At Sunrise

I'm walking through a barren desert field, shivering and dehydrated. I can barely see anything in this darkness, but I keep walking, hoping I'm making some kind of progress in getting out of here. I have no idea how long I've been wandering around, but I couldn't stay with the plane any longer, or at least what's left of it.

The crash was terrible. I can't believe I survived it. I still have no idea what caused it, but the few people that were on that private jet couldn't have survived.

After it crashed into the sand, I desperately crawled my way out and yelled for anyone else that may have survived. No one responded. I called out a few more times, and when no one answered then, I decided to go back inside. Before I could even set a foot closer to the plane, it was engulfed in flames. The dry heat did nothing to make this better, and there was no way for me to go back inside. And just when I thought it couldn't be worse, the plane exploded. I was knocked back, my ears ringing and my lungs slowly filling with the smoke. I pulled myself away from the disaster.

When I could finally stand up, I thought it better to walk away from this. What if there was another explosion and I got hurt worse? So, I've been walking for hours. I took a small break when it started to get dark so that I could catch my breath. Then it started to get cold and I thought for a moment if I should go back to the plane, but I was already too far away.

Now, I take another break. I sit on the sand and wrap my arms around my knees, trying to warm myself. The welts on my skin sting from the cold air. I want to cry but no tears come and my voice begins to break.

I think that this may be it. There's no way I'll be able to get out of here. I have no sense of direction in this darkness. What am I supposed to do?

I lie down in the sand and silently pray for a quick death. Maybe it'll be like falling asleep. So I close my eyes and hope for sleep, and just when I can feel myself drifting off, a bright light comes over me, warming my body.

I open my eyes and see the most beautiful sight. A giant field of wheat just ahead with the sun rising on the horizon. This sun is different than the scorching desert sun. It's the sun that peeks out after it's been raining all day. It's the sun that gives you a rainbow in a gray world.

I pull myself up and walk through the long, golden stalks of wheat, towards the sunrise. The wheat gently brushes against my skin, the welts no longer burning. But then the lights go down, and the stalks of wheat turn into people, swaying alongside one another, surrounded by thousands of white lights, like stars, and in the center of it all, he stands under a bright spotlight.

Suddenly, I am frantic to get to him. I need to get to him.

"Louder," he says to the crowd.

In response, the crowd sings as loud as they can, "It's you."

He looks around at the thousands of people and somehow manages to see everyone at the same time.

"Scream it!" He yells.

This time, I sing along with the crowd, "I'm in love with you."

We all screamed it as loud as we could, but it somehow felt like a personal exchange between me and him. I am now more desperate than ever to get to him, and I run past everyone until I'm only a few feet away.

"Beautiful," he says as he looks at everyone once more. When his eyes reach mine, I am transfixed.

I stretch my arm out to him, less than a few feet away. I reach as far as I can and I am still no closer. Then, I lose my balance and fall onto my hands. I quickly get back up, knowing that I'm so close, but when I look up, I am met with nothing but a scorching sun and a barren desert field.