticking out of his refrigerator door before gathering his pack and leaving his apartment. He looked back, but could no longer see his home; the buildings and factories set like the sun. The desert was upon him now and his boots sunk into the golden earth. He expected this. The man reached into his pack and pulled out snow shoes he had once worn on a ski trip with his family. He didn’t know why he had saved these, but he reminisced on the trip as he fashioned them to his feet. The snowshoes increased his speed greatly and he was able to make considerable progress. When the sun began to lose its eternal battle with the moon, it fell out of the sky revealing thousands of stars poking through the fabric of the night sky. A few of them formed pictures resembling trees and animals. He pitched his tent but could not fall asleep; Ideas like lightning in his head.

As he continued walking, the wind began to pick up rapidly. It whipped the man’s face red and pulled tears from his eyes. The tears pinched off from the corners of his eyes and hit the dry earth. He reached into his pack again and pulled out an umbrella to hold in front of him. The currents shot off of the umbrella in either direction and offered him some protection. He continued marching on but his pace slowed dramatically. His legs had become tired and he was starting to feel the fatigue and hunger inside of him. The sun began to set again and he pitched his tent. He started a fire from some kindling from his backpack and he cooked some cactus on the open flame. He fell asleep with a full stomach.

On his third day of travel, the winds tore his umbrella into pieces and he was confronted with the brute of the oppressive force blowing into him. The wind sucked the air from his lungs and he struggled to breathe. His legs, heavy from the walking, failed him as he tripped over his snowshoes, breaking them. He scrambled on the ground for the remnants of the snowshoes and the torn fabric of the umbrella but the wind was quicker and unrelenting and tossed the scraps behind the dunes; the man's soul flew with them. He buried his face, red from the wind and the harsh sun, in his arms and wept. Sand from his hair embedded itself in his luscious green eyes and his tears turned to screams from the burning sensation all over his face. The wind surged once again and he could no longer take it. The man turned around and was accompanied by an immediate sense of reassurance and the wind assisted him as he began his trip home. Just over the dune, a vibrant oasis sat waiting. A jungle of mystery and adventure sprawled out on the horizon.

The man returned to his apartment. He set his bag down on the floor and opened the refrigerator. A note flew out and wafted down onto the tile floor. The note read, “goin somewhere new.” He picked up the note and threw it away.