Dust Devils

The dry desert air did nothing for my skin but helped business as the diner. Travelers and locals alike came here, and it didn’t hurt to know the diner was the only place for food or gas for a hundred miles.
I leaned against the counter, watching the breeze kick up some sand. Even though the restaurant was air-conditioned, the heat tickled my skin and sent a rush of energy through my body. I shivered a bit as the sensation ran through me.
Magic. Few understood its power, but those who touched it understood its meaning. This was the nature of magic itself.
The desert was full of it. Every grain of sand, each plant, and every animal held a bit of its power. Most saw the desert as having few things that lived there, but it radiated magic, and with it came life. It crawled against my skin and seeped into my bones.
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
Have I gotten that old? Am I a ma’am now and not a miss? I glanced up at the man in front of the counter. “Yeah, sorry. Daydreaming again.”
He glanced out the same window I looked out of and shrugged. “Not much out there, is there?”
“You’re not from here, are you?”
The man shook his head. “Nope.”
“There’s a lot out there. The desert can be dangerous if you aren’t prepared, but it holds all its own magic.”
“It doesn’t look hospitable?”
I could only shrug. “It can be that as well, and nature can only adapt to the area it lives in or dies.”
The man’s eyes widened at my words. Maybe I went too hard on that old desert wisdom. Frank, my boss, kept telling me to watch what I said to the customers. Not that I cared, as I was the only one willing to work for the shithead.
He handed over a wrinkled twenty. “I need to put twenty on pump two.”
I rang him up and watched him leave. Another man in and out of my life so quickly. I pretended to clean the counter and watched as two dust devils blew across the highway. I strolled to the window with a smile, watching them dance on the other side of the road.
Their energy reached out to me, and they even spoke. Come, play with us.
There was that magic again. I wanted to answer them with a resounding yes, but my body isn’t as limber as it used to be these days. Thirty years ago, I would’ve thrown caution to the wind and played with them.
While dust devils were regular in these parts, seeing two at once was another story. Come, play with us like you used to.
They were elementals. It wasn’t every day I got to see an elemental, let alone a pair wanting me to join them in their activities. I wanted to play, but nothing would make me happier. But elementals were fickle. While I knew I could hold my own, I wasn’t stupid either. They would leave me in the desert with no sense of direction in an instant if it pleased them.
I was too old for that shit, but dancing with them had an appeal. It’s been too long since I lived so carefree, and age and wisdom tempers the soul. If so, I should be hardened steel. Lately, I’ve been feeling like a soft water balloon.
Play with us!
“I can’t.”
“You can’t. What?”
Dammit, Frank! I didn’t bother looking at him. It was useless to explain magic to him, and he wouldn’t believe it, anyway. Most people didn’t, which made me sad, and they couldn’t believe what obviously stood in front of their faces.
Come on, Annie, play with us!
They knew me. That means I’ve danced with them before. What’s one more dance, right? It’s better to die dancing than from the sidelines watching life pass me by. I took off my apron and tossed it at Frank.
“I quit.”
Before he could say anything, I walked out the doors and crossed the highway. I spread my arms wide and let the dust devils spin me as we played in the desert sun.
 
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