Here is my contribution to this week’s Friday Fotoflash Challenge.
“You can’t read a calendar, can you?” The two men stumbled their way across the desert. “Idiot… Don’t you know it’s bad luck? They don’t call it a blood moon for nuthin.”
The other man shrugged. “Sorry, Jake. Didn’t know what I was supposta’ be looking at. You said pick a day, so I did.”
“Ain’t gonna work. We gotta go back now.” Jake stopped and looked up. “Bloody blood moon!”
His partner in crime, Dougie, looked up as well. “It’s kinda pretty. Why’s it bad luck?”
“You do remember why we’re here, don’t you?”
Dougie shrugged again. “Kinda…”
“Our great grampa died during a blood moon. Our grampa died during a blood moon. And our pop died during a blood moon! Don’t you see what that means?”
Dougie shook his head.
Jake sighed in exasperation. “One of us could die tonight, you idiot. We gotta get home, just in case.”
Dougie started running, arms windmilling at his sides. Jake raced after him yelling, “Stop, you idiot!”
“No, no! I gotta get home. You said so. I donn’ wanna’ die!”
“You’re gonna trip and fall and kill yourself if you don’t slow down!” He tackled his brother and they crashed to the ground.
“Why’d ya’ do that?” Dougie swiped the sand out of his eyes. “Now I can’t see nuthin’.”
“You were going the wrong way.” He pointed behind them. “See the gas station sign? That’s the way we gotta go. You were headed into the desert.” He stood and dusted off his pants.
Rubbing his eyes had made things worse and Dougie squinted, trying to see the gas station sign but all he could see was the blood red moon.
“You gotta lead me, my eyes….”
Jake took Dougie’s hand. “Sure thing. That’s what big brothers are for, right?”
They continued, putting one foot in front of the other over and over.
“How much more, Jake? I can see a bit now, that darn sign seems just as far away.”
“It can’t be much more.” Worry edged into Jakes voice. Dougie was right, they didn’t seem any closer to the gas station.
“I’m cold. Can’t we find a place to sleep?”
“Maybe if we could find a cave without anything in it?”
“Yeah, a cave. And warmer, too.”
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
Another hour passed and the two were near exhaustion when Dougie pointed out what he thought was a cave. Jake told Dougie to stay put and he returned with the news it was a shallow cave and completely empty. The duo hunkered down for the night.
The light streaming in the cave entrance woke them and they crawled out. The blood moon was long gone, replaced by the blazing sun. Jake shaded his eyes, trying to get a bearing on which way to head.
“I think it’s this way…” he hesitated before saying more. The gas station sign was gone and all he could see was desert, rocks, and mountains in the distance.
Dougie pulled a compass out of his pocket and studied it. “Nope, home is that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction. “See? I’m not an idiot.”
Thank you.
Well, a big wow! He was headed in the right direction to begin with. This should become a whole short story!