I watched in horror as the suffocating wall of dust rushed towards us. Dazzled by the swirling mass of sand-blasting wind, I hardly noticed the chaos in the surrounding streets. Columns of red sand organically churned up into the sky, undulating, swirling around each other in a turbulent mass of grit.

A group of men hurtled past, one charging into my shoulder and knocking me out of my stupor.

“Lena, we have to go,” I muttered. In slow motion, I grabbed my younger sister’s hand and began to back away from the sandstorm, our hound Kipy following on our heels.

 It advanced with alarming speed, swallowing up buildings on the horizon like the maw of some demonic shadow creature. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the hideous, writhing mass charging over the landscape. I forced my legs to move faster, stumbling over my own feet as I backed away.

Lena screamed in terror; I snapped my head forward and charged away from the dust-wall, dragging my sister behind.

We were half a mile from the mud-brick hut we called home. I knew we would never make it there. I quickly scanned the street ahead for shelter but saw only the ruined shell of a once great city. Those buildings that had survived the onslaught of The Undying Storm were closed off with huge slab stone doors, the rich dwellers within living a sheltered life free from the chaos.

My brain had stalled – thoughts erratic and useless. I scanned the street again, left to right, waiting for an idea to spark. No stroke of genius came. Just keep going, I urged myself, and quickened my pace.

We dashed through the street, Kipy plundering ahead towards a cluster of buildings. Lena’s small legs could hardly keep up so I tugged her wrist, tugged it so hard her skin pinched up beneath my fingers. Something pricked at my senses, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Don’t look, I told myself, just keep going.

I knew it was close now. No sound emanated from the street, not a soul in sight as my eyes danced furiously, trying to find shelter.

We reached the cluster of buildings and slowed our pace. Still I didn’t look back, though I knew the silent horror was grinding towards us. Lena in tow, I scanned the mouths of each building through sore, squinted eyes. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but these buildings weren’t it. The wind had picked up pace.

I wondered how much time we had left and the impulse to turn around grew intensely. A thick sense of foreboding pressed on me, and the need to look at it swelled in my mind, making my head feel thick.

Lena tripped and fell into the dirt. I crouched by her, inspecting the grazes on her hands and knees, but Lena wasn’t paying attention to her wounds. She was gaping behind me with wide, teary eyes, her long hair dancing wildly in the wind. I turned.

Our time was up.

The wall of sand rose up before us, stretching a mile into the sky and rushing forwards with alarming speed. An unnerving hissing sound rose in our ears as sand and debris crashed together in the sky. Time slowed as the base of the cloud approached, devouring everything in its path.

It hit and immediately my world was plunged into darkness. In an instant, day turned to night as the choking cloud swallowed us. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me. Wind roared past my ears, whistling, howling in beastly tones. I had to squinch my eyes against the assault, just barely keeping them open enough to peek under my lashes. The only light that managed to pierce the dust cast an eerie orange glow on the land.

I pulled Lena close, cradling her head under my chin. It felt like we were alone in the world, lost somehow under a shroud of blazing fog. Nothing existed except us, the tumultuous cloud and the blistering wind.

Lena’s grip tightened on my hand. I rose up, carrying her like a babe into the nearest structure, the only one I could remember seeing through the murkiness. With only three walls still standing, a rotten hole-covered roof and the fourth wall collapsed around the doorway, I’d thought it was barely adequate, yet we had no choice but to take shelter here.

I ran to the back of the structure, as far away from the open doorway as I could get. I knelt on the stone floor, gently lowering Lena down, then huddled in the corner over my sister, shielding her from the biting wind the best I could.

“It’ll be okay,” I said, as much to comfort myself as Lena, “we’re all together . . . we’re all okay”. It was only then I realised that in the commotion I had forgotten our hound. The last I saw of him was before the wall hit.

“Wait here,” I instructed, lightly stroking Lena’s chubby cheek before fighting my way through the furious wind to the entrance.

The storm was brutal, air and grit pounding against my body, grazing my cheeks and whipping my hair in all directions. My eyes stung as if salt were being blasted into them. I furiously blinked the tears away, squinting through the orange haze to look for a sign of our hound.

“Kipy!” I yelled, gasping on the dust. My mouth was so ferociously dry, throat dessicated and raw, lips already shrivelled and cracked, tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. The wind roared maliciously in my ears but I thought I could hear a high-pitched bark carried on the wind. I took a breath to call out again but choked on the dry, scratchy air before any words came.

Between coughs, I saw a ball of golden fur shoot out from the murky depths and into our shelter. My shoulders sagged with relief; we were all safe.

My relief was short-lived.

A knife-like sound rang through my ears. It clattered all around us, grating and grinding with sudden sharpness. It felt like minutes had passed before I saw the cause of the racket.

A whirlwind of wreckage crashed through the streets and into the walls. I flung myself into the corner, covering Lena and Kipy with my body. The roar of the dirt and debris hitting the shelter was deafening. Sand swept against our bodies, scratching at any exposed skin. It poured in through the arched doorway and with alarming speed we were up to the ankles in red dirt.

