He looked down at his sandals.  The strap was nearly broken on one and the heel was flapping around on the other.  He took them off and tied them to his hair.  The sand was burning his feet now with every step so he broke into a half-run to avoid the sting.  His left leg was still bad so he ended up running in little half circles and then turning his body again to face the direction of the rising smoke.  All the time he thought about how ridiculous he looked, and how embarrassed he would feel if anyone from his hometown could see him.

Hopping over a ridge, he lost his balance and almost landed right on top of a tortoise.  It gave him quite a shock, he realised that this was the first living creature he had seen for 2 days.

RATE THIS BRANCH!