The Desert Gives and the Desert Takes Away

A dusty SUV pulled beside a gas pump. A couple, Scott and Judy, got out, looking just as dusty. He filled up the tank while Judy went inside, searching for a restroom.

"Over there," an old woman behind the counter pointed to the bathrooms.

"Thanks," Judy wasted no time. She really needed to go and had for over thirty miles.

After Judy finished, she perused the aisles, not looking for anything but relishing the cool air-conditioned store. Theirs went out just before leaving Oklahoma. They could hardly believe their dumb luck. Here they were, about to enter Texas, the official start of the desert adventure they'd planned for over three months, and the AC went out. She wanted to see the desert so bad, but with the windows down at 115 degrees, and dust getting into her hair, eyes, and mouth, she wanted to get out of Dodge to anywhere that wasn't desert.

Scott came inside from filling the car and hurried to the men's room.

"You two look hot." The old woman said. "Water is free. Help yourself. Just push the little white lever under the lemonade spout."

"Thank you," Judy grabbed a thirty-two-ounce cup and half-filled it with ice, then water. "I can't believe how hot it is. In Missouri, we don't see this."

"Roll your windows up. Use your AC."

Judy laughed. "Yes, but our AC didn't make it past Oklahoma. Apparently, it decided to not mess with Texas."

"Funny." But the old woman didn't laugh or even smile. "Explains the windows down. In this heat, even locals keep the windows up. The mechanic next door could fix it."

"Oh, that would be great! Scott, did you hear her?" Scott had just come out of the bathroom. "She said they have a mechanic next door."

"Yeah, but all the other mechanics said it would take a week just to get the part." He looked at the old woman. "But thank you for trying."

"He has all the parts. He specializes in ACs."

"Really? Well, it couldn't hurt to have him look at it."

Scott drove next door and found the mechanic, who told him he had the part and could fix it, but it would take two or three hours. Scott couldn't help noticing how old the mechanic was, way past retiring. Guess some guys never quit.

"We would wait an entire week if it meant we could have AC again." 

"It won't take a week, only a few hours." The mechanic gave Scott a look that said, are you stupid in any other area.

"Yeah, I didn't think it would take a week." 

"Then why did you say it?"

"I was just trying…," Scott stumbled on his words. "I guess I thought…," Scott realized that they had diametrically different ways of communicating and gave up trying to explain. "I really don't know why I said it."

"Umm, been in the heat long?"

"Yes. Why?" Scott smiled. "Do you think it rattled my brain?"

"I've seen it before. But, I expect you came here that way."

Scott watched as the mechanic made his way to the shop. He sure is strange, and his sense of humor is off the charts.

Scott returned to the convenience store, looking over the one-block town. It struck him how old the town looked. A small adobe church at one end, four dusty houses on the other end, a mansion-sized hotel that seemed too big for this town, and a small post office with a gas station and repair garage in the middle. They seemed to sag like an old man as the heat pounded down. The dust muted Their colors, replacing them with a baked-gray hue. He also noticed that everyone he saw was old. And not just regular old, but really old, like old father time: no kids, no young people.

He joined his wife, sitting at a table inside the convenience store. Brushing the crumbs off before sitting down.

"That mechanic is quite a character." Scott pulled a napkin from a dispenser and wiped the table.

"You think he is? You should talk to this woman. I bet she's got him beat." They both laughed.

"We'll be here a few hours, but the mechanic says he has the part and can fix it."

"That's good news." Judy gave a weak smile. "Hate that we won't make our reservation, though."

"Yeah, we'll just have to check off Sequoia from our National Park passport some other time." Scott paused. "I was thinking we should just go back to Vegas. What do you think?"

"I guess so. Might as well start making our way back home. Heaven knows I've had my fill of the desert."

The woman from behind the counter approached their table and interjected. "Best leave the desert while you can. Wish I had never come. But it grabbed me. It sucks the life out of you. Makes you feel dry and empty. Look at me. A wrinkled old woman, I was young and beautiful when I first came here.

"If you feel this way, why not move?" Judy asked.

"Can't. I couldn't live anywhere else. Besides, what the desert takes during the day, it gives back at night."

