The narrow road ahead of me was expanding further. The tires of my sand jeep were working their way through the withered street, covered partly by the sand. Pebbles were hitting the windows. Next to me, beneath me, in front of me was only light sand, interrupted by a grey line. An orange glow projected upon the dark pavement; but I didn't feel anything. I set my eyes on the mountains that were looming far away. Yet they seemed insignificant, small even, able to lock me inside this kingdom of sand.
I didn't know where I was.
I was on my own; I sensed everything. I was the only one to witness this dawn. The sun left a sticky looking coat of bubble-gum pink on the dense blanket of clouds as she descended behind the hills.
The landscape seemed like a painting, unclear, unreal, out of this world. Small spots of filth on my windshield made it look antique, as though the dust had been collecting it on its surface for decades.
A light rain fell. The water was dripping silently into my lap. My hair was getting damp. Like a swimming pool, the valley was slowly filling with transparent liquid. Every wave that rushed over the mountains behind me flooded the vale with incredible amounts of water. The surface seemed clear, still even, until the next wave arrived. I watched the foam rising, caused by the waves that floated to and fro, readily approaching my car. A couple of waves later, the solid metal body rose and swayed lightly on the surface, like a baby being cradled by its mother.
Drops of water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders. My feet emerged from the pool that was already drowning the pedals on the floor and I hugged my knees against my chest. The space on my driver’s seat was getting more confined.
As more waves clashed against the back window. Climbing out of the car wouldn’t help. The water level I was floating on was already a couple meters high. I had missed my chance to walk or drive toward the mountain crest while I still had the chance. They were situated too far away from me to swim. Why was I parked in the middle of a street in the middle of nowhere? I didn’t remember how I had gotten to that point. It was as though somebody had left me here for dead and erased all of my memories of the past hours.
I propped my chin up on my knees. The water was now touching my ankles. There was no way for me to get out of this maze. I felt completely trapped, yet free of emotion. The car was starting to sway harder, making the water spill over the roof and inside. The interval between each wave was getting shorter. I counted to three in my head. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, thr–
The next wave was already there, pulling me down.