The Desert Stretch

She hadn’t meant to end up in the middle of nowhere, but the desert had a way of pulling her in. The horizon rippled in the heat, the two-lane road stretching endlessly forward, daring her.

Her feet ached from the night before, her patience from the week before. She reached down, tossed her heels onto the seat beside her, and pressed her toes against the clutch.

The engine’s snarl shattered the stillness, a beast against the barren silence. She grinned, shifted, and let the car devour the desert mile after mile.

Heels off. Engine on. Endless road.