The sky blurs red above me, and the sun blazes in my eyes. My hair is matted to my neck. Sweat pours down my back and face. I stick to the sand beneath. My head buzzes in the bog.

Not a soul is near you; you are all alone.

The heat drowns out my thoughts. It suffocates me from above, and bites into me from below. The sun ripples off my skin. It’s so heavy I can’t move. I try to cry out, but only murmurs escape my lips.

Even if you could cry out, Would anyone hear you?

I turn my gaze to the left, my head gritting against the sand. For miles, all I can see are dunes of fuming dust, just like the mound I lay on. I realise that sand will be the last thing I see. Panic rises in my beating heart.

No one can save you.

Fumes escape my own mouth. My breath was heavy. My head pounded with the layer of death so close. No one would know what became of me.

Would they ever find your body? Or will it be buried in these bright dunes that go on forever?

I try to cry out again, but nothing comes out. The sun starts to fade from sight. I focus on my breathing. Nobody will come looking. No one would know I was here. The only thing here was me, the sand, and the heat.

And that is all that ever will be.