The Desert Man

Gem Fever has caused a big traffic jam on the pacific coast highway, Gonzalo's Semi-trailer is there somewhere among thousands of stopped cars in the traffic jam, the trucker looks very nervous and somewhat disappointed, he's thinking about how to escape from the heavy traffic, but his passengers look very happy.

Tina standing in the balloon basket enjoys watching the busy highway, What a surprise! for the first time she is not recording any videos, though the iPhone 6 plus is with her! The three other girls are trying to call their parents.

After a while Mino succeeds to connect her Mom, Mino shouts happily, " Hi, Mommy! we're Lost."

-- silence

Mino raises one of her eyebrows, Parmis and Armis stare at her with surprise, Mino shouts much loud, " Mommy, Mommy, Please Speak to me, I'm not joking, we're Lost."

-- Gulup -- gulup -- gulup

Mino hears the bubbles sound, as if Mom's smartphone was swimming. Armis asks her, " What's happened, Mino?"

Mino shrugs, " I don't know, I can hear just gulup ... gulup ... you better try your chance."

Armis and Parmis nod their heads, " All right."

Mino turns to Tina, "And how about you? Why don't you call to home?"

Tina points at the iPhone, " My friend needs to charge."

Mino grins, " Right, during the trip you're shooting non-stop."

Tina lets out a bitter sigh, " Wish I had brought my solar charger; I left it behind because of hurry."

Mino laughs, " Yes, a solar charger, it's very helpful-- By the way, don't worry, help is coming."

A slow smile emerges on Tina's face, " Thank you, By the way my parents must be asleep now, they stayed up last night because of the Pirates. "

Mino giggles, " Oh, you--" a terrible shriek interrupts her, they both turn around, and notice Armis crying, " My Mommy... her cellphone is off ... she doesn't answer."

Parmis nods, " Neither does my Mom, she isn't worried about me because she thinks I'm at Google."

Tina's eyes grow wide, " What? our news must be the headline of newspapers now?"

Parmis browses the web, then says, " Guess what ,No news has spread on a missing hot-air-balloon."

Tina's mouth drops open, " Nothing? you must be kidding! It's impossible."

Parmis shakes her head, " Sorry, but no news."

A look of panic crosses Tina's face, " Oh, my God -- isn't it strange? I thought Uncle Sergey was looking for us."

Armis bursts into tears, yet Mino keeps herself cool, " Well, we better call 911."

" I have to download Feech." Parmis says as she points at Uncle Larry. Armis wipes her tears, " So I call 911."

Mino, " Good, and I call Uncle Sergey and Aunt Gloria."

Tina chewing gum turns her attention to the highway, " Great! I also tries to find a trustworthy person on the road."

Gonzalo checks around him, the lines of vehicles stretch for miles on all the

lanes, he lets out a bitter sigh, and blares his car horn in despair that the cars start moving slowly, Gonzalo glances at his watch, and shakes his head sadly," Bad luck!-- I have to arrive on time."

Gonzalo takes the next exit, gets off the highway, turns to a narrow road, then he thinks about a really shortcut: Arizona desert, Gonzalo loves the desert, in fact he is a desert-man: its silence, calmness, and wild nature nourish his free sprite, besides there are not any roadblocks or speed limit in desert, and though driving through the desert doesn't look easy, Gonzalo is good at it.

Tina asks, " Where is he going to?"

Parmis laughs, " 90%"

Tina, " What?"

Parmis points at her smartphone, " I talked about the download."

Mino says, " None, none of them answer, their smartphones are off. "

Suddenly Armis shouts, "Oh, finally the police answer, someone is on the line."

The children breathe deeply, and listen to the conversation:

Armis, " Hello, Is it Police? we're lost."

Police, " Your name?"

Armis, " Armis."

Police, " Where are you now, Armis?"

Armis, " I don't know." she looks at her friends' face, " Where are we?"

Tina, " In desert."

Armis giggles, " In desert."

Police thinks herself, " Another Annoying child, this naughty girl wants to pull my leg, I show her ." then she asks kindly, " which desert, Armis?"

Tina whispers, " Arizona desert, I think."

Armis, " A---" she lets out a terrible shriek, because her cellphone has gone off.

" My cellphone doesn't have reception again, " Parmis says as she kneels on the floor, head in hands, " My heart sank-- Only 1% had remained as WiFi went off."

Armis, " Same Police, she also went off ."

Mino, " I guess he is a smuggler."

Armis, " Who?"

Mino, " The trucker, why is he driving through desert?"

Tina, " Yes, I'd warned you earlier."

Armis, " Yes, Tina had told us, now we have to escape."

Parmis smirks, " Where? Look, we are in the middle of the desert, and no one is nearby."

Armis begins weeping, Mino puts her hand on her back, " Weeping is not use, Armis-- Calm down, everything will be OK, Let's have lunch, and hope Uncle Larry will wake up soon."

A light breeze blows through cactus, Uncle Larry opens his eyes,and looks around him while he is rubbing his head softly; he still feels dizzy, but can see the little girls standing and speaking with one another, he asks calmly, " Where am I, Parmis?"

Parmis asks the children, " Did you hear the familiar voice that I heard?"

They admit, then all of them whirl towards the Uncle, and see him smiling, " How are you? I'm OK now-- I guess I scared you when I slept-- Sorry, I had a sleepless night because of the cooking show."

The children get so excited that starts jumping up and down, Uncle Larry repeats his question, " Where are we?"

Parmis, " On a truck."

Uncle Larry, " Where are we going to?"

Parmis shrugs, " I don't know, everywhere he is going to."

Uncle Larry, " Who is the driver?"

Mino, " We don't know him, we were in the sky, then saw a passing car, and land at it, we are hitchhikers."

Uncle Larry, " Then he doesn't know about us?"

Tina, " Yes, and he won't know, because we never talk to him, he is a dangerous smuggler, so we'd better run away right away."

Uncle Larry stares at Parmis, she nods, " Yes, He is a smuggler, we guess."

 

Best Wishes

M.T☺

  

​How to charge your smartphone without access to electricity ​

M.T☺