This was one of the first writing swaps I did on Swap-bot. The challenge was to write a story 250-300 words using randomly chosen words. The words I had to use were: uncle, letter and desert.
This was what I came up with:
I was just thinking how lovely it was to not see another car in nearly an hour. I knew it had been that long because my CD had just finished and the sudden silence after having the music blasting so loudly for that long actually felt painful. The blazing desert sun was causing the steering wheel to burn my hands and I thought (for about the twentieth time) how wonderful it was to finally be driving a car that had air conditioning.
Then it stopped.
The engine simply cut out. The cool air stopped flowing and after a while, the car did too (so, maybe I was going a tiny bit fast). I pulled to the side, although I was certain there would be no other cars coming by for a very long time.
I stood alongside the car before throwing a massive tantrum (oh, yeah, there was kicking and screaming – lucky no one would have heard me). Then I got back in the car and fell asleep across the back seat (I left all the doors open – I did not want to boil to death in there).
When I woke up, it was almost dark. I had a sudden thought and reached into my pocket to find the letter that had encouraged my cross-country trip.
Dear Jemima,
My family and I have been trying to find you for many years. I was so glad to finally track you down after all this time. Allow me to offer my condolences for the loss of your mother. We were good friends before she suddenly disappeared from our lives.
It is with great sadness that I must tell you your father also passed away only months after your disappearance (twenty years ago now).
I know that your Grandmother would be thrilled to see you again, as would I. Please feel free to contact us or visit at any time.
With great love and relief,
Your Uncle,
Benjamin Stephenson
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