Back and forth I went, only stopping when it was necessary. I was left a bottle of water, but I rationed it, figuring I wouldn’t get any more. Sweat poured off my body as I trudged along. My feet and legs were sore from this morning’s run, but I continued anyway. Finally I had twenty-five in the stack. When I looked back at the pile, it didn’t seem to have put a dent in it. Maybe there’s more than a hundred.
The sun moved slowly across the sky and the pile got smaller. Suddenly I moved the end of one of the posts when I heard that distinctive sound that anyone living in the desert never forgets. Rattler!
The fast clicking, medium pitched sound made by the shaking of the end of its tail made me immediately back up a step or two. That sound didn’t really scare me, but it startled me. I’ve
