Partly Cloudy, 64°
I know what they’re saying. I’ve heard every excuse, every explanation—“This large, open field continues beyond the horizon, and there’s more field beyond what’s visible.” I’m not buying it. “The sun setting is the result of an optical phenomenon due to the Earth’s rotation”—I don’t know what any of that means. I’m telling you what I see. What I see is a huge ball of fire heading straight toward the end of this huge field I’m standing in. And what I can tell you is that I will not put myself between the path of the aforementioned fireball and this field.
When I first got to this field, about two hours ago, things were easy. The sun was hanging high in the sky, not visibly moving, so it seemed logical that it would remain in this position for the foreseeable future. I stared directly at the sun for some time, ensuring it would not move, but quickly found that this kind of hurt and I wanted to look away. I opted to fall asleep, in the hopes that the sun would disappear (as it typically does), and I would wake up surrounded by darkness, thereby mitigating the threat of the sun falling on my head in this unprotected open field.
I had completely mistimed things. I woke up with the sun mere inches from my wheat and my head the only object between the wheat and the burning fireball. It was my worst nightmare come to life. I was too far west in the field! What am I to do? And don’t tell me to stand further east because the sun seems to track me over there too. Oh god, it’s coming closer. I can see it, almost on top of me. Dear God.
It missed me, but narrowly. My quick thinking and fast reflexes have worked again, but next time, I may not be so lucky. We must all remain vigilant.
