'Sepia Me' - Memoir of a Trip Through the Desert - Entry no# 3

While I look back for a moment, my eyes adjusting to the blur of a red sun set, the pain is too much and I must go on. This fanatical heat radiates from the desert sand and distorts the horizon, I can no longer see the end of this solitary abyss, the mountains have faded in the distance and my memories of the life I had are fading with it.  I'm climbing up the side of this great rock which sits in the center of the Australian desert, Uluru as its known by the natives, or 'Ayers Rock'. By some epic miracle it's started raining, in the desert, when it rains it rains an ocean like nothing you've ever seen before. The luminescent colors of the sun set, red, orange, purple, pink, refracting through the heavy rain and clouds, create  a bizarre and fantastical air of nature and the desert becomes an inhuman realm. Still, I cannot look behind me, should I be overwhelmed by my own deep sorrow at the sight of this romantic event and be tempted to let go of these rocks. A romantic death.


The rain is doing what it does, pouring in a thunderous rage, the water flooding down the side of Uluru becomes stained with the redness of the Earth. Thunder echoes through the sky and I can feel it in my heart. The read water flows heavily over my face and body, as if I were covered in blood, I am struggling to hold on to the rocks. Breath...breath when the water finds a path to go around, but it does not. Minutes later as I find a place to sit, my legs dangling off the side of Uluru, I finally take a moment to see the sun. Because of the location of Australia and its oblique angle to the sun, our sun sets last a long time and twilight seems forever. Twice a day, in the morning and afternoon twilights we can see the light of the sun and stars sit together, but not tonight. Tonight belongs to thunder. Terrifying and great, this is life....climbing up the side of your mountain, or giant rock.


Rain washes away all tears, one tear amongst all this, an insignificant speckle of dust amongst an ocean of sand. I feel better now. Hours later after the thunder and rain has moved on, I finish my climb to the top. This is really just a large rock in the middle of an even larger desert, who puts this here I wonder? Was it a design flaw or just a grace note, either way, there doesn't have to be an answer, for something built by Earth so long ago and there probably isn't. One day when the ocean rises and floods the cities of man, I will stand here on this rock and be the last. I'll play my Didgeridoo for you and sound the bell, one day, we will share the same sad song. With every romantic ending must come another romantic beginning. Death is romantic, change is romantic, the most romantic adventure of man.


Here come the tourists, their guide is an old Aboriginal man who turns to me and laughs. I am covered in red.


David G. P. Martin - Aus, Jan 19 20010