Take My Hand

The burning heat of the Las Vegas sun had awoken me as is beamed down directly onto my face. I soon realised that I was no longer lying on Brendon’s lap and that I was by myself inside the car. I propped myself up on my arm to get a better look of where I was, now that it was bright and early in the morning. There was no sign of anything man made, just an arid wasteland. Just like I had imagined it. I noticed that the car bonnet was up and some weird sounds of cluttering were coming from the front, so I figured that Brendon was there trying to figure out what was wrong with the car.

I took off my sweatshirt and wrapped it around my waste before stepping out into the scorching heat. It felt as if I was stepping into an oven when I climbed out. I walked over to the bonnet where Brendon was leaning over the car looking at the engine, shirtless. No, the engine wasn’t shirtless, Brendon was. Just wanted to clear that up.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, also looking at the engine. It just looked like random pieces of metal to me.

“I don’t know, Belle. I’m not a mechanic,” Brendon sighed, with a hint off annoyance in his voice.

“I was just asking,” I said quietly. I began kicking rocks while Brendon tried to figure out what was wrong. Eventually, Brendon gave up on the idea of fixing the car and slammed the bonnet down frustrated. “So, what’s wrong with it?”

“Will you stop asking me that, please? I don’t know,” Brendon replied, a little calmer than before. He placed himself on top of the bonnet and rested his head in his hands. I followed his actions and sat next to him.

A few minutes of silence went by, but it was broken by Brendon. “We’re going to have to find help.” He slid off the bonnet and went around to the back of the car.

“What are you doing?” I asked when I heard rustling coming from the backseat.

“I told you. We’re going to find help,” He answered coming back to the front of the car with a wig, two pairs of shades, a moustache and a cap. Not that stupid wig again! “Here.” He handed over the wig and pair of shades. I put the shades on, but I held the wig in my hand.

“We can’t leave this car behind,” I informed.

“Well what do you want us to do?! Stay here and dehydrate?!” Brendon yelled as he put the cap and shades on.

“Brendon, we’re just going to get into even more danger and even more lost if we walk further into the desert. Didn’t you bring a cell or something?”

“Oh, I forgot all about my cell phone. You’re so clever, Belle! I think I’ll go call someone now for them to come and find us in the middle of the desert and then everything will be happy again! Happy, happy, happy,” Brendon laughed sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at his immatureness. “How dumb do you think I am? If I had my phone here with me, don’t you think that that would be the first thing I’d do?!”

“Why didn’t you bring your phone then, if you’re so clever?!” I screamed at him, reaching my peak of tolerance.

“I didn’t think! I was scared; I just wanted to get away as fast as possible! Even if I did have my phone here, do you think there’d be signal!? Look around you, Belle!”

“I have been looking around me for the last hour, now! And I blame you for getting us here!” I screeched at him. In infuriation, Brendon kicked the car aggressively. “Being violent isn’t going to solve anything, Brendon.”

He breathed heavily through his nose and then walked over in front of me. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m just a bit stressed and really hot. Forgive me?”

I nodded, even though I was still a bit aggravated with him. He forced a quick kiss on my lips and then I turned my head away from him. He pulled me down off of the bonnet as he held my hand.

“Come on. We better get moving if we want to find some help,” Brendon advised as he began to walk away from the car. I thought that I should follow him since I didn’t really wish to get split up from him. I walked a few steps behind him, feeling tired already.

As we walked further and further into the desert, the sun gradually began to fade and now the sky was yet again a beautiful pink. It felt as if I had been walking for years when in reality, I had only been walking for a few hours. The car was now long gone as well as the road and any other sing of life. I hadn’t said a word to Brendon all day. I was so tired that I found it hard to speak. I was hungry. I was thirsty. And I my feet were absolutely aching.

“Are you alright?” Brendon asked, turning around to look at me dragging my feet along the dirt.

“No,” I replied simply.

“What’s wrong?”

“Everything. I’m hungry. I’m thirsty. I’m tired. My feet are killing. It’s horrible,” I complained. Brendon wrapped his arm over my shoulders, continuing to walk. A few minutes later, Brendon let go of me and pointed ahead.

“What’s that?” Brendon asked, squinting at something in front of him. It looked like some kind of building. As we walked closer to it, it became clear that it was some sort of log cabin. We walked quicker over to it, to see what or who was inside. If there’s life in there, there has to be other signs of life elsewhere.