On Flooded Earth Under the Desert Sky

What I suspected to be an uneventful weekend was quickly approaching, so my best friend, his girlfriend, and I decided that the weather seemed good enough to go on a short camping trip. I packed up a tent, my friend packed some food and drink, and we headed out into the desert.  We set up camp at a small clearing where we occasionally have bonfires.  By the time the tent was up and the fire started, darkness was already creeping in.  Off in the distance small flashes of light illuminated the surrounding mountains; the night was beautiful.

I walked to our car to look for the food and to my dismay I discovered that the "food and drink" meant Funyuns and Mike’s Hard Lemonade.  With an empty belly, a thirsty mouth, and a little bit of an attitude I stormed back to my friend; complaining did nothing to satisfy me.  I can’t remember what irritated me more, the fact that he thought Mike’s Hard Lemonade counted as a good beer or that he didn't have the mind to grab a few gallons of water.  I quickly let it go, deciding that there was nothing to be gained from griping.  I just laid on the back of the car to enjoy the night.

In the middle of nowhere, on the flat earth, the stars seemed to be just out of reach, the milky way seemed to be close enough to pet.  The weather seemed perfect, but that didn't last.  There was a nice, cool breeze, that in the course of 2 hours, turned into tent-unearthing gusts.  The lightning strikes that seemed all too distant where now loud and all around us.  Torrential rain flooded the earth and violently bombarded the tent.  I remember feeling waves of excitement and happiness, huddled in that tiny-two person tent with my favorite people.  The world around us seemed to be falling apart.  I have no idea how long it took us to make a break for the car, time seemed to be standing still.  We made it out with most of our stuff and got off the muddy roads before they completely flooded.  Within an hour we were camping on the floor of my friends bedroom with our hard lemonades.  That crazy night will forever be in my list of favorite memories.

By: Jonathan Terry