They Have Come

The tumbleweed rustled at the coming intrusion into its domain. The cactus bristled up its thorns and brought itself to the full height of arrogant dignity at the invasion of its privacy. A lizard lay still in the shadow of a rock, black eyes gesturing. It's tongue flashed in and out of its mouth, tasting the hot, dry air as if the wisdom of a million years were stored in his smooth, scaly skull.

The intruders came, two of them, stumbling and staggering. One fell to the ground near the tumbleweed. The lizard vanished, leaving not even a shift of the sand to show where he had been.

Above black winged birds circled against the blue sky, watching the drama below, waiting for the cue to enter. The intruder still standing helped his companion up, and they staggered on, but again he stumbled and fell. This time the intruder was not able to raise his companion. He dropped to the sand also, and gasped for breath. The breeze flew from the hot sand like it had just passed over the fires of hell, searing and drying every surface it touched. He fell back, his skin burning in the sun. The buzzards circled lower, knowing their time for entrance was near.

His mouth dropped open, exposing double rows of glistening yellow teeth between purple lips. The birds came lower as the intruders on the sand twitched and turned as death overtook them. The birds landed and one brave one ventured close to sink his beak into the soft blue flesh.

Out on the desert the winds blew shifting sands, slowly covering pieces of shining metal here and there. A broken piece of a starship slowly vanished beneath the sand.