The Thing In The Desert

    “Julian, roll up the window! You’re letting all of the cold air out of the car!”

“Aw, but I like feeling the wind against my face, Mom!”

    Julian and his family were on their way to their new house in a desert town he had never heard of before and he was starting to feel antsy after being cooped up in the car for nearly 13 hours. He never really wanted to move away from all of his friends but like most kids he had no choice but to do what his parents told him to do.

 “Mom, Julian isn’t rolling up the window!” Julian’s sister, Angelina, loves to tattle on Julian every chance she gets.

 “Shut-up, Angelina! You’re such a tattle tale!” Julian scowled at her.

“Hey! Both of you shut-up right now and roll up the window, Julian! I’m not going to tell you again!” Julian’s Mom was furiously gripping the steering wheel.

   Julian quickly stuck his head out the window one last time and then pressed the button to roll it up. A few minutes later, he noticed a huge billboard that read, ‘Come See The Thing In The Desert! 15 Miles, Next Exit!,’ in blue and yellow lettering.

  “Mom, can we go see the thing in the desert?” He reluctantly asked his Mom.

 “Huh? What thing? Where?” Julian’s Mom sounded tired.

“The thing in the desert! I saw the sign back there, it’s only 15 miles from here. Can we go? Please!” He looked at his Mom with anticipation.

    Angelina raised her head from her coloring book and began to say something when all of a sudden there was a loud POP!! One of the tires on the car had become flat and was now making a weird screeching sound against the pavement. Luckily, the car came to a complete stop as soon as Julian’s Mom slammed on the brakes.

  “Are you guys okay? Is everything okay!” She asked while she frantically searched for her cell phone.

  “My crayons fell on the floor and now I can’t find them, Mommy!” Angelina cried.

“No one cares about your crayons!” Julian said while throwing an empty water bottle at Angelina’s head.

   “OW!”

  “Well at least you guys are acting normally. Now be quiet while I call a tow truck to come pick us up.”

   Julian looked out the window to try to see how far away they were from ‘The Thing In The Desert’. “Hey, Mom! Is it okay if I get out of the car and stretch for awhile?”

   Julian’s Mom gave him a nod and a wave to signify yes. He jumped out of the car as fast as he could and began stretching all of his limbs.

  “Watch out for other cars, Julian!” Angelina shouted as she poked her head out from the sun roof.

 “What other cars?! We’re in the middle of the desert!”

 “And I-  That’s when Julian saw another sign that read, ‘The Thing In The Desert. This Way.’ There was an arrow pointing to a path lined with rocks.

   “Oh, Cool!” Julian jumped up excitedly.

  “What’s cool?” Angelina still had her head sticking out from the sun roof.

   “The thing in the desert is right over there! I have to go see it!”

   Julian started making his way towards the path when he heard his Mom shout, “Julian, don’t wander off too far!”

  “I won’t, Mom! I’m just going to see the thing in the desert!”

   “Okay, be back here in 20 minutes! That’s when the tow truck should arrive!”

  Julian was already half way down the path when his Mom finished that last sentence.

 After about five minutes of walking, his imagination began to get the best of him. He couldn’t help but wonder exactly what the thing in the desert could be. So far the only things he’d seen were some rocks, cacti, and a lizard bathing in the sun. Finally, he saw another sign about ten feet away. It appeared to be firmly planted into a nearby boulder. The message on it read ‘BEWARE! THE THING IS NEAR!’.

  “Okay. So where is this thing?” Julian began scanning everything around him but the only thing that stood out the most was the warning sign.

  Suddenly, he could hear a tiny voice coming from behind him. It was very faint at first but then grew louder every few seconds.

  “Juuulian! Juuulian!” The tiny voice shouted.

  He immediately spun around and saw a shadowy figure running towards him.

  “Who is that?” At first glance he thought it was Angelina but then realized it was a different little girl. She had long black hair that was braided into pigtails and was wearing some kind of feathered headdress, buckskin clothing, and matching moccasins.

  “Juuulian! Where are you?” The little girl kept shouting even though she was now within arms reach of Julian.

  “I’m right here in front of you! Do I know you?”

    Julian began frantically waving his arms in front of her face but she did not respond.

  “Julian! We need your help! Please!” The little girl fell to her knees and wiped away some mud on her face.

  “What? How? How am I supposed to help you?”

   He was about to kneel down and touch the girl’s hand when another voice from behind him shouted, “DON’T TOUCH IT!!!”