It was early September in the town of Hillsbury. Labor Day weekend, the final long weekend before school returned and the summer tourists departed for the year, was the busiest for the town. Hillsbury was cottage country; families would travel upwards of ten hours to stay in their wood cabins, or the luxurious campsites that had recently been upgraded to provide up to fifteen sites with electricity and new picnic tables to surround the pits used for campfires, for the summer months. 

It . . .

It was early September in the town of Hillsbury. Labor Day weekend, the final long weekend before school returned and the summer tourists departed for the year, was the busiest for the town. Hillsbury was cottage country; families would travel upwards of ten hours to stay in their wood cabins, or the luxurious campsites that had recently been upgraded to provide up to fifteen sites with electricity and new picnic tables to surround the pits used for campfires, for the summer months. 

It . . .

     It was a grey sky above a cracked grey desert. No living thing crossed this place. The name first given to it by man was long forgotten and the true name had never been spoken. It was simply The Desert. It was an ancient place hoarding time as desperately as thirsty men kiss water.

     The Sleeping Man walked across the dry, baked ground, counting his steps carefully. There was no landmark, no star, no wind to guide his way. There were only instructions which had been carved into. . .

     It was a grey sky above a cracked grey desert. No living thing crossed this place. The name first given to it by man was long forgotten and the true name had never been spoken. It was simply The Desert. It was an ancient place hoarding time as desperately as thirsty men kiss water.

     The Sleeping Man walked across the dry, baked ground, counting his steps carefully. There was no landmark, no star, no wind to guide his way. There were only instructions which had been carved into. . .