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Description
The dust cloud came rushing onward.

Silent yet massive, it billowed forward, taller than a ten-story building and engulfing everything in its path. The more it moved, the bigger it seemed to grow, or maybe that was just my perception of it from where I stood, right in front of it.

Well, maybe not right in front of it. Joey and I stood a good mile away, watching the cloud's progress in terrified awe. As the cloud rolled forward, covering the Jones' homestead, I felt his small, sticky hand latch tightly onto mine.

"Jimmy, what's it doing? Is it eating the houses?" Joey's voice, soft with fright, reached my ears with the same question he'd been asking for the past few minutes – or was it an hour already? It was hard to track the cloud's stealthy progress. Everything seemed frozen, timeless – no one running from the cloud, no screams as it engulfed them. So, the cloud was benign… maybe… or at least that's what I'd been telling myself.

Instead of answering with my usual reply, a calm "It's just a cloud, like the ones up in the sky; it's not going to hurt us or eat the houses," I hesitated. "I don't know," I muttered. There definitely seemed something… sinister about the cloud, now that it had gotten closer. And bigger. Why wasn't anyone running away? Dust clouds had thousands of particles swirling around, and the dust, sand, and grit it picked up could at least be a mild irritant, if not…

Sudden memories of stories I had read set in the desert popped up in my mind. In those books, no one wanted to get caught in a sand storm, unless they wanted the flesh stripped from their bodies. This wasn't a storm, though, it seemed to be moving much more slowly; and it wasn't carrying sand, which were like tiny rocks, just dust. Moving slowly… silently… sinisterly.

I heard a small whimper beside me and started, looking down at Joey. I had almost forgotten about my little brother, despite the now-deadly pressure he was applying to my fingers, lost in my thoughts. I realized that my reply of "I don't know" must have scared him; instead of finding the reassurance he sought, I had given him uncertainty.

"Come on, Joe," I said, releasing his hand and kneeling down to pick him up. He clung to me tightly with both arms and legs, leaving grubby stains on my shirt. I ignored the discomfort his clutching fists gave me and transferred his weight onto one hip. It didn't take me long to realize that I needed hips like Mom's to carry him properly like that, so I shifted him around some more. "Come on, Joey," I grunted as he gripped me tighter. "I'm giving you a piggyback ride." That seemed to relax him, and he scrambled to my back, dangling his arms in front of my chest and balling his fists in my shirt. I adjusted my grip on his legs, to make sure I held him tightly. At least I had taught him how to hold on without strangling me.

I glanced once more at the oncoming cloud. Yeah, something definitely seemed wrong about it – I seemed to be able to make out leering, hungry faces in the billows of dust, and hungry mouths seemed to form around everything it swallowed, as if its nature was getting clearer the closer it came.

"Jimmy?" Joey's voice squeaked with fright in my ear. "Jimmy, I don't like this…"

I didn't, either, I realized with a sudden rush of fear. The cloud seemed to have suddenly increased its speed, rushing forward like a tidal wave now; and I could have sworn a face formed for an instant in the middle of it, winking right at me…

"Hold tight, Joe," I said, as I turned and sprinted away. Joey squeaked again, leaning into me, his fists getting even tighter, if that was possible; I could hear his sharp, scared breaths in my ear, matching up with my own hard breathing. Control your breaths, your stride, I told myself. Flat-out sprinting won't help you. You need to run fast and far.

"Jimmy, Jimmy it's getting closer!" I could almost hear the cloud now; it sounded like it was right on our heels, a rushing wave of dust and sound. And was – was that laughter? I fixed my eyes firmly on my landmark I was heading for – the McGuire's old navy pickup, sitting in the middle of the field.

"Jimmy!" Joey's voice squeaked up to a frequency only dogs could hear, and I didn't even risk a look back; I put my head down and put all my power into making it to the truck, to safety. Suddenly we were there, and I almost ran into the side; I dropped Joe and yanked open the passenger door. Without a word, he scrambled inside. I slammed the door shut and sprinted around to the driver's side. As I yanked open the other door, I glanced up – the cloud was almost on top of us.

Fear, unreasoning fear, shot through my veins. I practically fell into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut – "Joey, close all the windows!" – and frantically turned the key in the ignition. Once, twice – it started, I put my foot down, and we peeled away, Joey letting out a brief cry of astonishment as he was thrown against the back of the seats. He recovered quickly and continued winding up the windows, and then, his job done, kneeled on the back seat and peered out the back window. "Jimmy! Jimmy, we're leaving it behind!"

I dared to glance from the road and at the rearview mirror. Joe seemed right – for now. But I remembered how the cloud had suddenly rushed at us, trying to get us before we could outrun it…

"Sit here. And buckle up." Still feeling the urgency of the situation, Joey wiggled back into the front and carefully stretched the buckle over his small form, for once not arguing. "Where we going, Jimmy?"

I didn't answer, keeping my attention on the situation at hand, my eyes constantly flickering between the road ahead and the cloud behind. For a second – just a second – I thought I could see the face again, now contorted in anger and rage, and, scarier still – with a cold, hard, determination.

Silently, I dared it. Let's see who wins this race.

