Gullis fell into a momentary trance before he felt an itch on his head. He couldn't help but scratch it. He felt that something was amiss.
The thing that was amiss was the sensation on his other hand! The soft, delicate, elastic feeling was the sensation of pressing down on the coarse, dry sand of a desert!
Gullis lifted his head abruptly and saw that the sun had already set in the distant horizon, but the clouds were still burning red. A rare gentle desert wind blew upon his face. There was nothing but uneven sand dunes as far as his eyes could see, their soft contours extending to the horizon.
"What the hell? Wasn't I hiding in a river to ambush a convoy a moment ago?" Such a thought startled Gullis, and the distant sand dunes seemed to turn blurry, blown by a strong wind, at his moment of shock.
But suddenly, he heard a gentle but tired voice.
