Desert Spice, Part 2 of 17

     “I have to admit Miss, it is Miss, I presume. No man would have such a sharp tongue under his roof.” He laughed at the furry in her eyes and continued. “As to where we are, I’m at a loss to know our location, how we got here or why.”

            “You’re such a smart aleck. I’m surprised you don’t have any answers,” she replied haughtily, all the while thinking that despite his attitude, he was gorgeous. “And yes it’s miss. What’s your name?”

            “Well, it’s not blockhead or smart aleck,” he sneered and headed down from the top of the scorching sand dune.

            Alexi hated him already—his arrogance, his lack of fear and concern for her safety. Most men wanted to wait on her hand and foot, and would have begged to come to her aid. Nevertheless, she had an extremely self-sufficient mind-set and rarely needed anyone’s help. Now, however, for the first time since she had turned fourteen seven years before, she realized with aghast that she couldn’t, no didn’t want to, be left alone. All the same, rather than call him back she sat down on the sand to think about what to do.

            “Yeow, ouch, ooh, aha!” She jumped up, hollering, “It’s burning hot.” She began to cry as she stared at her blistered hands.

            The young man turned when he heard her scream, and then he felt sorry for her standing all alone on the blazing dune. Jumping up and down, her short skirt showed more of her splendid legs, and her dark curls sensuously fell from the clip that held most her hair off her pretty face.

            He laughed as he came up to her. “Is something the matter?”

            Tears rolled down her cheeks, “See,” she whimpered holding her palms out in front of him. “The sand is so hot; we can’t touch it. What are we going to do?”

            The fear in her dark brown eyes softened him but he didn’t want to admit it. “Do you really mean we?” he asked sarcastically.

            “Is there anyone else? Of course I mean you and me,” she gulped down her pride once more. “Please don’t leave me here alone.”

      “Well, if you put it that way, alright then. My name is Brandon, Brandon Summers, from Santa Barbara, California. Where are you from?”

   “Santa Barbara.”

      After trudging to the bottom of the sand dune, Brandon spoke, “We need to cover our heads. Take something off and rip it up, I have a pocket knife you can use. I’ll take my shirt; fortunately I have an undershirt on. Never could stand to go without one.”

       “Thank you for that information,” Alexi said. “And what do you expect me to tear up? My skirt’s too short and my top is practically nothing. I suppose I could take off my nylons,” she said, looking weary.

     “No, you should keep your legs covered if possible, “he said.

     “Can’t you share some of your shirt with me, or give me your t-shirt?”

     He laughed at her frustration. “Not my undershirt, but there’s enough of my good shirt to spare.” He took out his pocketknife and began to rip the shirt in half. “Now, let’s have a look at your shoes. Take off one at a time and rest your foot on me so you don’t touch the sand.”

Desert Spice - Part 1 or 17

 Desert Spice - Christian Fantasy:
 

Desert Spice By Priscilla McDaniel

  Alexi Vandermeer wanted it to be a dream, but she knew it was not, as she felt herself being hurled over the cliff and into the Pacific Ocean. The swirling waters flushed over her and her red Corvette!  Gurgling, choking, gasping, she tried to unfasten her seatbelt and set herself free.

      As she twisted and turned and wrestled with her safety strap, she noticed the man who had forced her off the road with his silver Ferrari dropping downward into the fathomless deep next to her. After what seemed an eternity of struggling to eject from her plummeting vessel, the raven darkness swept over her as she danced with death in her Corvette. But then suddenly she felt the rush of a petrifying force as she ascended out of her nightmare and into a dream of her family, her new car, and her birthday.

      Floating aimlessly, she felt frothy-white pillows of billowing clouds enfold her. Then as soon as she began to enjoy the soft cover of heavenly mist, she tumbled downward into a barren wilderness. She landed feet first onto a vast sea of sand, which nearly suffocated her with heat so intense that the sun’s rays, like obtrusive flames, danced off the rolling dunes.

    “I’m completely dry, and I should be soaking wet!” she screamed into the void.

     “Leave it to a woman to think about her clothes at a time like this.” The man from the silver Ferrari suddenly appeared next to her and spoke with disdain, though he could not help but admire Alexi’s shapely body in her short pink skirt and scanty halter top.

      Alexi glared at the tall, blond man. “You’re the one who ran me off the road! You’re entirely at fault,” she shouted angrily, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. “You blockhead, I’m holding you responsible for getting me back home, but do you even know where we are?”

     “Looks to me like we’re in a desert; other than that I can’t say,” he replied calmly. “And if you’re going to call me names and order me around, you can help yourself. I’m leaving.” He flipped his hair from his forehead and walked away, thinking that this girl was entirely too beautiful for her own good.

