penthius

The heat of the desert sun penetrated through the white robes and veils. The rhythmic drumming of horses hooves underneath her as they raced across the salt flats. The bitter taste of the air in her mouth. The views of lakes in the distance, lakes that she knew were a lie. It was horrible and it would kill her if she lingered. She threw back her head and laughed gleefully. It was horrible, yes, but beautiful, and free in a way that she could never be where there were other lives around. Here--if she let free and a spike of energy shot out into the desert, there was no life to be harmed. At worst, she might kill her horse and herself. That was it. That was why--

Inspiration: "Shrine" by Beats Antique
Story Potential: Medium-high
Notes: I like the "feel" of it, but the story itself is not original enough to write.

Sitting in the shadows of the convoy truck and drinking raki while he stared out over the long stretch of desert, he wondered idly if they'd all make it. They had plenty of jugs of water in the back, a couple of goats hung up from the rack above the truck--the heat half-cured them, but the edges of the meat were going green all the same--and plenty of petrol. If the truck broke down, though, then it was a question of if somebody would find them in time. They had people on the other side who'd know when they were overdue, but those people weren't necessarily the kind of people who'd hurry out to find them when they could just wait a few weeks and then come out and claim the cargo without worrying about pesky survivors. Guns wouldn't rot in the heat. There was one camel in the back--

Inspiration: Thinking of drinking raki. Which I am not sure even exists.
Story Potential: Medium potential
Notes: Smells like a novel, if only because I don't know the setup but I think it would have to be overarching to make this work.

Weary from their journey, they sat beneath the shade of the great banyan tree, squatted on their haunches, and chewed at the fruits they'd brought in their bags. Around them stretched the scrub desert, empty of any visible life. Then a small bird flew up into the sky from a bush nearby and they jumped to their feet, their hands reaching for their spears. There were predators in the scrub, predators that were not them and could kill them all easily, spears or no spears. There were also smaller beasts that would only attack if they thought the group to be easily taken. They had reckoned their chances before they set out, and they knew that it would be a true trial to persevere through, but with all others dead or dying around them, they had been forced--

Inspiration: "Weary from your journey"
Story Potential: High.
Notes: A true survival tale. I'm thinking--plague, perhaps, something that wipes everybody out. Some truly Biblical shit. And they can't go to their nearest neighbors because they have been told that they will be killed on sight. But they can go to a very far neighbor, across a desert, because the government figures that by the time they cross the desert, any infected will have died. So--true struggles to survive and adapt in a strange and hostile environment, some Moses & the promised land, some plague resurgence, some truly complicated things...and then safety. Maybe. For a time. Huh. Sounds like a novel, dunnit?

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Entries tagged with desert

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Desert Mage: Fantasy

Desert Convoy: Genre Undetermined

40 Years in the Desert: Spec-fic

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January 2025

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