There they lay. Two naked, cold bodies in the pocketous cave.

They cried and screamed for help for what seemed like an eternity. That was until their throats became too dry to speak a single word.

The cold rock surrounding them was a shield against the merciless sun, however when night came they found themselves with no materials to produce heat. Not even a single match or cigarette lighter.

It was only supposed to be a week long trip. I’m sure their employers were wondering why they never came back to work.

Did a sense of invincibility penetrate their marriage? Did their sense of joy and excitement cloud their judgment?

It was definitely the adventurous spirit that sucked them into the hole. They heard of ancient artifacts in the southwest, left by forgotten native societies.

They even tried to claw their way through the rock but were forced to stop when their hands turned bloody and their fingernails had disappeared.

One day they had the idea of tying their clothes together into a makeshift rope and threw it through the shallow opening, hoping to catch it on a twig or misplaced rock.

Instead they threw it too far, and it was never seen again. They hoped that at least a bird could use it for a nest or a scurrying animal could find shelter in the souvenir of their tragedy.

There they lay. Two naked and cold bodies. With one last piece of a small, cheap, granola bar, the woman tapped her husband on the shoulder and motioned it towards him. Her eyes seemed paler than before…scared. Her lips were cracked and her cheeks sunken in. She could have aged 20 years if he didn’t know any better.

There was no way he could accept it. A single tear ran down his face and fell into his ear. Staring at his wife, he remembered how she always offered the last piece of food to him. Under milder circumstances of course. The last slice of pizza on a night in, or the last piece of bread during a night out to eat. Those memories might as well have been made up. They seemed like someone else’s life. Not his. Not anymore.

But there she was, prodding him with the bar, her arm too weak to hold it for much longer.

Something told him that she wouldn’t stop until he took it. It broke his heart more than he thought was possible at this point. He closes his eyes and takes it, inhaling a shaky breath through his nose.

He tried to remain strong for her no matter what. That was his job.

However he opened his eyes again to find his wife’s lifeless body staring back at him. He wanted to be shocked, wanted to be in a fit of rage (if he had the energy to), however he understood this would happen. Refusing to live any more than necessary on this earth without her presence, her soul, he tossed the bar aside, skidding across the arid floor.

He looked at her one last time, desiring to soak up every bit of her being that he could, grasping for any sign of his partner besides the lifeless corpse. Doing so, he noticed that her face no longer displayed a sense of fear. Instead, she almost appeared to be smiling with her eyes. As if to say one last goodbye, happy that she even had a chance at life with him.

All he could think was-

…

And then they were gone.