Description
The dust cloud came rushing onward.

Silent yet massive, it billowed forward, taller than a ten-story building and engulfing everything in its path. The more it moved, the bigger it seemed to grow, or maybe that was just my perception of it from where I stood, right in front of it.

Well, maybe not right in front of it. Joey and I stood a good mile away, watching the cloud's progress in terrified awe. As the cloud rolled forward, covering the Jones' homestead, I felt his small, sticky hand latch tightly onto mine.

"Jimmy, what's it doing? Is it eating the houses?" Joey's voice, soft with fright, reached my ears with the same question he'd been asking for the past few minutes – or was it an hour already? It was hard to track the cloud's stealthy progress. Everything seemed frozen, timeless – no one running from the cloud, no screams as it engulfed them. So, the cloud was benign… maybe… or at least that's what I'd been telling myself.

Instead of answering with my usual reply, a calm "It's just a cloud, like the ones up in the sky; it's not going to hurt us or eat the houses," I hesitated. "I don't know," I muttered. There definitely seemed something… sinister about the cloud, now that it had gotten closer. And bigger. Why wasn't anyone running away? Dust clouds had thousands of particles swirling around, and the dust, sand, and grit it picked up could at least be a mild irritant, if not…

Sudden memories of stories I had read set in the desert popped up in my mind. In those books, no one wanted to get caught in a sand storm, unless they wanted the flesh stripped from their bodies. This wasn't a storm, though, it seemed to be moving much more slowly; and it wasn't carrying sand, which were like tiny rocks, just dust. Moving slowly… silently… sinisterly.

I heard a small whimper beside me and started, looking down at Joey. I had almost forgotten about my little brother, despite the now-deadly pressure he was applying to my fingers, lost in my thoughts. I realized that my reply of "I don't know" must have scared him; instead of finding the reassurance he sought, I had given him uncertainty.

"Come on, Joe," I said, releasing his hand and kneeling down to pick him up. He clung to me tightly with both arms and legs, leaving grubby stains on my shirt. I ignored the discomfort his clutching fists gave me and transferred his weight onto one hip. It didn't take me long to realize that I needed hips like Mom's to carry him properly like that, so I shifted him around some more. "Come on, Joey," I grunted as he gripped me tighter. "I'm giving you a piggyback ride." That seemed to relax him, and he scrambled to my back, dangling his arms in front of my chest and balling his fists in my shirt. I adjusted my grip on his legs, to make sure I held him tightly. At least I had taught him how to hold on without strangling me.

I glanced once more at the oncoming cloud. Yeah, something definitely seemed wrong about it – I seemed to be able to make out leering, hungry faces in the billows of dust, and hungry mouths seemed to form around everything it swallowed, as if its nature was getting clearer the closer it came.

"Jimmy?" Joey's voice squeaked with fright in my ear. "Jimmy, I don't like this…"

I didn't, either, I realized with a sudden rush of fear. The cloud seemed to have suddenly increased its speed, rushing forward like a tidal wave now; and I could have sworn a face formed for an instant in the middle of it, winking right at me…

"Hold tight, Joe," I said, as I turned and sprinted away. Joey squeaked again, leaning into me, his fists getting even tighter, if that was possible; I could hear his sharp, scared breaths in my ear, matching up with my own hard breathing. Control your breaths, your stride, I told myself. Flat-out sprinting won't help you. You need to run fast and far.

"Jimmy, Jimmy it's getting closer!" I could almost hear the cloud now; it sounded like it was right on our heels, a rushing wave of dust and sound. And was – was that laughter? I fixed my eyes firmly on my landmark I was heading for – the McGuire's old navy pickup, sitting in the middle of the field.

"Jimmy!" Joey's voice squeaked up to a frequency only dogs could hear, and I didn't even risk a look back; I put my head down and put all my power into making it to the truck, to safety. Suddenly we were there, and I almost ran into the side; I dropped Joe and yanked open the passenger door. Without a word, he scrambled inside. I slammed the door shut and sprinted around to the driver's side. As I yanked open the other door, I glanced up – the cloud was almost on top of us.

Fear, unreasoning fear, shot through my veins. I practically fell into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut – "Joey, close all the windows!" – and frantically turned the key in the ignition. Once, twice – it started, I put my foot down, and we peeled away, Joey letting out a brief cry of astonishment as he was thrown against the back of the seats. He recovered quickly and continued winding up the windows, and then, his job done, kneeled on the back seat and peered out the back window. "Jimmy! Jimmy, we're leaving it behind!"

I dared to glance from the road and at the rearview mirror. Joe seemed right – for now. But I remembered how the cloud had suddenly rushed at us, trying to get us before we could outrun it…

"Sit here. And buckle up." Still feeling the urgency of the situation, Joey wiggled back into the front and carefully stretched the buckle over his small form, for once not arguing. "Where we going, Jimmy?"

I didn't answer, keeping my attention on the situation at hand, my eyes constantly flickering between the road ahead and the cloud behind. For a second – just a second – I thought I could see the face again, now contorted in anger and rage, and, scarier still – with a cold, hard, determination.

Silently, I dared it. Let's see who wins this race.