       Alexi watched his lean body stroll off and panic swept over her. “No, don’t leave me!” she said, swallowing her pride. “Together we can survive.”

            “That’s more like it,” the stranger grinned as he turned back, staring into Alexi’s fiery brown eyes. “Now you’re thinking, Sis.”

            “Don’t call me Sis. My name’s Alexi, that’s Alexi Vandermeer.”

.

Final Part - Naja Haje Abyss

       With that the serpent let out a shrill scream, slithered off his step and into the pile of books. As soon as I put my foot onto the mound, the sharp sword began to roar hideously.

“Out! Out! I command you to leave.”

         I sprang back onto the step to miss its swing and said, “Jesus the Christ, The Son of Man has bid me come.”

With that the giant, all but his head, crumbled into the heap of books. Now that the beast couldn’t move the troll around, I had a chance to dive into the books without worrying about the sword touching me. I rummaged through the pile of discarded books, and except or the color they all looked alike. I opened one and it said, The Holy Bible.

“The Book of Truth,” I said. “This is what I’m looking for, but which one do I take?”

I pulled out a brown Bible and on the cover, stamped in gold was written ‘Trevor Bartlett’. I jumped up, thrilled to find what I believed to be my mission. I sat back down on the Bibles and remembered back twenty years before. I was nine years old when my mother and father gave me the Bible. I wasn’t much impressed by it—I never read it and it never left my room. I sat there and began to weep as I read the inscription inside.

To our only son, Trevor, may the Lord always be with you. Love Mom and Dad. I opened to John 14:6 where there was book mark. I read aloud, “Jesus said unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

At hearing this, the troll let out a bestial scream. He cursed and began to meld with the dissolving sword, and then there was silence. I remember nothing more except clutching my Bible in my hand for fear of losing it.

When I woke it was morning, I was still holding my Bible close to me, as a fresh breeze blew my bedroom curtains to the side. What a thrill it was to be home, where I knew, without a doubt, I had found eternal life. Whether or not it was only a dream or if it actually happened, it did not matter, for I felt unbelievable peace. I thought about my friends and my life in a completely different way and knew I had to share with them what I had found.

There was a knock at my bedroom door. “Are you awake?” 

It was Arny, my lead waiter. “Arny, come in, come in. Oh boy, do I have something to tell you!”

“What happened to you, you were gone for three days? Then last night you showed up at the Bistro as if you had been drugged, and you would not let go of your book. Cook and I thought that luscious young lady you were waiting on had kidnapped you.” He reached out his hand and grinned. “We brought you home and put you in bed. It’s good to have you back.”

^{The End}

The Beginning

Part 14 - Naja Haje Abyss

          “Have a drink,” it said in a raspy voice.

Suddenly a giant hand reached out to me and lifted me back onto the stairway. It swept in front of me and the glass of water went flying in midair and disappeared.

“You will die if you drink that, it is poison. Seek My face, have faith, and I will provide all you need.”

“Yes Lord God,” I said; how I knew it was the Lord, I cannot explain. I picked myself up and that’s when I noticed that the last two hundred and twenty-two stairs went down like the first. I sighed with relief and thanksgiving, and did not even bother to count. Though still in the wasteland and heat, I almost flew downward. About twenty steps from the bottom I descended into blackness, and once again spiked walls formed on both sides of me.

On the last step I saw candlelight and a half coiled black and white serpent with its head standing four feet off the ground. “I am Naja Haje. You cannot enter or you will surely die.”

The serpent hissed and spit at me as I backed up several steps, petrified. I hate snakes. When I was thirteen, a friend and I were hiking when a rattler bit my friend and killed him. Now, I thought for certain I would meet with the same fate.

Behind the snake was a gigantic room full of books piled very high. Most of them were black but some were burgundy, white, navy or brown. At the top of the heap stood a giant with a three-inch nose ring, and hanging from the ring was an ugly troll with a wart filled face and sharp pointy ears. His head was surrounded with two rows of eyes, mean eyes that moved constantly and saw everything.

In the troll’s hand he wielded a six-foot razor sharp sword. The sword spoke through a pair of bulbous lips attached to the end of the blade. The lips on the weapon moved as it talked, while the giant and the troll remained mute. As the eyes on the troll moved around, the giant moved accordingly giving the rapier a wide range.

I did not know what to do until I remembered, again, the vision in Windoline’s eyes of me kneeling. I turned my back on the snake, knelt on the stairs and prayed. I listened and waited then jumped up and shouted, “Jesus the Christ, The Son of Man has bid me come.”

