I drove southward on an all too familiar road under the black void of an endless night.  It did little good to use my headlights for fog blanketed the road and engulfed every car that entered its depths.  Once in awhile when the fog eased its grip I saw flashes of blue, red, and white lights as fellow travelers fell prey to the night.  Vehicles lie eased on the side of the road as drivers gave up and refused to continue.  I tensed my grip on the wheel and inched my way forward.

After what seemed like an eternity the fog lifted.  Before me the road stretched still and silent under the pale light of a full moon hidden behind rolling billows of gray.  The landscape on either side lie flat and barren, littered with jagged crags and twisted shapes of what once were trees.  A gloomy chill weighed heavy in the air as if the earth mourned in desolation. 

Realization struck that I was no longer on the road I knew so well.  I made a wrong turn, if not more, somewhere in the haze I left behind and was now lost.  I looked around for signs of civilization but saw nothing.  Stubbornness drove me onward in hopes of coming across some road sign or dwelling to make the path clear once more.  I did not get far.  The road made an abrupt end and left me spinning my wheels in a gritty rut of sand.  I turned the car off and sat for a moment in a state of numb panic.

Feeling the need to remain alert I stepped out of the car hoping to clear the cobwebs from my tired mind.  The cool, crisp, night air was a welcome change after countless hours cramped in the confines of the stuffy car.  I took off my shoes and nestled my toes in the grainy smoothness of the sandy earth.  I took a deep breath and looked around, adjusting my eyes to the darkness.  Every way I turned I saw rolling waves of sand.  I seemed to be in some sort of desert.  Unable to find the strength to care, I closed my eyes and allowed my senses to embrace the night.

When I opened my eyes the car was gone.  No traces of its existence showed in the sand:  no tracks, no rut, nothing.  Small and alone I stood lost in a desert on a night that never seemed to end.  Hungry, exhausted, and not knowing what to do, I stretched my arms to the heavens and wept.  Then I collapsed in a heap onto the ground.