The sand beneath my feet shifted as I struggled to stand. My legs felt weak and unsteady, as if I had not used them for days. I brushed off the grains on my skin and took a shaky step forward. The heat was unbearable, and the sun's rays were relentless, heating my throat to the point where I could barely swallow. Everywhere I looked, there was nothing but an endless expanse of golden dunes. Was I truly alone here?

I took another step, then another, sinking deeper into the soft sand with each one. My mind was racing, trying to find answers. Where am I? The question echoed in my mind, but no answers came. I rubbed my temples, trying to remember something, anything, but nothing came. My mind was as empty as the desert around me. The more I tried to remember, the more the emptiness seemed to mock me.

Then there was the appearance of my arms and legs. My arms were rather slender, almost fragile looking. I turned them over, hoping to find some clue, but there was nothing. I looked around again, desperate for something—anything—that made sense, but the emptiness offered no answers. Only endless, infinite sands and the burning sun. A growing sense of dread crept in, cold and unwelcome to this heat.

I tried to focus. Standing here did nothing to improve my situation. My instincts were screaming at me to move, to search, to find something. I took another careful step forward, and another. The sand was uneven, shifting under my weight, but I moved anyway. My throat was parched, every breath screeching through as if I'd swallowed sand.

The sun was low in the sky, beating against me with blistering heat. The air danced around me from the heat waves. Time distorted here Minutes became hours, and then hours became longer, but still I walked. Each step felt slow, the legs dragging on the ground like they were drenched in wet cement and held down by both the heat and the emptiness. Still, I stepped forward, onto the fragile glimmer of a hope that somewhere, somehow, I might chance upon something—which was anything to tell me how or why I was here or where I even was. My feet throbbed, and my body begged me to stop walking, but standing in that desolate waste was more terrifying than any physical pain.

Then something caught my eye. A faint flicker of movement caught my attention. I tried to figure out what it was, but the heat waves rising from the sand blurred everything in the distance. Was it an illusion or something real? My heart raced as I strained my eyes, but the movement faded, leaving me alone once more with the shifting sands.

No, I had to keep moving. Just keep moving. The thought propelled me forward, even as doubt lingered in the back of my mind, urging me to give up. I shook it off. Stopping was not an option now. The emptiness around me felt as if it was waiting to swallow me whole if I stayed still for too long. So I forced my legs to take one step at a time.

It wasn't long before I noticed something else. At first, it was just a dark speck on the horizon, barely distinguishable from the dunes. But as I continued walking, it grew in size, taking on shape and dimension. Could this be a person? Shelter?

I hastened my pace, the sand shifting precariously beneath me as I moved. The shape became clearer, its outline sharp against the fading light of the sun. But as the details emerged, my hope turned to dread. It wasn't a person. It wasn't shelter. It was something else entirely.

The body of the figure was stretched out of proportion, giving it a long and gaunt appearance. It had a long, bony structure with leather-like, sun-cracked, dry skin tightly stretched on it, and its limbs ended in long claws that dragged across the sand. The head was distorted and grotesque, with hollow, glowing eyes that appeared to pierce through the heat. Its teeth were crooked and uneven, and they shone in the last of the light, forming a jagged grin.

I froze, my breath caught in my throat. That was not human. This was not a help. That was a freaking monster, and it was moving towards me.

The creature's movements were jerky yet purposeful, twisted between awkwardness and grace. Its head turned to me, and I felt a locking of gaze, my heart beating faster and faster as the wave of panic overcame me. The air thickened with each passing breath, suffocating, as the space between us dwindled.

Instinct took over me, and I tried running away; my feet were slipping and sliding in the loose sand. My heart was beating so fast in my chest that it echoed in my ears. Around me, the wind was howling, and I could hear a growl—low, guttural, and definitely predatory. I did not dare to look back. I couldn't. The thought of how close it was made me paralyzed with fear.

As I sprinted, my breath came in short, ragged gasps. My legs burned with each step, and my muscles screamed in protest, but I could not stop. The growling became louder and closer. I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart dropped.

The creature was faster than I had imagined. Its long, powerful limbs tore through the sand with ease, its glowing eyes locked on me with a chilling intensity. A shaky sob escaped my lips, and I pushed myself harder, ignoring the pain and exhaustion.

The dune ahead of me was steeply sloping downhill; I let gravity take over, half-sliding, half-stumbling forward into the sand that sprayed around me. For an instant, I felt I was pulling away from the growling, which was fading into the distance. My labored breathing was the only sound in that quiet: harsh and uneven. Hope flickered for just a second.

Then a deafening roar broke the stillness, freezing me in mid-step. I looked back in time to see it—a dark bulk perched atop the dune I had just descended. Its form stood out sharply against the falling horizon. For an instant it did not move, as if savoring the moment, its glowing eyes piercing through the twilight. And then, with a speed that shook my heart, it launched itself forward anew, renewal kindled in every stride.

My legs were shaking, and exhaustion was trying to consume me, but somehow I ran. Each step seemed to be a desperate battle for survival.

The ground opened up under me suddenly. The sand gave way beneath my feet, and I slid out and down on it. When I hit the ground, pain shot down my side from the impact as air left my body. Panic reached fever pitch. I thrashed at the sand to try and pull myself free, but it dug into me like quicksand.

The creature let out a louder roar, reminding me of just how close it was. It towered above me, weighing on my body like an oppressive weight that was going to squash what little hope I had.

"No... no, no, no!" The words spilled from my lips as I scrambled to my feet, the sand clinging to my skin. I stumbled forward, the solid ground giving way to another slope. My balance wavered, but I managed to stay upright, the fear of what was behind me driving me onward.

In the distance was a cluster of jagged rocks jutting forth from the sand dunes like some sort of ancient sentry, their sharper edges catching and breaking the sunlight as it spread to its grave in the distant west. In that moment, hope burst in my chest. Reach those rocks, maybe get there alive. Maybe even hide.

I ran for the rocks with every shred of strength remaining, the beast's growling a constant reminder to me of how close he was. Every stride took the gap between us closer, but still I didn't stop running; before me lay jagged stones, stretching shadows reaching out across the sand like grasping hands.

I reached the rocks just in time to hear the creature's roar echoing behind me, more thunderous and threatening than it ever had been before. My eye fell on a narrow crevice between two giant slabs of stone—a restricted space, but just wide enough for me to squeeze through. Desperation-driven, I propelled myself forward, diving into the opening, jagged edges ripping at my arms as I was forced further along the narrow passage.

Growls filled the air as my ragged breaths merged with the creature's. I pushed myself back into the crevice as far as I could, feeling the cool stone against my sweaty skin, which was a contrast to the desert's oppressive heat. As shadows deepened, I held my breath, hoping that darkness would hide me from view.

For a brief time, silence gripped the air. Then came the guttural snarl, echoing across the rocks and letting everyone know the monster was near. I was pressed up in the crevice, feeling myself wish so desperately to turn invisible. At the entrance came glowing eyes: searching, hungry. I gritted my lip and held perfectly still, but every part of my body seemed to shake in terror.

After the creature growled in frustration and left, there was a long period of silence, and I closed my eyes as exhaustion took over.