Chapter 1: The Desert Was A State of Mind

The One Who Leaves, Part I: The Only Way Out Is Back

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The desert would destroy you if you stayed there long enough.

Some never make it out. As hard as I had tried to get away, it always lured me back.

It was August and I’d turned thirty two months earlier. The sky was orange, like something had exploded in the clouds, and I could already feel the filth of the Mojave Desert on my skin. Perry—my rock—took his hand from the steering wheel and put it in my lap, palm up, like Dad always used to do. I could feel his big, dark eyes on me.

“What?” I asked in a tone harsher than intended.