Sarah

He drummed his fingers against his knee to keep them from shaking.###The wind, he knew, would keep blowing that damned dust everywhere and there was no escape from it.###He was trapped inside his tent and his only companion was his father's old Marlboro thermos.###It was kept as a reminder of the way his father had been and where his father was now.###His dad had been so proud when he'd saved up enough miles for his first prize, his child-like enthusiasm filled the house.###When the thermos arrived it became the center-piece of each picnic and camping trip.###Every fish caught glimpsed its magnificence, it had a cameo in every one of his father's tales of the great out doors.###The man could picture his dad lighting a red with grace and gesture to the thing like it was a part of the conversation, he'd take a sip from it's rough plastic mouthpiece, and nothing.###The anger in his memories halted the next scene.###There was always a cigarette, and there was always that thermos and that was life.###At 67 his father was surprised to find he had cancer.###"A complete shock," was his father's answer when anyone asked.###The man looked at the thermos, it was a symbol of what killed his father and at the same time a life line.###He hadn't expected the sudden sand storm, and the beaten thermos was now his only chance for survival.###He had used up two of his three water pouches getting lost, and had lost the third making a shelter from the storm.###Now all he had was the old Marlboro thermos that he had brought with him even though its added weight was a burden.###He figured there was about eight ounces left, enough for the rest of the night if he was honest with himself.### ###There is silence in the sand, memories in each granule.###Sometimes there are stories if you lose yourself completely to the desolation.### ###The thermos was found with a message inside, no one could guess how long it had been roaming in the desert with it's cheerful red logo.###"I miss you dad."###