Spooky Wild-Eyed Land

American

Written in response to: "Write a story about summer love." as part of Before Summer’s End.

In that HOT, HOT ruthlessly hot land along the Rio Grande where everything wants to kill you TRUST ME! I told her loved her spooky wild-eyed along the Rio Grande where everything wants you DEAD!

In that loveless land along the Rio Grande where poisonous assassins slither and lay in-wait, then SURPRISE! It's too late along the US/Mexico border where the thorny ocotillo and the pricky cactus exist to make one bleed, and Sun goes down like a closing eye that doesn't want to look anymore because it is too scary.

In a summer of desperation when a sniper was shooting at rafters in Santa Elena Canyon, and Texans being Texans, they took it as a challenge to go down the Rio Grande River armed ready to return fire in that HOT, HOT ruthlessly hot land where marauders like Pancho Villa once marauded.

In that pitiless land along the Rio Grande where vultures with blood-red heads and feathers dark as Evil, ITSELF, swoop down out of the sky and dine on the unfortunately unfortunate as if they are drive-thru menu out there in the middle of nowhere where no one loves you. TRUST ME!

After stealing a boat in that spooky wild-eyed land where "DID YOU HEAR SOMETHING? I thought I heard something" was startlingly standard, and the Sun went down like a closing that doesn't want to look anymore because it is too scary.

In a bullet-pockmarked cantina where shifty-eyed desperadoes sauntered up and ordered "whiskey" like in the movie: The Good The Bad and The Ugly. . .

I KNOW, I KNOW It can't be that bad! You probably think.

But in that close approximation that almost is. . . but not quite. It almost is not quite the same temperature as Hell, ITSELF, in that loveless land along the Rio Grande where everything wants you kill you. TRUST ME!

In that land where deadly assassins slither and lay in-wait, then SURPRISE! It's too late. And when I asked her out in that spooky wild-eyed land along the Rio Grande where the thorny ocotillo and the pricky cactus exist to make one bleed.

In that land along the Rio Grande where the Sun went down like a closing eye that doesn't want to look anymore because it is too scary, and sniper was shooting at rafters in Santa Elena Canyon in the summer of 1989.

I KNOW, I KNOW It can't be that bad! You are probably thinking.

But in the blue-hued light of a Full Moon, so lovingly, it was so lovingly glowing when two engines roared to life and started coming after us with every intention of. . . in that land loveless land along the Rio Grande where a sniper was shooting at rafters in Santa Elena Canyon in the summer of 1989.

And as it so lovingly glowed where the thorny ocotillo and the pricky cactus exist to make one bleed, she warned me that "we gotta watch out for sidewinders" in spooky wild-eyed land along the Rio Grande where everything wants to kill you. TRUST ME!

In that pitiless land where the Sun beats down and withers the living until they are a dried-out husk, can you fall in love in such a place?

In the blue-hued light of a Full Moon, and as we laid on our stomach in a desert ravine along US/Mexico border, hiding, in that loveless land along the Rio Grande where we had to watch out for sidewinders. . .

In that pitiless land where vultures with blood-red heads and feathers dark as Evil, ITSELF, circle in the sky and wait for the unfortunate to unfortunately. . . where everything wants to kill you. TRUST ME!

After asking her out on a date in that spooky wild-eyed land where. . . "WHAT WAS THAT! Did you hear something?" is proof.

It proves something could be. . . maybe it might be. . . but you won't know until it is too late in that spooky wild-eyed land where everything wants you DEAD! And the thorny ocotillo and the pricky cactus exist to make one bleed, while the Sun goes down like a closing eye that doesn't want to look anymore because it is too scary.

In that HOT-HOT ruthlessly hot land along the Rio Grande where marauders like Pancho Villa, once marauded, and the javelina skittishly forage in that HOT-HOT ruthlessly hot land that almost is, but not quite, the same temperature as Hell ITSELF! but not quite.

Now if you are wondering can someone fall in love in such loveless land where a sniper was shooting at rafters in Santa Elena Canyon in the summer of 1989, and Texans being Texans, they took it as a challenge to go down the Rio Grande River armed ready to return fire in that loveless land along the Rio Grande where everything wants to kill you. TRUST ME!

When Ringo didn't ask for much, he only wanted trust, and you know it don't come easy. . .

Especially in that spooky wild-eyed land along the Rio Grande where everything wished you were DEAD! and the Sun went down like a closing eye that didn't want to look anymore because it was too scary.

As we laid on our stomach in a desert ravine--hiding--while the blue-hued light of Full Moon, so romantically, it so romantically glowed in that loveless land along the Rio Grande where everything wished you were DEAD!

And the thorny ocotillo and prickly cactus existed to make one bleed, while deadly assassins slither and laid in-wait, then SURPRISE! It's too late in that spooky wild-eyed land along the Rio Grande where everything wants to kill you. TRUST ME!

If you are wondering, did we survive in that loveless land along the Rio Grande where vultures with blood-red heads swoop down out of the sky to peck and peck on the unfortunately unfortunate . . .hoping to hasten their death in that pitiless land along the Rio Grande.

Since I am NOT writing this in the Afterlife, then take it as proof you can survive in that HOT, HOT ruthlessly hot land along the Rio Grande where everything wants to kill you. TRUST ME!

Posted Jun 30, 2026
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3 likes 1 comment

Lena M. Bright
14:51 Jul 11, 2026

I absolutely love this piece. The wild, over-the-top voice makes the Rio Grande feel like a living, dangerous force, and the repetition gives it the energy of someone telling the greatest survival story ever told.

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