Page 1 of Desert Wind

CHAPTER ONE

“Nash! Nash!” yelled his mother from the front door of their base housing. It was nothing special. Just a cinderblock building like all the rest, but it was their home. At least until his father was deployed somewhere else.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“Nash, you and the other boys get out of all that pink dust. I hate that stuff. It gets everywhere, and you track it all through the house. I’m sure their mothers feel the same way. Go find some dirt or something to play in. Climb a tree or maybe run through the hose and wash off.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded.

Nash’s father, like the other boys’ fathers, was in the military stationed at a place called The Depot. This was the third base that Nash remembered living on, but his mom said they’d been on seven altogether. That seemed like a lot to him, but then again, everything seemed like a lot to him.

He liked this one because there were boys that were close to his age, and they liked doing the same things he did. They ran together, played ball together, and went to school together. They were great! Every once in a while, there would be a girl that lived on base with them, but it seemed like there were more boys for whatever weird reason.

Then, one day, he started feeling funny. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew something was changing in his body. He thought it might be that he was growing up, as his mother liked to say. She’d tell him it was growing pains or just his body stretching.

But in fact, it had nothing to do with growing up. People growing up weren’t able to do what he could do.

“Hey, do you guys wanna see something cool,” said Griffin. He and his brothers, Garrett and Gable, all smiled at him.

“Sure,” said Nash.

“We have to go into the woods,” said Gable. “Trust us.”

Nash did trust the brothers. They were all good boys and good friends, something he treasured as a military child. Getting into trouble as a kid was never a good idea but getting into trouble as a military child was a horrible idea. The punishment was much worse, the consequences far more severe.

You knew when kids were good and when they weren’t. You could tell right away, and Nash had a lot of experience with the not-good kids.

The boys laughed as they walked toward the woods. They knew they were supposed to get permission from the base command, just in case the men were training in the woods. But there hadn’t been any new training groups in weeks, and all the boys would have known because their fathers would have told them. Still, they knew they should have waited, but this seemed too exciting to wait for all of that.

“What do you want to show me?” asked Nash. “If this is a trick and you’re gonna leave me out here or something, I’m gonna punch you in the nose.”

“It’s not a trick,” said Griffin, laughing at him. “Watch.”

Griffin stood beside Nash, placing one hand on the ground and bending his knee. His brother counted down from three, and Griffin took off. Nash could barely see him as he maneuvered through the trees and then returned to them in a matter of seconds. A whoosh of wind blew their clothing, leaves scattering behind him, and Griffin smiled at them.

“Cool, right?” he laughed.

“H-how did you do that?” asked Nash.

“We’re not sure,” said Griffin. “Gable can get animals to do what he wants. He told that big German Shepherd to sniff out Dad’s chocolate bars in his desk.” Griffin smiled, pulling the chocolate from his backpack.

“It worked, too. I also told that squirrel to stop scratching at the window at night. He said he did it because he was scared like me,” said Gable.

“Any animal?” asked Nash. Gable nodded at him.

“I got that big hawk to poop on the commander’s car, too,” laughed Gable.

“What about you?” asked Nash, looking at Garrett.

Garrett smiled at their friend, lifting his hands in the air and waving his arms. The massive trees swayed back and forth, blowing in the ever-increasing winds. He moved faster and faster, and the winds continued to pick up.

“That’s enough,” said Griffin. Garrett stopped and Nash smiled.

“Well, what do you think?” asked Gable.

“I’m so glad you showed me,” whispered Nash. The boys were all between the ages of eight and eleven, Nash being the oldest. “I didn’t want to tell anyone because they might think I’m weird or a witch or warlock or something. Watch.”

With the winds still dying down, Nash focused on the sky, watching as the dark clouds rolled in quickly, dumping a torrential rain on the forest. Without even thinking, he wished it away, and it was gone.

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