Desert

Enjoy. Because this was a very real experience.

The lights flicked off.

We’re trying something new today.

Opening a door I wasn’t sure if I was ready to enter.

But I went through it anyway.

I bowed my head and emptied my mind.

Not allowing any other thoughts to enter.

The air was suffused with cascading tongues,

Weaving through the air and through my mind.

I let it soak.

Let it take me away.

My body’s going numb.

I’m drifting away.

Desert.

I see a desert.

Something tells me I should say something,

That I should say it out loud.

But I’m scared.

And I don’t know why.

My heart is pounding,

I’m panting.

I’m so scared.

But I don’t know why.

I feel him.

I feel him staring down at me.

My heart pounds even faster.

I’m terrified.

“Desert,” I murmur.

Nobody heard me.

“Desert,”

Still nothing.

“Desert. Desert. Desert,”

Can anybody hear me?

“Desert. Desert. Desert. Desert. Desert,”

Why won’t they listen to me?

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert,” I say it louder this time.

I’m panting.

I’m so scared.

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert!”

Why won’t anybody listen to me?

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert!”

Someone’s rubbing my back,

But I don’t’ care.

I just need them to listen.

Why won’t they listen?

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert!”

Someone else has come.

They’re hugging me.

Trying to comfort me.

But I don’t want them to comfort me.

I want them to listen to me.

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert!”

My hands are sweaty.

Or at least I think its sweat.

No. It’s not sweat.

It’s my tears.

Am I crying?

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert!”

I try to make my words as clear as I can.

So they can get my message.

Even though I don’t know what it means myself.

Can they even understand me?

“Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert, Desert! Desert! Desert!”

“We have a word! We have another word!”

They heard me!

They actually heard me!

But I can’t stop.

They need help.

I don’t know who they are or what they need help from,

But I do know this; they’re in a desert.

And they’re terrified.

I can feel their fear.

“Desert. Desert. Desert. Desert!”

The bell rings and the lights come on.

We have to go.

But I can’t stop.

I’m weeping.

I’m terrified.

Around me people come and rush to my side,

Trying to comfort me.

But the only way to comfort me now is to help whoever is in that desert.

The people around me help me to my feet.

We have to go.

But I can’t.

I have to help them.

I have to help whoever is in that desert!

“Desert, Desert, Desert.”

I’m guided to the bathroom to wash my face.

It’s stained with tears.

My friends are trying to comfort me.

Trying to get me to calm me down.

But I can’t.

Not yet.

I splash cold water onto my face to try to calm myself down a little.

Just enough so I can receive one more thing.

Explosion.

I got another word.

It’s all coming together now.

The pieces of the puzzle are coming together.

Mine. Kid. Ghana. Desert. Explosion.

There’s a kid in a mine.

In a desert in Ghana.

Explosion.

I frantically searched my purse for a paper and pen.

I always keep some in my purse.

I got it.

I need something to write on.

The wall.

I frantically write the words on the sheet of paper.

Mine. Kid. Ghana. Desert. Explosion.

One of my friends takes it from me and reads it over.

They take me back to the room where I first uttered the word “Desert”.

They hand it to a woman.

She reads it over.

They sit me down and we bow our heads.

Except for me.

I’m in too much shock to really connect.

Almost as soon as she finishes uttering those words I’m calm.

Peaceful.

I’m still weighed down by this burden though.

Still feel the fear of the boy in the mine.

But now I can do more to change the situation in that desert.

Because now I have peace.

I can change that situation.

And I won’t stop until it’s changed.

Author's Note

This really happened to me. Holy Ghost prayer is powerful. God bless.