With that the serpent let out a shrill scream, slithered off his step and into the pile of books. As soon as I put my foot onto the mound, the sharp sword began to roar hideously.

“Out! Out! I command you to leave.”

Part 13, Naja Haje Abyss

         Thoughts of Jesus gave me courage, and I stepped bravely onto a large stone. I ignored the whispers and concentrated on the Name of Jesus. Then I waded to the cascading water and walked through, enjoying the coolness as it soaked me from head to toe.

I was soon past the falls when I saw a narrow opening. I walked over to it and looked down; there before me were hundreds of stairs. The access was only big enough for me to stand with my arms to my side. There was a sign, which read, “WARNING: Certain death awaits all who enter.”

I trembled for a moment and then with trepidation took my first step. Immediately spikes poked out of the wall on both sides of the dark stairway, and I heard hideous laughter coming from behind me.

I stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and called out, “Jesus, The Son of Man, has bid me come.”

I had no idea where that came from. I did not plan to say anything, but I could not help myself. However, the instant I said it, the laughter stopped, and I felt a cool breath of air through the dank, stale place. I persisted downward with my arms close to my side and counted my way. “Thank you, Lord. Thank you,” I said as I continued to count, one-hundred and one, one-hundred and two, and one-hundred and three.”

Gasping and nearly out of breath I reached a platform at the bottom of step two hundred and twenty-two. The stairway now headed upward. Suddenly a huge black spider half my height, stood in front of my face. Its evil stare froze every nerve I had as it spun its insidious web to block my way.

I decided to repeat the words I’d said before, “The Son of Man has bid me come.”

With that, the spider withered, fell to the ground in a ball, and a macabre sound came forth as it writhed in death. I walked right through the web and began to count the next set of steps up, and the walls disappeared. I climbed the narrow stairway with no sides and nothing to hold on to.

All around me was wasteland accompanied by extreme heat, horrid jackals and ugly hyenas. They howled at me as I ascended the steep stairs. I began to gasp for air half way up—my tongue stuck to my throat. I could not count out loud any longer. I laboriously plodded one foot in front of the other until both feet begin to feel like lead.

Unable to go further, I bent to my knees on the next step and remembered that I had seen myself kneeling in Windoline’s eyes. I bowed my head and prayed, “Dear Lord Jesus, please help me.”

As I tried to stand, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a cool drink of water was given me. It refreshed me, and I was able to walk to the top of the four hundred and forty-fourth step without feeling the heat.

“Thank you Lord Jesus.”

At the top I rested for a few minutes in a chair next to a table, which had a tall glass of ice water sitting on it. When I reached for the glass, the chair broke and I fell, but not to the ground far below. I clung to the step with my fingers digging in as I heard the terrorizing laughter again, accompanied by whispers and heavy breathing on the back of my neck.

Part 12 Naja Haje Abyss

         “You would have been sent back to earth,” she replied sadly. “For a time you would have continued with success in your business. But as it is with humans who deny The Son of Man, things change as God makes every attempt to get their attention. In the end though, it is a human’s choice to truly Love God or not.”

“How do I get to the abyss?” I asked feeling anxious, but as I looked into her heavenly blue eyes, I saw myself kneeling in prayer and peace again flooded my soul.

“It will be a difficult passage, but once you have conquered the trial, the journey home will be effortless.” She pointed towards the water. “You cross the brook there and go east. Follow it to the end where you will see a waterfall. Walk into the waterfall and you’ll find an opening that leads to a very long, narrow stairway. There are six hundred and sixty-six steps. That is all I can tell you, except that you will recognize what you are looking for once you get there.” She smiled and put her hand on my cheek, “I’m sorry; I can say no more about the way.”

“Will I see you again Windoline?” 

“Possibly in your dreams, but for now I can only assure you that you will be fine. Remember to call on the Son of Man by the name of Jesus if you have more difficulty than you think you can bear. I will give what direction I am allowed from here.”

I waved goodbye and splashed through the brook feeling its refreshing spray upon my hands. I was very sorry to know that I would never see Windoline again. Soon however, thoughts of the Son of Man, my Lord Jesus Christ, came to mind and I was comforted. 

I could see the beautiful waterfall up ahead. Yet, what should have been the harmonious sound of water crashing into the rocks was instead a disquieting drone. Apprehension and menacing feelings began to surround me as I approached, and I heard voices telling me not to come closer. I forced myself to think of The Son of Man and Windoline. The moment I took my thoughts off of them, the voices became louder.

“Don’t come closer, don’t come any closer, you will regret it.” Chilling whispers raised the hair on the back of my neck.