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Dust

Time seemed to stretch on to the horizon, shadows grew long as the sun moved across it. The river had gone long ago as had the trees. Now there was scrub brush, and sand was beginning to pile up along the trail in small drifts. The air was warmer.

Clemans, Ella, and Horace traced the former path of the riverbed through the drifts towards the distant mountains.

“Gettin’ Hot ay?” Horace said wiping the sweat from his brow.

Ella stopped and squatted, picking up a dried stick and looking at it.
“Yes it is, and its been that way for a while,” She looked up at the two men.

Clemens stood back away from them, staring past them at the mountains. He seemed to be having some internal dialog, looked left then right, then back at his two companions.

“We are on the right track. I feel that this is the way, those hills are calling to me somehow.”

He pulled out his canteen and shook it, “Empty.”

“Is that the end of the water?”, Ella asked, alarm on her face.

“Yes,” Clemens said.
The group trudged ahead.

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