Desert Ghost

Somewhere in the hot summer desert, Mark's walking slowly dried up under the desert blue sky. Wearing just a T-shirt and jeans. Flip flop on his sore feet, no hat, no water, only a briefcase in one hand. His skin begins to burn like a turkey in the oven. After being stranded in the desert for hours, seems like he's going in a circle. With no water and no food je as comes to his last effort, His last breath of air. He walks for hours and comes at his last effort. He fell on his knees. He looks up and sees something odd, Takes a long breath and kicks his butt to get up.

"come on Mark, get up!"

Big birds flying in circles over his head, waiting for him to pass out. After a long minute, he gets up and starts walking, dragging his feet on the sand. Lucky for him it's not an illusion he is getting closer and closer. He finally sees clearly, it's a small ice cream trailer in the desert. He checks on all four sides, and there is no door, only two panels that can open, on one side of the trailer. Mark puts his briefcase on the side and sits on it. After a while, a vulture lands near him, and another. Before he knows it, he's surrounded by three and then four hungry birds. Suddenly, Mark hears a shot fired and feathers flying everywhere. The panel doors on the side trailer are open, and a clown is holding a shotgun. An ugly-looking clown with hair on the side of his head but not on the top, a white face with red all around his mouth. A kind of clown that you don't want at your child's birthday party.

"Hello, my friend!" says the clown with a big smile that lets see his green teeth. "Can I help you with something?" asks the clown.

"Water!" says Mark exhausted.

The clown tells Mark that he can give him everything he needs. All he has to do is ask for it. Mark hesitated because he never liked clowns.

"Why do you want to help me?"

"Because friends help each other, right?" says the scary clown.

"I don't like clowns, sorry I'm not your friend!" Mark says, a little bit disgusted by the overall look of this clown.

But Mark is hungry and thirsty after all. Succeding a minute of thinking.

"A cold beer, I want a Beer, But first a glass of water, please."

The clown gets a big pitcher of cold water and pours Mark a big glass. Mark is struggling to get up to get his glass of cold water.

"Thank you!" Mark drink the glass of water without breathing between sip.

"Do you want your burger and Beer now?" asks Mr clown.

"A cold one, and yes a burger!" says Mark.

"Alright!" replies the creepy clown.

Too happy to help, Mark finds that suspicion, but he's so starving he could heat two burgers and fries from Burger King. The clown is repugnant to him. That's why Mark's only going to take one burger. The clown waits until Mark finishes his burger to ask him.

"What are you going to give me after all? I saved your life gave you water, food, and a cold beer!" as the clown leans on the edge of the window waiting for an answer.

"I have nothing!" says Mark.

But the clown points out his necklace.

"My necklace no way!" as he takes a step back. The clown points at the briefcase.

"No! You can't have that either!" says Mark a little baffled.

"Show me the neckless." says the clown with more authority.

"It's just a cord, nothing fancy."

Mark pulls out his necklace slowly, and a big old key comes out. It looks like a key for an old chest.

"I will make a deal with you." the clown says.

"Give me the suitcase, and you can keep the key."

Mark thinks about it and Says, "I can't do this. The briefcase is my life."

The clown is just standing still without saying anything. After a while.

"Ok, give me the key!"- brushes His hair with His hand.- "And get me out of this desert, and I will leave you Alone."

I can't pull this trailer, thinks Mark. It's too heavy for sure.

"I don't even know what direction to go."Mark stops and looks at the clown weirdly.

"you want me to pull this heavy trailer, but why don't you get out of it and walk to the nearest town?"

"I have been course, I can't get out of this stupid box on wheels. I can give you food and water so you have the strength to pull."

So Mark started pulling as hard as he could. The trailer did not budge.

"You will have to pull harder than that!" says the clown.

Mark gives it all he has. The trailer started to move on Mark's third try. Once started it's getting easier to pull. After an hour of pulling the clown, under the hot desert Sun. Mark takes a break.

"What's in the briefcase? ask the clown.

"I can't tell you!" replied Mark swipping the sweat off his forehead with his right hand.

"Is it your soul?" asks gently the clown.

He knew, at that time he had just sold his soul for food and water. Mark knew he was doomed. Mark begins pulling again, but he's not gonna get him near a town. After hours of pulling Mark sees a cave. He pulls the trailer into it.

"What are you doing my friend."Says the clown with angry eyes. He's not so friendly anymore.

"I just want to take a break from the sun, I'm exhausted." Says Mark with difficulty speaking out loud. "I need food and water to regain my strength."

"What are you talking about you did not pull. We are still at the same place, we did not move a bit." The clown starts laughing.

"You want to know something?"Says the laughing clown.

"How is IT possible, I pull for hours!" Says the confused Mark

"Liste to me - the clown moves a bit forward to get closer to Mark - you are dead my friend!"

"No, it can't be!" Mark doesn't believe or understand what the clown is saying.

The clown starts to fade away laughing.

"I will see you in hell!" Spit out the clown with a big satanic voice and vanish with the ice cream trailer.

He looks around him and sees that he's not in the cave anymore. He's still where he saw the trailer the first time. He doesn't want to believe it.

Mark runs back to where he came from. His body's lying face down in the sand, and vultures trying to feed on his dead body, picking skin on the back of his neck.

"Noooooo!"

Mark's starting to catch what's up. He knows exactly what happened in the desert that day.

He died.

"I'm a ghost!"