Mirage

Mirage 1

It was the ninth of November in 2010 my friends and I were out for a road trip that turned to a nightmare.2

“Brandon get up your friends are here!” My mom yelled.3

“Alright I’m up,” I said as I sat up.4

“Hey, Heckler,” Mike said we met at a basketball camp in second grade and have been that way for 12 years.5

“Hey, Rat where’s Raccoon?” I asked his real name is Bill but he doesn’t like that name.6

“Right here,” He said, “ You all ready,” He said in excitement.7

“Just let me find my suitcase and I’ll,” They started laughing, “ What?”8

“A suitcase? Use a gym bag man there’re a lot lighter and take up less space,” Rat explained.9

“Alright, I use a gym bag,” I said giving in.10

“Finally Heckler comes to the 20th century,” Raccoon said.11

“Not completely,” I said, “ I’ll never give up the Duce,” 12

“Yea but that doesn’t matter cause we’re taking the Jaguar,” Rat said.13

“That lump of trash won’t even make it out of the driveway,” Raccoon joked.14

“Well, if we’re going lets go now,” I said as I finished putting the clothes in the bag. We went downstairs, “ Bye mom!” I yelled.15

“See you later,” She said as we headed out the door and into the Jaguar.16

“Well we’re in the car headed away but where to?” I asked.17

“Hey I got a great idea!” Rat yelled. 18

“What?” I asked.19

“Why don’t we take that USSR cruise to Asia?” He said.20

“Sure, I guess if it gets us away from our homes it’s good,” I said.21

“It’s settled then let’s go,” He said.22

“Three for USSR,” I said to the clerk as we headed towards the docks.23

“That’ll be $75.52,” He said.24

“I got 50,” I said, “How about you two?”25

“65.30,”Raccoon said.26

“100,” Rat said.27

“100, you brought 100 dollars on a road trip?” I said.28

“Hey I thought ahead and it’s a good thing I did,” Rat informed.   29

“Hey, I have a life too you know? Just hurry up would you?” The clerk yelled.30

“Yea, sorry you have change for a hundred?” I asked as I grabbed the money off Rat and handed it to the clerk.31

“Here! Now move!” The clerk yelled.32

“Man, what is up with him?” Raccoon asked.33

“Don’t worry about him we got the trip to think about, where we going to go first?” Rat asked.34

“Who cares? What ever gets us away from home is good to me,” I stated 35

“What about…. The desert I mean it sounds cool with all the animals there I want to catch me a Komodo Dragon,” Raccoon said.36

“I guess,” Rat sighed. The lady on the boat assigned us room 214.37

“214, here it is,” Raccoon said as he opened the door, “ Our temporary home away from home,” Raccoon informed as I laid down.38

“You’re not going to sleep already, are you?” Rat asked.39

“Well, you got a better idea?” I asked.40

“Yea, we could go outside and enjoy the view,” He said.41

“Yea, a swampy ocean that’s just the kind of view I want,” I sarcastically said.42

“I’m not talking about the water man I’m talking about the-”43

“Yea I know what you’re talking about but that is not for me I already have a girlfriend,” I informed.44

“Oh, really and when were you planning on telling us?” Raccoon asked.45

“When you asked me if I had one,” I said.46

“What’s her name?” Rat asked.47

“Tiffany Slater,” I said as they left. I laid in the bed for countless hours as the sun went down and the darkness fell.48

“Hey, Heckler, you still awake?” Raccoon asked.49

“All depends,” I said.50

“Well, what do you say we put Rats hand in warm water to get some laughs in the mourning?” He said.51

“Well, in that case…no,” I said.52

“Why not?” He asked.53

“Think about it do you really want to be stuck in a car or on a boat with that smell?” I asked.54

“Oh, guess I should have thought about that before I put his hand in,” Raccoon said55

“What!” I yelled in a whisper.56

“Relax, I’m just kidding” he said, “Well see you tomorrow,” He said before he went to sleep. Now I was up alone, nothing to do, I stared up at the ceiling waiting for relaxation and rest finally it came.57

“Heckler!” Rat yelled, “Wake up!  We’re at the desert.”58

“Already?” I asked.59

“What do you mean, already, we’ve been waiting for a while,” Rat said.60

“You we’re out like a burnt out light bulb, for three days,” Raccoon said61

“Three days!” I yelled, “ Why didn’t you wake me?”62

“We tried but like Raccoon said you were out,” Rat said as we left the boat and got back on solid ground, “ To the car!” we reached the car and hoped in it, “ To the Fort,” The car would not start, “ What is wrong with this car now?”63

“Out of gas,” I said.64

“How could it be out of gas?” Rat asked.65

“I don’t know but the gage is on E so obviously it’s out of gas,” I stated.66

“Well it looks like we’re walking,” Raccoon said.67

“No we’re not leaving my brand new car out here,” An explosion accurse, “ I don’t even want to know what that was,”68

“So anyone know were a phone is?” I asked. We left the car and headed though the desert to look for a gas station while a sandstorm commenced it was hard to follow the road and unfortunately we got lost. We decided to lie down and go to sleep till the storm let-up.69

“Brandon, get up,” I heard Raccoon say. I did not answer because I was not use to him calling me that, “ Heckler, the storm is gone we can continue now,”70

I woke up, “Where’s the road?” I asked.71

“Don’t know, we woke up to find nothing, I have a compass but it’s going haywire,” Rat stated.72

