@@@@@ My stomach was harder to ignore than my
@@@@@
My stomach was harder to ignore than my mouth as the sun rose higher and hotter above meIt
twisted and contracted at regular intervals, anticipating meals that didn't appearBy afternoon,
the hunger had gone from uncomfortable to painful
This is nothing,Melanie reminded me wrylyI didn't feel like being an audience to her endurance memories right now
I was beginning to despair when the good news cameAs I swung my head across the horizon
with a routine, halfhearted movement, the bulbous shape of the dome jumped out at me from
the middle of a northern line of small peaksThe missing part was only a faint indentation from
this vantage point
Close enough,Melanie decided, as thrilled as I was to be making some progressI turned north
eagerly, my steps lengtheningeep a lookout for the nextShe remembered another formation
for me, and I started craning my head around at once, though I knew it was useless to search for
it this early
It would be to the eastNorth and then east and then north again
The lift of finding another milestone kept me moving despite the growing weariness in my legs
Melanie urged me on, chanting encouragements when I slowed, thinking of Jared and Jamie
when I turned apatheticMy progress was steady, and I waited till Melanie okayed each drink,
even though the inside of my throat felt as though it was blistering
I had to admit that I was proud of myself for being so toughWhen the dirt road appeared, it
seemed like a rewardIt snaked toward the north, the direction I was already headed, but
Melanie was skittish
I don't like the look of it,she insisted
The road was just a sallow line through the scrub, defined only by its smoother texture and lack
of vegetationAncient tire tracks made a double depression, centered in the single lane
When it goes the wrong way, we'll leave it was already walking down the middle of the
tr