ghibli
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The car limbered to a halt. Not because the driver wanted to though. In fact, he pushed down the gas pedal more, swearing at the old vehicle the entire time. His only reward was the engine sputtering, and then nothing.
“Damn it.” He said. “Of course it’d die here of all places.” He looked out the window. All he could see was sand and sky. The wind kicked up the small particles, filling the air with dirty golden particles. “Where is here anyway?” He asked his passenger.
“You drove us all this way and you don’t even know where we are?” The smaller man asked. The driver shrugged.
The passenger popped open the glove compartment and pulled out a map. The man grumbled and fiddled with the paper in one hand and a pencil in the other. The writing implement made faint lines on the map, and the passenger occasionally looked around.
“Can’t be exact without a landmark, but we should be somewhere in Northern Africa.” He paused and looked more. “I want to say somewhere around Libya, but it’s hard to tell from here.”
The wind blew. Some of the dust and sand landed on the car. The driver huffed. He could guess that was the reason the car had stalled. He would have to clean it before they could move, and even then there was no guarantee.
“Great. So where’s the nearest town?”
“No idea. Like I said, I don’t know exactly where we are. And even if I did, it wouldn’t do us any good. Not like there’ll be anyone to help us.”
“Yeah. I know.” The driver said heavily. Neither spoke for a few moments. “Hey, think if I clean the engine out, it’ll start?”
“You’re asking me? Cars are your thing, not mine. All I know is how to make them move.”
“Fair enough. It’s probably useless anyway, with all the dust in the air it’ll just get clogged again in a few minutes anyway.”
“You’re not suggesting we walk, are you?”
“Maybe.”
“That’s dumb. We’ll never make it anywhere on foot, not in the middle of the African desert. And it’s not like there’s anybody we can call for help.”
The driver winced. “Yeah, but we can’t just stay here. We’ll die if thirst.”
“So wait until the wind stops, then work your magic.”
Neither man spoke for awhile. They simply listened to the wind blow. The silence became almost oppressive.
“When the car starts again, which way should we go?” The driver asked.
The passenger thought about it for a moment. “No idea. At this point, any way is as good as the other. North, maybe? Get to the ocean. That way I can do a better job of finding where we are. Plus, we’re more likely to find food there. Seafood, you know? Plus, we might be able to take the water and purify it if we play our cards right.”
The driver nodded. North it was. He leaned back and closed his eyes. It was as good a plan as they would ever have.
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A song to listen to while reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAJ0l4OBHM. Yes, I know it doesn't fit perfectly, but how many songs do you know about traveling in a desert? Yeah, that's what I thought.
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