"What does that mean?" Scott looked up at the old woman trying to figure out if she was alluding to something inappropriate.

"Won't tell you." And with that, the conversation ended as the old woman returned to her counter.

"Weird," Judy whispered.

"You got that right." Scott grinned as he got up and poured himself a Dr. Pepper. He went over to the woman to pay. "Is it okay if we sit here until the repair is done?"

"Not going to make you sit outside."

"I appreciate that," Scott grabbed his drink and sat with Judy. "Hopefully, the time goes by fast."

She was holding her phone, already on Facebook. "I'm sure it will."

The old analog clock, advertising Coke-a-cola, moved slowly for Scott. He kept looking to see if the hands were moving. They were, but barely. He stared at the minute hand, willing it to move faster. But the long finger mocked him and moved even slower. He must have fallen asleep at some point because Judy was trying to wake him.

"It's the mechanic, Scott. Are you awake? Wake up."

"I'm awake," but he still didn't know where he was. "What is it?" He opened his eyes and saw the mechanic standing.

"Mister, I can't finish your car today. I'll try tomorrow."

"What? Oh, okay. Well, thank you for trying. We'll just go back to Vegas without AC. How much do we owe you?"

"Can't. I tore into the engine. You can't drive it until I put it back together."

"We have to stay here tonight?"

"Yes. But not for a whole week." The mechanic gave an almost imperceptible smile.

Scott laughed. "I guess we should get over to the hotel. Can we get our luggage out of the car?"

"Sure. Come with me." They both left, leaving Judy and the old woman alone.

The old woman stared at Judy. "Stay in your room! Don't get out!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Don't leave your room."

"Why?"

"Trying to help. Remember what I said, leave the desert while you can."

"We are trying. But what does that have to do with leaving our room?"

"The desert doesn't grab those in the hotel. But outside…" The woman wouldn't say more.

"You're not making any sense. What do you mean?

"I mean what I said."

Just then, Scott opened the door. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. I'm coming." She got up to leave but looked back at the old woman. She really is crazy.

"Are you alright?" Scott asked. "You look shaken up."

"It's that woman; at first, she seemed a little funny, but now really creepy."

"Eccentric people are like that. One minute they're making you laugh; the next, you're calling 911. Don't let her bother you." Scott put his arm around her as they walked to the hotel.

A very old man checked them in and pointed to their room down the hall. Dragging their language with them, no bell hops here, they opened the room with an old-fashioned metal key and walked into a room from the fifties: wood-paneled walls, tiny television with an antenna on a TV stand, flower-patterned curtains, and a full-sized bed with a yellow comforter. They unpacked a few necessities and settled down for the night. Scott pulled the curtains open and looked over the single street. The sun had set, but the light of dusk still highlighted the desert, painting it a warm orange.

"This is beautiful. You should see it." Scott motioned for Judy to join him.

"Wow. Now this is why I wanted to see the desert." Judy said as they embraced, mesmerized by the desert's final moments of the day. When they could no longer see the light, they watched some tv and then went to bed.

At midnight, they both jolted up in bed. "What was that?" Judy whispered.

"Not sure." Scott got out of bed and went to the window. There were people in the street. Around two or three dozen, they were dancing, laughing, eating, drinking, and having a good time. "What in the world?"

"What do you see?" Judy walked over to him. "A party?"

"Looks like."

"At midnight? On a Thursday? What could they be celebrating?"

Scott shrugged his shoulders. "What to get dressed and join them?"

"No!" Judy almost yelled the word. "No, let's just stay in our room. We really need sleep. Besides, Isn't it a bit creepy?"

"I don't know about creepy, but I'm surprised by their age. They are all young." Scott stared down into the street. "Earlier today, I only saw old people, really old people. I assumed they grew up here or had another reason for not leaving. This town has no opportunities, and nobody can raise a family here. Did you see a school? But now the street is full of young people."

Judy also stared. "Scott, look at that lady over there." She pointed to a beautiful woman in a rocking chair at a house across the street. "She's wearing the same dress the old woman at the station was wearing. And look, the young man standing near her is wearing the exact overalls the old mechanic wore. I swear it has the same grease spots."

