Sunset

The packed dirt was hard and warm beneath my feet, thin cracks spreading out through ground like veins. I followed one with my eyes, watching how it dwindled off into the distance. I looked at the sky, like a cardinal’s wing, the sun a deep yellow orb low against the parched earth. Scattered faintly pink clouds torn apart by the brutal wind from moments ago were tossed across the sky haphazardly. The spindly skeletons of bare trees stood out in sharp relief against the backdrop of the sky, pitch black against the bloody red. Branches stretched out like hands, clawing at the air, reaching out for another hand to hold.