beneath a burnt-out sky

The harsh desert land stretches out before them, as far as the eye can see. She puts her stockinged legs on the dashboard, her red heels hanging off the side of the mustang. Grinning ferociously at the (dashing) young man with hair slicked back next to her. Letting the summer breeze specked with dirt and grime wash through her red hair. She lifts her sunglasses to look at the sky.

"Ain't it a beaauuutiful day?"

"Yes mam!" the young lad replies cockily, his white teeth bared.
She playfully smacks him with the palm of her hand, and the convertible swerves just a little to the right. They both laugh it off, unfazed.
"Don't worry babe, I've got it all under control" he drawls.
"You'd better. This is an o-p-p-o-r-t-u-n-i-t-y of a lifetime! Don't wreck it. What we've worked for."

He nonchalantly flicks the ashes from the cigarette butt into the wind and begins to hum. "follow the yellow-brick road, follow the yellow-brick road."
"Follow the yellow-brick road paved with GOOOOOLDDDDD!"She screams, as she jumps up onto her seat.
"Calm down woman!"
She yawns at him, her red lips parted wide enough for him to see the one gold-filing in her molar.
"Where do you want to go now, honey?"
"Me?" She pulls out a piece of paper from her purse.
"Now lookie here, I have a list. Amsterdam, Portugal, Rome "
"Honey, theys are excellent! Good work, but don't you think we have a little too much money now?" he winks at her. She throws back her head and laughs a shrill laugh, as she turns around to pat the black duffel bag containing the mutiple wads of Franklins and the Smiths & Wesson.
"Perhaps."

stage fright

She was far more confident than she'd ever been, as she strode onto the stage. The lights dazzled and blinded her, and she stood there, stunned- like a deer trapped in a truck's headlights. Her pulse began to quicken, her heart raced. then stopped, then went off full speed ahead. A member of the audience coughed, and then she heard some of them shuffling impatiently in their seat. She squinted into the blackness, trying to find some sort of hope in the shape of a person, smiling attentatively at her. She was, by now, extremely conscious of the bright lights directed at her frame, the eyes she couldn't see that were watching her. She had began to sweat a little, slightly profusely, her body feeling cold, and hot. She tried to lick her parched lips, and tasted a little blood. She swallowed nervously, but her dry throat was cut. All of a sudden the lights flashed stronger, and she put her hands up in front of her face in defence. "Come on.." moaned some members of the audience. The impatient shuffling sounds were now louder, now harsher.
She stepped up to the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Herringbone College's Fifth Musical Production, A Midsummer Night's Dream"