Storm, The

The heat was unbearable. Sweat was dripping off her and she had long
given up trying to wipe it from her brow. She raised her head and
shielded her eyes from the sun.

The sand seemed endless. It was the palest yellow, almost white and
soft under her left hand which she used to steady herself . The horizon
seemed to waver in the heat, almost as if the sand in the distance had
turned into an ocean.

The sky was the clearest blue, not a cloud in sight. The air itself
appeared to be moving, alive with the heat, moving around her, teasing
her because there was no wind, not even the slightest breeze to cool
her down.

Above all there was silence. Total and absolute silence. Had she found
out that she was the only person left in the world she would not have
been surprised . She lowered her head and hand and closed her eyes. She
needed to rest.

She had first seen the object about three hours ago. At first she
hadn't been sure, but as she got closer there had been no doubt that it
was there; IT...SOMETHING. She had stopped to look at it, again
shielding her face with her hand but no matter how much she had
strained her eyes she had been unable to identify it. The closer she
had got, the clearer it had become...It was a cube.

Now she was close enough to see every detail. It was grey in color,
metal, reminding her vaguely of a battleship. Just a cube, not a house
or even a hut. It was sitting flat on the sand, but from the slight
angle she could see that it was in fact a cube and not just a
wall.

She could not tell if it was solid or hollow. It did not appear to
have a door or any other means of entering it but it was certainly big
enough to do so if a means was provided. It was about the size of a
large shed and seemed to serve no obvious purpose. She could see it
clearly, the texture of the metal, the way it looked cold even though
in this stifling heat it should have been red hot.

It was only about 50 feet away from her but she had to rest now. She
could not have gone another step without resting first. It seemed
unwise to reach the cube before she had rested. It seemed unwise to
reach the cube, period.

A ladder was propped up against the front of the cube. It was metal
like the rest of the cube and the top of the ladder extended above it.
She counted a dozen rungs.

Her horse began stomping impatiently. She looked at him and wondered
how he had managed to keep going. She had given him the last bit of her
water when she had stopped but it had not been much and he was gasping
for more.

She got up from the hot sand and walked over to him. Slowly, tiredly,
she took off his saddle and the bridle and tossed them on the ground.
It really made no difference any more.

She stroked his brown coat which she had always kept clean and
healthy. It looked a mess now, filthy and sweaty. She buried her face
on his neck and inhaled his scent deeply. It smelled like home.

A storm was coming. She hadn't been sure at first, being unfamiliar
with the desert. She could see it on the horizon, the sand was blowing
up high enough for her to recognise its characteristics. It vaguely
resembled a wall, a wall of sand. It frightened her.

The storm was getting closer. At the moment it was still far away but
it was already affecting her, the apparent violence of the storm
threatened her very existence. How fast would it travel across the
desert? She had no way of knowing. It was of little consequence. There
was nowhere for her to hide.

She walked over to the saddle she had so carelessly tossed on the
ground and opened the saddlebag. She took some flowers out and winced
at the poor state of them. The flowers were all she had left. She
pressed them to her chest and began to cry. Once this had been a
beautiful bunch of red roses. Now they were dry and broken but to her
they were still beautiful.

She looked at her horse. "Go," she whispered. Her voice sounded
choked. Without waiting if he would actually run away, she turned
around and walked the last few feet to the cube. She held the roses
tightly and climbed up the ladder. She had no clear plan of what she
intended to do but there didn't seem anything else to do. When she got
to the top of the cube she stopped.

The cube was hollow but not empty. She stared in amazement. There were
colors, lots and lots of colors, and it took her eyes time to adjust.
Then she realised what it was that she saw. It was Earth. No, it was
more than that. It was the universe. She could see other planets. Some
of them she recognised but the centre was taken up by a miniature
version of Earth. It was breathtaking.

The storm was drawing closer and at some point her horse had indeed
run away as fast as he could but she was unaware of that. She kept
staring at the content of the cube as she climbed up the last step. It
was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was home.

Still clutching the roses, she closed her eyes and let herself fall
into the cube. When the storm reached the spot where she had been, she
was gone.