I shrugged out of my jacket and draped it over Lena, smoothing down her hair with my hands. She squinted up at me with her hazel eyes and the weight of my fear stabbed in my chest. I swallowed it down and planted a gritty, dry-mouthed kiss on her forehead.

“Stay here,” I ordered, turning towards the doorway. I fought my way there against the bitter wind, head bowed and crawling on all fours to make myself a smaller target for debris. The sand had deepened another inch and moving through it felt like wading against a strong current.

How had it risen so fast? Where had it come from? Why was the sand red? My heart thudded rapidly in my chest as I realised this was no ordinary storm.

I started scooping sand out of the doorway with my palms, trying to keep Lena and Kipy from drowning in a sea of red particles. As I shoved the dirt out of the arched door, the wind threw most of it right back at me.

The ferocity of the storm stunned me. Air sped by with such a speed that I was convinced I would be swept away. My hair was pulled back so violently my scalp felt sore.

I tried to scoop another load of sand out the doorway, only to have it all blow back in my face. This wasn’t working.

I moved closer to the entrance and dug my boots deep into the rising sand. My upper body now hung out the doorway. By stretching my arms, I was able to push the sand out along the wall and around the corner of the building before the wind snatched it away.

I continued this way for as long as I could stand, mechanically hurling sand away from the shelter. Each chalky breath caught in my lungs, forcing me to cough and suck in more powdery air. A relentlessly dry thirst tore through my throat, yet still I scooped out the sand.

Hours passed, though it felt like days, and my arms throbbed with the effort of fighting back the dust.

I grew more tired than I thought possible and cramping pains tore through my shoulders. I stopped shovelling to give my weary muscles a break and hauled my depleted body back into the shelter.

My sister and Kipy were curled up in the far corner of the room, and Lena had somehow fallen asleep. I lay on my side, watching them while I rested. My eyelids grew heavy and with the stinging it was hard to fight the urge to close them.

The bicep in one arm began to spasm and I flinched back in pain. I shifted on the sandy floor and shook my arm about, stretching out the tender muscles. I closed my eyes and breathed through the pain. My body was desperately tired. Slowly my head nodded as sleep threatened to take me.

No! I jerked myself awake and returned to the task of clearing the shelter of sand. Even with my efforts, the level of sediment had risen even higher. Glancing over at Lena, I noticed a quarter of her body was blanketed in red.

I turned back just in time to dodge a chunk of wood hurtling straight towards me. It ricocheted off the corner of the archway, missing me by inches. I realised it was the remains of a market trader’s stall, and wondered what had happened to the trader.

While I lay on the mound of sand that covered the ground, every bone in my body screamed at me not to move, to rest there until the storm was over. It would have been so easy to simply lay there and give in to sleep.

But I couldn’t – wouldn’t – do that. My sweet, sleeping sister needed me to keep digging. The storm would be over soon. It had to be. Or else. . .

My muscles throbbed in protest as I once again crawled to the doorway.

My bicep was still seizing up so I continued to rake the sand out with my good arm. Until that also began to cramp. I was utterly drained, all my energy was spent.

A great gust of wind burst through the doorway but my feeble muscles couldn’t brace against it. My body was thrown against the wall and I felt a deep crack as my ribs smashed into the stone. Pain radiated out from my chest, pulsing through me until my surroundings began to melt away into blackness. I collapsed down onto the heap of sand, squeezing my eyes shut as dust thrashed against my face.

 

 

I awoke to the feeling of a cold tightness encasing my whole body. Something was swiping at the sides of my face, clawing away the sand that surrounded me. I blinked the grit out of my eyes and suppressed the panic rising within. I couldn’t move my arms or legs; I was encompassed in sand.

Kipy was the thing clawing near my face. My wonderful, faithful hound was trying desperately to free me from the red mass. I took in my surroundings while Kipy worked away. The sky was ablaze with orange as sunlight tried to pierce the thinning dust cloud. I could hear faint voices carried on the wind and knew the worst was over – people were resuming their duties.

I tried to turn my head to check on Lena but couldn’t see far enough.

Kipy was burrowing past my shoulders now. Soon my arms would be free and then I could easily dig out the rest of my body.

“Lena,” I rasped, but there was no response.

Kipy pawed down past my elbow and I was able to pull one hand from the gritty mess. I yelped at the pain stabbing my ribs as I moved. He licked my face as I began to free my other arm, and then worked down to my legs.

“Lena!” I called again as I started tugging my legs free, ignoring my pain.

The instant I was clear of sand, I spun round to the corner I had last seen Lena sleeping in. The tips of her dark hair were poking out through a mound of sand.

“Gods no!” I hurled myself to the mound and desperately clawed at it. I worked down the hair; soon I could feel her scalp with my fingertips, and then her face. Her face. . .

Her mouth fixed in an unheard scream. Eyes wide open, the smallest flecks of hazel visible through the layer of sand glued to them. Skin greyish-blue and ice cold. Those chubby cheeks somehow sagging and lifeless. No! Not Lena!

I punched the sand, rocking back and forth, shrieking, howling, roaring at the skies.

I had failed to keep her safe. I had failed.