Timeless Trekking: Tom's Time-Travelling Tale

The sky was so blue, it hurt. The sun so bright, it burned through the eyelids. The heat was palpable. It pressed against Tom's neck and arms, as if to tell him he was a speck of dust in an ocean of air that stretched far beyond his sight. But he could not see anything beyond the length of his arm. Wherever his eyes wandered, all he saw was sand. Sand and more sand.

Tom shook his head and tried to remember where he had last been before the back of his head hit something hard and solid. He had probably bumped into one of those rocks that littered the plain. Or maybe a tree? He was sure there were some trees somewhere among all this endless sea of sand. There had to be some sign of life in this vast expanse or else there would have been no point in him leaving the house.

He dug out his water bottle from the pack on his back and took a few sips, filling one hand with water while he used the other to rub the small bump on his head with the tips of his fingers. Then he put on the pack again and continued walking, grateful for its weight which kept him from flying off into space when he walked into things like walls or bushes or cars or people or whatever else he might encounter out here in this... desert?

Tom frowned at first but then shrugged off the idea with a deep sigh that turned into a cough.

He took another sip from his water bottle and walked on, looking at everything around him but seeing nothing but sand and rocks and trees if there actually were any trees around here. It seemed logical though; there were deserts all over the world, so why wouldn't there be a desert here too? Of course there would be a desert here, somewhere in Australia! He just had to find it!

After what felt like an hour of walking, Tom stopped being able to walk because he realized that he didn't know where exactly he was going anymore. His feet were wet from the sands, which meant that they were taking off quite a bit of skin with each step. He looked around again and saw only sand and rocks and probably some trees over there somewhere too if there were any trees around here... wherever here was... wherever *he* was... where *he* was...

Tom sank down onto one knee and let himself fall forward onto both hands when they hit the ground heavily enough to make him realize how tired they were from carrying his body along all day without rest except for smaller breaks whenever he ran out of water to drink or food to eat (which happened almost every hour).

He sighed again; this time deeper, emptier than before. He closed his eyes against the hot wind threatening to take them away or blow them open or burn them until they were no longer eyes at all, but dull gray stones just like everything else in this godforsaken place that couldn't even call itself a place because it wasn't even *there*!

It wasn't even *anywhere*! It was nowhere! Nowhere! And yet somehow also somewhere! Somewhere everywhere! Somewhere nowhere! Nowhere everywhere! Now-where-where-where-where....

Or words just like that anyway: where-where-where-where-where-where.... Or words that sounded like that anyway: *whee*, *wheree*, *wheer*, *wheeer*, *wheeeerrrrr*, *wheeeeerrrrrr.....* Or words just like those however you wanted them: **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **wher** **whrrrryy sevvyy yyyyyy yyyyyyyyy yyyyyy yyyyyy yyyyyy yyyhhrr hhhhrr hrhrr hrhhhhrr hrhhhrr hhhrrrhrhhhrrr hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr***aarrrrgglelllllppppppppppppppppplllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ppppsssssssssssssstttttttttttttttt tttttttttt tthhhhffffffffffffffffffffff ffff ffff ffff ffff ffff ffff ffff ffff ff**** ggggg gggg gggg gggg gggg gggg gggg ggggg...... kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk ****k kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk ****k kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk ****k kkkk kkkk kkkk kkkk*****...........*cough*cough*cough*coughcough*cough*cough*couuuuuuuuuuuuugh***aaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaahhhaaaa..........