The Journey to New Buckland (Part IV)

Howdy folks, and welcome back to another entry in this here ongoin’ saga! As those of you who’ve been followin’ this here tale know, Buckley’s journey to New Buckland has gone from one extreme to another. Who would’ve ever thought the digital Wild West is as perilous as it is? Well as it turns out, it’s far more dangerous and wilder than anyone could’ve ever imagined!

So last time Buckley managed to escape that mysterious creature (or creatures?) and find his way outta that dreadful forest. Shortly thereafter, Buck found himself back in the desert, trudgin’ across the open plains with his trusty shovel and lucky cactus on his back. Buck soon realized he hadn’t seen a single other soul fer days and that he truly was in uncharted territory. To make matters worse, the sun was scorchin’ hot, and Buck’s supply of drinkin’ water was runnin’ mighty low. He thought about headin’ back to the forest to find some kind of lake or other water source, but what with them strange critters lurkin’ about, he didn’t think it worth the risk.

Fer the first time, Buck began to feel some doubts about his journey. Did he even know where he was goin’ or what he was doin’? Would he ever find his intended destination? Buckley decided not to spend too much time on these thoughts and quickly pushed ‘em outta his head. He knew he had to stay the course and find what he was lookin’ fer, and if not, then he’d die tryin’! He had already survived so many things in the past and come this far on his adventure. Nope, there just wasn’t any way he would ever dream of turnin’ back or changin’ his course!

Unfortunately fer Buck, things were about to get much worse. The wind started to pick up a little, and at first, Buckley was grateful fer the reprieve from the relentless bakin’ heat. But then the wind got stronger and stronger - Buckley cast his eyes towards the horizon and gasped in horror as huge clouds of dust started to form. A dust storm? At this time of the year? What on Earth was goin’ on?

Buckley looked left and right, but there wasn’t any decent cover to be found. He had to act fast and get ready fer the wall of sand that was about to hit him. He placed his knapsack on the ground and fished out a pair of old goggles he’d bought on a whim just a couple of days ago. He quickly pulled the googles over his head and adjusted them to fit snugly enough on his face. He then pulled out a poncho and threw it over his shoulders. Buck closed his knapsack, stood up and yanked his wild rag over his snout. He made sure everythin’ on his back was tied tightly to his knapsack as he braced fer impact.

Seconds later, a barrage of coarse sand whooshed into and past Buckley’s head. Heck, the dust storm was so strong that it nearly knocked him clean over! With all of his resolve, Buck dug his feet into the ground and began moving slowly forward into the oncoming blast of sand. The force of the wind was staggerin’, and Buck couldn’t even see one foot in front of him! He was movin’ forward, blind and confused, but determined not to let this latest trial get the better of him. Buck grabbed his shovel and used it to help him move forward by diggin’ into the dirt with it and pullin’ himself forward. This took all of Buckley’s strength, and he wondered just how long he could keep it up.

Suddenly the dust storm got even more intense. Buck felt himself bein’ pushed back, and he realized he couldn’t swing the shovel forward to dig into the sand anymore. He clutched his most trusted tool with both hands and, with all his might, did his best just to remain standin’. But it was just…no good. Buckley resisted as much as he was able to fer as long as he could, but eventually his legs gave way and he was flung backward by the force of the storm.

Everythin’ went dark…

The dust storm finally died down, and everythin’ was real quiet. There wasn’t a creature in sight fer miles around, but there were mounds of sand all over the place. After a while, one of the mounds started shiftin’ a little. A few seconds passed, and the mound moved again. A little more time went by when all of a sudden, a paw shot out of the pile of sand, and then another. Finally, Buckley shoved his head out the top of the mound and gasped fer air! He had survived the dust storm, though he reckoned he might have sand in his nose fer the next few days at the very least…

Buck eventually managed to dig his way out of the dirt and clean himself and his knapsack off. How long had he been out fer? Buckley figured it must have been a few hours at least since the sun looked like it would set in an hour or so. After surveyin’ the area fer a moment, Buckley realized his supply of water had run out completely, and thanks to the sand he’d inhaled, he was feelin’ mighty thirsty indeed. Buck looked around again and noticed that somethin’ was stickin’ out from a mound of sand not too far from his immediate location.

Buckley moseyed on over and saw that it was a piece of cloth. He gently pulled on it and, much to his relief, a bundled up bag fell out. He opened it and found a can of baked beans, a flask of water, some matches and even a few tokens too. Buck was confounded - where had this come from? Had someone left it there fer him? Surely not? Buckley waited fer a while to see if anyone was lookin’ around to claim the items, but there wasn’t any movement or signs of life anywhere near him.

While Buck was unsure of the origin of the much-needed supplies, he graciously accepted them and swore that he would make it up to the owner if he had in fact appropriated their items without their consent (and if he actually encountered ‘em at all). Buck cast his eyes across the open plains once last time before headin’ off so that he could find a place to set up camp fer the night.

Moral of this here story is: you can’t always be prepared fer everythin’, and sometimes you just gotta improvise and do yer best. And on occasion it might just be that things don’t go yer way - but if yer able to learn from yer mistakes and make better decisions in the future, then there’s a strong chance that you’ll be just fine, partner!