Desert pullout

https://bluecircuitry.com/s/X5xjQKZHSMX41RT-9c2WV

Desert pullout. We pulled off the highway onto a gravel patch that looked like a forgotten parking lot. Dust swirled up around the tires as we stopped, cutting the engine. The silence that followed was immense—no birds, no wind, just the creak of cooling metal. Heat waves shimmered over the sand, blurring the distant mountains. The sky was a hard, washed-out blue, and the air smelled of dry earth and sage. We stepped out, and the ground crunched underfoot like brittle clay.