“That’s because there is a lot of iron over here,” I informed. We walked for countless hours until Rat came to a halt.73

“Look a phone booth!” he yelled in excitement as he ran into an elephant graveyard.74

“Heat must be getting to him,” Raccoon said to me.75

“Rat, that’s not a phone booth!” I yelled, “It’s a skull of an elephant!”76

“What? You must be crazy if it was the skull of an elephant it wouldn’t have a place to put change!” He yelled back as he set 2 quarters in the nostril of the skull.77

“This is no time to be making jokes!” Raccoon yelled, “ There is a hyena stay still and he will think you’re a tree and pass by,” We stood there as the hyena circled him for the 3rd hour growling and snarling looking at him with hungry eyes but Rat never moved so the hyena walked away slowly.78

“Man, What were you thinking you could have died out there!” I yelled. 79

“I seriously thought I saw a phone booth,” Rat said.80

“Hey! We don’t have time for this we have to get to a phone booth and get out of here,” Raccoon said.81

“Yea, well if we’re going to go lets get moving,” I said. We continued moving till water came in site. Never have I been so happy. “Water, finally!” I yelled in joy.82

“That’s not water, that’s a cactus!” Raccoon yelled as I hit into the cactus, its sharp needles sinking into my skin.83

“When?” I asked, “When will this nightmare end? These series of mirages, when will they relinquish their futile attempts to kill us?”84

“ When we find water,” Raccoon said, “ Now we have to keep moving!”85

“ Is that a- nah it’s probably just another mirage, I hate these things I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not!” Rat yelled as a car pulled by.86

“ We just have to keep moving and unless we all see it we don’t run after it” Raccoon said.87

“ Heckler, you got any ideas on which way we should go” Rat asked.88

“ I don’t know, I guess we go left,” I said. As we walked we stumbled on to a road and decided to follow it hoping it would lead us to a phone.89

“ Man, we have been traveling for hours, when are we going to get there?” Rat complained as a car rolled by, “ Hey! Stop!” Rat yelled waving his arms and running towards the car. The car did not seem to slow down.90

“ Rat move!” I yelled but it was useless he could not hear me over his excitement, “ Rat!” I made one last attempt to save him I ran towards him to shove him out of the way the car hit him and went though me I could not understand it.91

“ Rat!” Bill yelled, “ Rat’s dead! How could this happen?” Raccoon was crying hysterically.92

“ How? It went though me and still hit him,” I was puzzled too puzzled to realize what had just happened, “ Raccoon, it’s time to go,” I said, “ Rat would’ve wanted us to move on and get out of this place.”93

“ But, what about Rat? What do we do with his body?” He asked94

“ I don’t know, I guess we pick it up and walk with him his parents have a right to see the death for themselves,” I said. We walked for miles switching Rat every so often.95

“ Hey, Heckler do you see that?” Raccoon asked pointing towards the field.96

“ No, What is it?” I asked.97

“ It’s a mirage if we both don’t see it,” Raccoon whispered.98

“ I take it, it’s an animal or else you wouldn’t be whispering,” I stated.99

“ It’s a Cobra,” He said. .100

“ Ah no, you are not going to try to catch that,” I said as he dropped Rat, “ Okay maybe you are,”101

“ No, I’m this same thing happened to Rat,” he said.102

“ What?” 103

“ Yea, Rat saw a car he ran for it but it was a mirage then we all saw another car Rat said it looked the one he saw earlier and he ran towards it and so did you, you were both in front of it but he got hit and you didn’t now, you don’t see this Cobra but I do if I touched it later on I will get attacked by a Cobra,” Rat stated.104

“ I think you have gone insane and I have as well, though that would explain the reason that I didn’t get hit how do we know it’s true?” I asked.105

“ Watch,” He said as he reached down and picked up what appeared to be sand but he insisted was the cobra.106

“ So big deal you picked up a mirage of a cobra what's that prove?” 107

“ Nothing, yet,” Raccoon said, “ But wait and you’ll see a cobra a little while from now that will try to attack me,” We waited there for a while probably around two hours, “ There do you see it?” Raccoon asked as a Cobra came out from the ground. I stood in amazement as the cobra slithered towards Raccoon.108

“ Ah, Raccoon?” I said.109

“ Shhh, get ready for it,” He said. As the cobra got into attacking position. It leaped and he grabbed his knife and split it in half.110

“ Okay, now what?” I asked as Raccoon stood up.111

“ Now we continue and do not touch any thing you think might be a mirage,” He said. We walked for hours then days till finally a phone booth appeared.112

“ Finally!” I yelled.113

“ It’s not a mirage this time,” Raccoon further informed. We went over to the booth and stuck in 3 dollars worth of quarters cause that’s what it costs to make a long distance call.114

“ Hello,” The voice said.115

“ Mom, Ah we’re out here in Africa and I was wondering,” I started.116

“ What! Africa! What are you doing there!” She yelled.  117

“ Mom, I am in no mood to hear this right Rat has died Raccoon is near it and I am near the edge,”118

“ I’m not dead,” I heard someone choke out.119

“ Rat!” I yelled.120

“ Yea, what happened?” He asked.121

“ Okay, So Rats not dead but we are near it so if you could somehow get us out of here,”122

“ I’ll buy a ticket and will be out there by morning,” She said. The next morning she came and we went home though the nightmare is over the horror will never leave my mind knowing that I almost lost my life and the life of my friends.123