"You're right. Those two could be the old mechanic and the old woman's grandkids or something. It's uncanny how much they look like the older couple." Scott noticed the young man waving in their direction. "I think he's waving at us."

"Like he knows us." Judy backed away from the window. "This feels so freaky. Let's get back to bed and leave here as soon as possible."

"Are you sure? It could be the adventure in the desert we always wanted." Scott employed his puppy dog eyes."

"Stop it, Scott. Those eyes won't persuade me this time. I didn't tell you this earlier, but the old woman told me not to leave this room tonight. I just figured she was crazy, but now I wonder. We should do what she says."

"That's a weird thing to say. Of course, she's a very weird lady." Scott pulled the curtains closed. "Okay, have it your way. We'll stay in."

They both crawled back into bed. The music and excitement outside made it hard to fall back asleep, but after an hour, they finally did.

The following day they checked out. The same old man that checked them in checked them out. Pulling and carrying their suitcases down the street, they noticed an old woman watering her only pot of flowers. Farther up the road, two old men played checkers in front of the post office. And when they got to the store, the old woman stood outside, waiting for them.

"Stayed inside. Good. Come in and eat. I've got breakfast ready." The old woman went inside, and they followed. She returned from the kitchen with two plates full of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and biscuits. "Eat." She placed the plates down and stood at the head of their table. She had no expression. She said nothing. She just stood there.

Judy felt uncomfortable and began to talk to ease the awkwardness. "How did you know we didn't join the party? Did your granddaughter tell you?"

"Don't have a granddaughter."

"Really? I saw a young lady last night that looked so much like you. I assumed you two were related."

"The lady isn't my granddaughter." The old woman smiled for the first time since they met. "But we are related in a way."

"In what way?" Judy's curiosity peeked.

"When I first got here, I looked exactly like that young lady."

"You mean when you were young? How old were you when you came here?" Judy asked.

"I was twenty-five."

Judy looked embarrassed for asking the next question, but she couldn't help herself. "And how long ago was that?"

The old woman smiled again. "You really want to know? I'll tell you." She leaned on the table and lowered her head. "Two years ago."

Goosebumps crawled up and down Judy's arms. "I'm sorry? What did you say?"

"Two years ago." The old woman looked at them. She saw comprehension begin to dawn on their faces. "You understand?"

Scott understood but didn't believe. "You're crazy. You must be over eighty. There is no way it was two years ago. More like sixty-two.

"I was going to LA. My car broke down here. The same mechanic who is fixing your car fixed my car. Only he couldn't finish until the morning. I didn't stay in my room. The party looked fun. It was. But when I awoke, I was an old woman. Desert took my youth and gave me old age." The old woman looked like she was in pain telling the story. "But what the desert takes, it gives back at night. The beautiful lady you saw last night was me. Every young person you saw last night is like me. Old during the day. Young at night. The desert has us all."

"I've had enough," Scott got up and went to the door. "I'm going to see if our car is done. Judy, let's go."

"I'll wait here." Judy still had goosebumps but didn't feel threatened or in danger.

"With crazy lady?" Scott said in a voice that started typically but ended in a high-pitched tone.

"I'll be fine. Just get our car so we can leave."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Judy felt sympathy for the strange woman. Although her story was unbelievable, Judy felt that the old woman legitimately felt trapped, and she wanted to help. "You could leave with us if you want."

"Can't. Desert won't let me. If I do, I die. Many had tried but turned to dust when they stepped out of town. That's what the desert wants. To add us to itself."

"Is there anything I can do?" Judy asked.

"Leave. Desert won't let you go again. Heard it call out your names last night. It wants you. If you stay another night, it will keep you. Go while you can."

Scott half opened the door and poked his head around. "Car is ready and loaded. Let's go."

Judy went to leave but returned to the old woman and hugged her. The woman stood in Judy's embrace with her arms down and a look that said, what was that for. Judy let go, said she would never forget her, and then left.

"The young always forget the old." The old woman said to herself as she turned and returned to her counter. "The young always forget. I know I do every night. I forget my old self and think my young self will live forever. But the day always comes. One day the desert will add me too. One day it will add us all."