10-Minute Writing Prompt: The Desert

Prompt: In ten minutes, write about being in the desert when you come across this car.

My story:

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as I desperately willed saliva to grant me some relief from the desert air. No relief came, but when I saw a car in the distance, I thought the dehydration must have caused me to start hallucinating. I thought it strange that I did not at least hallucinate something like water, as they do in all the movies, but perhaps the sleek, black sports car was meant to tease me with the idea of escaping my predicament.

As I approached, slowly lumbering toward it like a zombie, it did not dissipate, but only grew clearer. I told myself that it must have been left there because it was out of fuel, and was therefore of no use to me. That was when I saw him emerge from behind it.

The tall man with devilish good looks and a spark in his eyes smiled at me. I should have known better than to linger and let him speak. “Hello there, traveler.” he said in a voice like a snake, “May I offer you some assistance?”

I blinked a few times, wondering when this dream would fade, but it did not. He spoke again. “I can assure you, I am very real. And, the salvation I can offer you from your current struggles is also very real. Come, sit inside with me. Enjoy the air conditioning.”

I gulped down nothing but a scratchy throat and gratefully sat in the driver’s seat while he got into the passenger’s. I should have known that nothing is free, not even a seat in the shade in the middle of the desert, let alone with air conditioning. I tried and failed to speak, but he filled the silence once again.

“All that you see and more will be yours in an instant. All it will cost is your soul. Now, before you go saying no, let’s weigh your options. You could lend me your soul for a time, and I promise to treat you well. Or, you can die here and now, wishing you had agreed to my terms before I vanished into the void and left you to your fate. So, human, what will it be?”