Titleless

By Emir Abdellahi, Grade 9

He rose steadily out of the sand as the grains slid off his back. He stood up abruptly and looked over the looming hill from which he had emerged. The silver crescent moon illuminated the otherwise pitch-black sky, and its rays shone upon the pallid dunes that went on for as long as the eye could see. Sprinkled across the dunes in sparse number were blanched dead trees. Every so often, one of the ashen branches gave way and turned to dust before hitting the ground. Wispy clouds moved across the sky in a hypnotizing monotony. The nameless man took this all in calmly. His red irises darted across the landscape, the only hint of color in this purgatory.

Nameless walked agonizingly slowly across the dunes for what seemed like hours. Time appeared to blend into an inscrutable vortex here. Days could feel like seconds, and in other instances, time seemed to stay still completely. Eventually, Nameless stumbled upon what he thought was the only other living organism in this place. As he approached from over a short distance, he was proven mistaken. A small, child-like creature was impaled on a short white spike in the ground. It had a distinct fetus aspect to it, and for the first time in the many moons since Nameless had arisen, he showed emotion. It was small and lasted only for a moment, but he was disgruntled. This disgruntledness became more pronounced, however, when he noticed a gargantuan field of similarly impaled children dotting the sand like plants. The colorless hairs on the back of his neck prickled unpleasantly, and in a millisecond he turned, his scarlet eyes darting to the figure standing ominously a mile away. It appeared to be a horse, with a rider atop of it. And like everything else in the hellish desert, both were sandstone white. Nameless was not familiar with whatever this creature was, but a teaspoon of fear dropped onto his heart. Both figures had the same thought at once.

Run.

Nameless dashed away at full speed, his form a mere lurid flash across the sand. The ominous figure took off an attosecond afterward, and his pace was considerably quicker than his prey. Nameless scrambled desperately across dune after dune, attempting to confuse his attacker, but the ominous figure was closing the distance between them at a frightening speed. The sound of the figure’s hooves thudding against the sand was magnified by the icy silence of the desert. Only Namlesess’s ragged breath could be heard over the flat stomping of the figure. Nameless began to sweat. The figure was clearly malevolent, and he felt his odds of besting it in a confrontation were slim. Nameless, feeling the imminent danger prepared to fight, but as he slowed he saw a small burrow in the ground. Seeing his opportunity, he leaped into the hole faster than a person could see. Just as his body disappeared into the hole, the figure leaped over to where he had just been standing moments before. The figure looked around menacingly, and it was only then that Nameless got a good look at it. The horse was, plainly, dead. Its skeletal frame was covered scarcely in rotting flesh, and its head had none at all, simply a chalk-white skull. The most eye-catching feature has the flowing blonde mane adorning its head. The rider looked significantly more disturbing. A woman wearing a tight gown, that clung closely to her emaciated body. Every bone poked through the dress. She was so gangly that she could have been a corpse that died of starvation. She had the same blonde hair as her mount that sat around her completely concealed head. Nameless also made a mental note to correct himself. They were not rider and mount at all. The woman’s legs appeared sewn onto the torso of the horse, fastened by patches of skin and sinew. This horrific sight has a tad too much for Nameless, already exhausted from his sprint. He took one last look at his assailant, then promptly curled deeper into the burrow. He had not felt tired at all during his tenure in the desert, but suddenly, after expending so much energy running, he felt his eyelids drooping and gradually fell into a deep sleep.

He opened his eyes slowly. He was unaware of how long he had been sleeping. He blinked twice and dug his way out of his burrow. He rose steadily out of the sand as the grains slid off his back. He stood up abruptly and looked over the looming hill he had emerged from. The silver crescent moon illuminated the otherwise pitch-black sky, and its rays shone upon the pallid dunes that went on for as long as the eye could see. Sprinkled across the dunes in sparse number were blanched dead trees. Every so often, one of the ashen branches gave way and turned to dust before hitting the ground. Wispy clouds moved across the sky in a hypnotizing monotony. The nameless man took this all in calmly. His red irises darted across the landscape, the only hint of color in this purgatory. Nameless sighed audibly and slowly began to walk.