I wasn't thinking of entering a contest with this piece, but after I wrote this piece last night, it made me think that I could enter it into a contest. And after the support received here, I thought, "This will work." (I do plan on entering with another piece that is set in the desert.)

If you are interested, here is where you will find the story, which is extended (going a little over 1k words), and Reedsy is the group putting on this weeks contest.