05/23/2026
“DAY” -panting as I crawl up to the crest of the final sun scorched dune, barren desert behind me- “5!” - I croak through cracked and bleeding lips- “OF MAKING” -hacking, dry coughs, tongue swollen and feeling like sandpaper in my mouth- A SALE EVERYDAY UNTIL MOTHER”- I nearly sob that last word but I have no more tears to cry, my body convulses slightly, and my red, Sun blistered skin spasms and burns as I try to keep my arms strong, try to keep my face from dropping onto the the hot, cutting sand- “SAYS SHE IS PROUD OF ME!!”- I yell the word ME, head raising painfully as I do so - “Me” - I say again, as if desperately trying to hold on to my sense of self but struggling to remember what that even means any more. I reach out with my right hand to shuffle just a little closer to my goal, which I’ve all but forgotten, and I collapse. …My vision clears a bit. I’m prone on the last ridge of this merciless wasteland, cheek down in the sand (I somehow find a vague humour in the thought of this horrible, biting ground cover having the same name as that which makes up the beaches of my playful childhood). Through gritty eyelids I see someone walking towards me. A woman…? How??? Out here… is that my m- I don’t dare even think it , I can’t think it. I close my eyes again, the M still on my lips as I shudder with a final rattling breath…. The desert is quiet again. ….. Just Sold!! 2298 Hazellynn Place - asking $3,150,000. , it was a pleasure!
