40- See The Light
The sensation of heat was suffocating and extremely intense in her body. There was this hot, overpowering breath that deafened her and pushed her with all its strength and from all sides. There was also that unpleasant tingling against her skin. Grains of sand.
It took her all her strength to half-open her eyes, which she had to close again immediately. The wind was too powerful for her to keep them open without risking being blinded by the gusts. Her mouth was painfully dry, her throat burning with every breath she took. The air was heavy, she could hardly breathe properly, as if a weight was crushing her chest and blocking every limb against the soft ground she felt underneath her, and yet just as hot and comforting.
Her body was unresponsive, but at least she could not feel pain anywhere. She tried again to open her eyes. This time she was able to make out more of the swirling sand that enveloped her and waved dangerously in all directions around her. She was lying on the ground, on her back, abandoned to the forces of nature. There was nothing but sand everywhere, and this strange dark light like a stormy evening, although she was convinced it was daylight at that moment.
She felt as if the earth was vibrating beneath her, as if it were about to open up again. Dead branches and a few stones swirled around her, and the skin on her arms and legs was scratched several times. She let out a groan, trying to protect her face with one hand with an effort that seemed almost insurmountable. With a superhuman effort, she swung to the side, pushing with all her might with her legs and arm to turn and try to curl up to protect herself. She realised that in her condition she would never get out of there. She just had to hope the storm would pass as soon as possible.
Then, through the sand, she perceived a shape not far from her. She raised a hand in front of her face to protect her half-open eyes, which were trying to pierce the suffocating thickness of the sand. At first she thought it was a hallucination, or some other trick of her mind. But the more she concentrated, the more clearly the shape in question became visible in the storm. And it was most likely not just a rock or a tree trunk washed up there. There was someone lying on the ground.
Drawing on her last bit of strength and guided by her instinct, she swung around once more and leaned on her elbows. Then she pushed on her legs and arms at the same time to crawl forward, skidding in the sand and stones, screaming in frustration for being that weak.
The brief minutes it took her to cover the few feet that separated her from the form seemed interminable. She had to pause several times to catch her breath, nearly choking on the sand that continued to fly all around her.
Then suddenly, or maybe she hadn't paid attention to it before, she made out something from the storm. She wasn't sure, but she seemed to hear noises lost in the sand. Again, at first she thought it was another trick of her mind, or an auditory illusion due to the incessant wind noise. But there were noises. And soon, over the whistling of the wind, those noises became much clearer. The further she progressed towards the shape on the ground, the more they intensified and became more distinct from the desert. It sounded like voices. Voices trying to break through the sandstorm, voices that were distant and uncertain, but yet more and more pronounced and clear. Someone was shouting and calling her. They were calling her name. They were calling their names.
But she did not turn around nor try to respond to them. She just gritted her teeth and dug her fingers even more deeper into the sand to pull herself forward, trying to reach the man who was lying a few feet away. That was the only thing she could think about right now. She had to reach him.
That was all that mattered.