Stranded Safari

 

            Adrian couldn’t believe it. She knew she shouldn’t have come on this safari. She knew she shouldn’t have taken that ticket to Africa. Nothing good ever happened to her, but winning tickets to a special safari had sounded lucky at the time, even if she’d never entered any contest. She should have stayed home in Utah, watching over her flower shop. Instead, now she was stuck in the middle of the desert with a group of strangers in a broken-down Jeep. Their guide had left more than four hours ago to get help. Adrian didn’t think it would take him that long to walk to the village and back, and it was starting to get dark. The blistering heat of the day was slowly disappearing, replaced by a chilly breeze.

            Tired of waiting, one man in her group started organizing everyone to walk back to the village on their own. Adrian wasn’t sure about this. They hadn’t exactly followed any roads out here. All she could see was sand and brush in every direction. She wasn’t even sure which direction the village lay. She wanted to wait a little longer for their guide to come back, but she was outvoted. Not wanting to be left behind by herself, she walked along with the group in the direction they thought their guide had gone.

            Night fell quicker than she thought possible, and the landscape turned quiet and dark around them. She tried not to think of the scorpions and snakes that came out at night, but the small night sounds fueled her imagination, and she walked with her heart in her throat, ready to bolt at the first sign of actual danger. The night and the landscape both felt endless. There was no sign of the village or any kind of human civilization.

            Finally, after at least three hours of trudging through the dust and darkness, their leader said that they should stop and rest and wait for morning to come. “We can’t stay here!” a woman shrieked as she moved closer to her husband. “I’m not going to lay down and wait to be bitten by a venomous snake!”

            Adrian agreed with her, but no one else felt like walking any further. Realizing that there was safety in numbers, she reluctantly lay down to try to rest.

            When she woke up, it was still dark, but she panicked when she realized she was alone. Where was everyone? Had they decided to continue without her? How could they just leave? Her eyes darted around for any sign of the others as she frantically thought about what she should do next. A red glow appeared over the horizon and rushed straight to her.

            Adrian’s breath stopped in her throat as a massive flying red dragon landed directly in front of her. Before she could do anything, the dragon lifted her with its great talons and she was flying high above the desert. She screamed, but it was ripped away by the rushing wind. With her arms held tightly in the dragon’s claws, she could do nothing except kick her legs.

            The dragon took no notice of her squirming and continued on through the night. Lights appeared below her and she was surprised to see that it was the village that they had been trying so desperately to return to.

            The dragon deposited her in the village square, and she immediately ran to warn everyone about the monster that had brought her here. Though she shouted and knocked on every door she saw, no one answered. All the while, the dragon watched her closely, but otherwise left her alone.

            Adrian found the building that housed the tour company of her safari, but unsurprisingly, there was no one there. A flicker of flame from the road caught her attention and she went to see what it was.

            A discarded torch burned brightly in the middle of the dirt road. Grateful for a source of light, she ran over to pick it up, but by the time she reached it, it had disappeared. The dragon flapped its wings and continued to watch her. The torch reappeared, but it was further down the road. As Adrian drew closer, it disappeared again. Glancing back at the dragon, she was startled to discover that it had moved closer to her. The torch appeared further away down the road, and as she walked over to it, the dragon followed behind.

            Feeling as if she was stuck in a trap, she continued to follow the torch that disappeared as soon as she reached it and reappeared further down the road. The dragon followed her, getting closer each time. She didn’t know how far down the road she’d gone, but she was nearly running by the time she finally reached the makeshift camp of the other people from their tour group.

            They were all still sleeping soundly when Adrian appeared in their midst and started shouting at them to wake up because there was a dragon coming. Surprised shouts rang out as they jumped up and gathered around her. “What?!” “What’s going on?”

            When Adrian pointed back towards the dragon, it was gone, and the sun was just rising. All that was left were the footprints that she’d made on her way here. She looked wildly around for any sign of the dragon, but it had completely vanished. Embarrassed now, she pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

            Luckily, her footprints led them straight back to the village which was bustling with activity, nothing like when she had been brought back here by the dragon.

            Later, Adrian could never be sure if what had happened had been real. She never told anyone how a dragon had carried her back to the village and then chased her to where the rest of her group was stranded. Maybe it was all a dream, and they were just lucky that they were able to get back to the village. But, maybe it wasn’t.