I thought it was my time.
I had accepted death.
I waited with abated breath
As my faculties faded,
Cracked by the sun,
Forsaken below the barren sky.
Five days had slid by
In this summer desert heat.
I had hiked dozens of miles,
Summitted several mountains,
And stitched together abandoned trails,
Never failing until now.
I fell off course,
Took a wrong turn,
Kept going when I should have stopped.
I didn’t heed the warnings.
I betrayed my skills and training.
I had to face my reckoning.
Far from scared, I felt sublime.
To say goodbye was such sweet pain,
But to give up all
Was somehow freeing.
To transition from this suffering
Was perhaps a blessing.
As I pondered dying
A sight so strange caught my eye –
Rocks built up in a neat mound
Hiding under an old juniper.
With nothing left to lose
I followed my curiosity.
Carefully removing each rock,
I fantasized of treasure –
Gold coins or priceless jewels
Stashed by desert pirates.
What I found was far richer –
Bottles upon bottles of water.
Water brought hope,
Buying me precious time.
Revived, I made a new plan.
I’d shimmy down this mountain,
Off the map to the unknown.
From there I’d follow my compass.
Hours later, I stumbled across a cow tank
Where I slept and dreamt
Of flowing, crystal creeks.
Next morn I set out north
Until I met a dirt road
Where a farmer found me.
What strange force or spirit
Brought me to that water?
‘Though no believer of miracles,
Something seemed to be reaching out
To keep me here alive,
A gift I would never take for granted.
Far from frightened,
I continued my adventures,
Zealous with increased fervor,
For now, my life was burgeoning,
Swelling with a new thirst
To drink in every unfolding moment.
This was written by our contributing writer, Kara Kukovich.
The images used with this prose piece were taken by our writer, Kara Kukovich.
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