Sand... I could almost tell you exactly how many grains lay in this desert. The days are long and hot, and the nights are longer and cold. It’s not a mistake that I am here, I chose to live this way. My name is Gabriel, I am twenty-eight years old. The Wahiba Sands became my home five weeks ago.... I used to be wealthy, with a family, I even owned the largest law firm in the united states. I used to be happy, and filled to the breaking points with love, and life. Until my company that I spent every penny, and every ounce of me on, fell under. My deep black hair began to turn a grey color. We started losing cases, and with a rising rate of failure came the rising debt. The company was going to crash, and I knew. A few months later, the bank came around to take the firm out of my hands. I made a horrible decision, I went to the bank that all of the pension money was stored. I emptied all of the accounts, and carried the money out of the bank in bags. As I was leaving I called my wife, and told her and my son Adrian to pack their things and get ready to leave the country, and that I would explain when I got home. I pull into the driveway, and see my wife standing outside the house. Frantically I told her what just happened.
“Gabriel what on earth are you trying to do?!” she exclaimed.
“Please just get in the car, I don’t have time. I need to leave, if you wait any longer I’ll have to leave without you and Adrian.” I proposed.
She stood, unmoved, and with an unchanged mind. I knew what that meant. I walked into the house that I would no longer call mine, and followed the wide hallways to my young son’s room. “Dad where are you going, and why are you fighting with Mom?” Adrian said. “I just have to leave for a little while, I will be back soon I promise. Please be good for your mother.” I told him with tears in my eyes. “Why do you have to go?” He asked with an innocent mind of a child. “I did something bad, Adrian, and I can’t stay.” I explained. My poor son was as confused as he’s ever been. My mind snapped back to reality, sand. I walk aimlessly around the area looking at the different colors of grainy sand. Out of all of the money that I stole I burned most of it to stay alive. At first I imagined myself somewhere spending all of my money, in a casino or something. I never imagined that I’d be all alone with nothing but the sand. My head began to throb from the heat, I had no water, no food, and I was beginning to dehydrate. My normal water spot had finally dried up after a few weeks. I was out of food, and I couldn’t manage to find any more plants to eat. Living in the desert was growing to be too hard. One night while I was laying on my bed made of sand, I began to think about the house I left behind. I missed my wife, and my son. I missed the cool Los Angeles air. I missed the front yard sprinklers that my brother and I had installed the summer before. Then suddenly I heard them. I heard the low hiss of the sprinklers turning on. The hiss was growing louder and louder. I imagined myself laying in my bed on a warm sunday morning, listening to the sprinklers rattle and hiss. I could hear them, and for a second I forgot about the desert, and all the money I had stolen. I just layed in my bed in my Los Angeles home. My wife and son in bed with me, just relaxing. I felt a cold movement on my calf and all at once I was back in the desert again. The sprinklers I thought I had heard was a long rattlesnake. I knew I had to move but I couldn’t gain the strength to. As the snake curled next to me I knew the end was near. The rattling was getting louder, and the snake was perching ready to strike. There was nothing I could do, I was far too weak to move. The snake launched towards my wrist and I feel a sharp pain. The pain traveled through my body. Tracing my veins with the venom it had injected into me. I knew that now I was going to die and I wasn’t afraid. So here I lay on the sand. Writing this story to whomever finds my body... if anyone ever finds my body. Its been almost twenty-four hours since the bite and I have found the strength to pick up a pen and write the story of how I died. The wound from the snake is the size of a small grapefruit and growing. Maybe If I would have never stolen all of that money I wouldn’t be here. I am beginning to feel like I am suffocating but maybe if I hang on for a few more seconds someone will find me. I’m getting tired, maybe I can take an small nap before someone finds me.